"The Crystal Workshop: A Journey Into the Healing Power of Crystals" by Azalea Lee (published 2020)


"The Crystal Workshop: A Journey Into the Healing Power of Crystals" by Azalea Lee (2020) is a deeply informative and gorgeously curated book for those curious - and those who have just begun - to learn how to connect with the mineral world at the level of metaphysical healing. Lee admirably and honestly lays bare the essential structural components that must be harnessed within the practitioner (such as a keen and developed intuition) in order to skillfully work with crystals in a beneficial way. Not only does Lee present her philosophies on the art of crystal healing, she provides straightforward yet lab-like workshop exercises for the reader to determine, on his or her own, if they are ready to continue into a genuine relationship with the crystals in order to, ultimately, reach a pure metaphysical level of understanding them. 


Not all will resonate with Lee's approach, but I believe many will (as I did). Because Lee masterfully writes about the crystals holistically (even giving us the complex chemical structures of some), a micro and macro comprehension of the crystal world is presented. And because the book is artful, with glossed, thicker paper and HQ digital photos, there is a quality to the publication which lends itself to be read as blend of science and art, and proves itself to really be just that and not a mimicry of an already flashy and stylistic commodity form. 

Readers will learn how crystals relate to the Earth, how they are mined, the importance of their ancient histories, how their compounds react to the electrical and vibrational energies around them, how their compounds are unique to each "family" of crystal (such as quartz, which is cylindrical like DNA), and more. But Lee explains this in a way that is digestible and which does not overwhelm. Lee leads each step of the way at a steady pace, even seeming to "look back" to see if you still are following; the teaching style of the writing is as if you were being privately tutored (it is very intimate in style).

The beautiful minimalistic photos boost the text, and perfectly selected quotes from great minds like Nikola Tesla and William Shakespeare grace the pages, offering additional guidance into the importance of crystal healing in the world today. The more I immersed myself in the book and its exercises, the more I realized how much Lee's approach resonated with me, perhaps because the sharpness of the care and intention provided within its pages (something I've been seeking in various ways throughout my life). How wonderful for me that Lee's specialized teaching fell into the subject of crystals, a material that has been in and out of my life in ways where they have been treated as poorly as roadside trash and, alternately, in ways superficially idolized. "The Crystal Workshop" finally gives the crystal world the seriousness that I've always felt this fantastic phenomenon deserves.

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