When you first discover that crystals and minerals exist, it kind of feels like stepping into a secret world full of wonderful treasures, and the further you dive into it, the more incredible things you find. However, collecting crystals is nothing new - people all around the world have been collecting and using crystals for thousands of years, all for different reasons. In fact, someone once told us that crystal and mineral collecting was more popular than all other types of collector across the world combined - and we can kind of believe them! There are 5 main reasons that we have found that people like to collect crystals, which one is yours?

1. Crystal & Mineral Geology/the Natural World

A lot of people are interested in crystals, rocks and minerals purely from a geological perspective. If you visit pretty much any natural history museum around the world, they will have at least a small section on minerals - purely because if you leave geology out of a natural history museum, that leaves a pretty big hole in the display! Different crystal structures, the conditions necessary for it to form, rare and unusual combinations, and how the same crystal/mineral can differ from different locations worldwide are all of particular interest.  

2. Crystal Collecting as an Investment

Unlike most things, crystals and minerals don't really depreciate in value. A new car will instantly lose value the moment you drive it off the forecourt, house prices fluctuate and the stock market is never a sure thing. However, rare crystals and unusual mine locations, once they're mined out, then that's it. You can't build new ones, or up factory production - these things took thousands of years to form. For this reason, many people look on rare crystals as a good investment - look at Moldavite, the price has more than tripled in the last couple of years alone, and it doesn't look to be coming down any time soon.

3. Crystal Healing & Spiritual Beliefs

This is the main reason a lot of people seem to be moving towards crystals in the last couple of years, as focus on self care and self improvement has moved into the forefront of our minds, particularly after the massive impact the pandemic had on mental health. We are looking for new ways to look after ourselves and look within to deal with deep seated problems, and crystals tie in with a lot of new age spiritual practices such as reiki, chakra work and so on. 

However this is not exclusively a new age practice - over the millenia crystals have been prized by civilisations all over the world for spiritual reasons - for example an Emerald under the tongue would help you to see through lies, or that to dream of a garnet would help you to solve a mystery.

4. Crystals in Witchcraft & Magical Uses

I have put this one separately from crystal healing, as there are many people who either actively or passively follow crystal healing practices, but do not identify with a witchcraft path. There are many variations in this, but there are certain common themes across them all, including the use of crystals in ritual and spell work, where they are valued more as tools than decorative items.

5. Crystals as Home Decor & Aesthetics

The final main reason we find that people start a crystal collection, is for the sheer beauty of crystals. Whether left in their natural form, or cut and polished into gorgeous spheres, towers or other shapes, there are few other decorative items that will inspire as many conversations from visitors than a beautiful crystal display.

Whatever your reason for being drawn to crystals, it's never a "wrong" reason. The camps of metaphysical crystal healing vs geological collectors will look down on the other, but we have known plenty of people on their collection journeys who have started off in one camp, and then as their collection has progressed, started enjoying them for another reason as well. We'll often find new collectors are drawn to crystals mainly for spiritual reasons, but then as time goes on will start to appreciate the fine work that Mother Nature does in creating these incredible gems for us. Whatever your reasons, don't feel ashamed of them, and don't let other people tell you that you're wrong for feeling the way you do - just go with it, and enjoy your journey down the rabbit hole!