What are the Crystal Healing properties of different crystal formations and shapes? Discover how these common and unusual forms add extra special meanings to your crystals.
Crystal Terminology 101
Don’t know your facets from your main face? Before we go further let’s get crystal clear about the common terms used to describe crystal formations and features. The following diagram shows a natural Crystal Point with the names of the basic features:
Crystal Formations 101
Not Just Quartz Crystals…
The crystal formations in this article are commonly found on Quartz crystals, but can also be found in many other natural crystals if you look for them.
“Always check your crystals for special features as this gives you extra information about their unique energy and properties”
The Meanings of Crystal Formations:
Look at the Crystal Formations Chart below for an example of all these formations and their names. Under this you will find a description of these features and their general healing properties.
This is one of my favourite subjects. This article is just an introduction, more detail will be found in my future book releases. Now it’s time to ID those crystals!
Crystal Formations Chart (Save this to Pinterest!)
Crystal Point
Features: A single terminated crystal which can have many of the other features below.
Properties: Used to send, focus and direct energy.
Double Terminated
Features: A single crystal with a termination at each end.
Properties: Sends and receives energies at the same time. Transmutes negative energies.
Twin
Features: Two Crystal Points of a similar size which are joined together from the base up. They can be different legths. Also known as a Companion Crystal.
Properties: Balances masculine and feminine or yin and yang energies. Attracts love and supports relationships.
Cluster
Features: A group of many Crystal Points which grow from the same base.
Properties: Enhances group meditations and classes. Connects with like minded people and your soul group.
Geode
Features: A hollow rock which contains hundreds of crystals growing inside it.
Properties: Grounding and energizing. Balances Earth energies. Repairs Ley Lines. Connects with Gaia.
Key
Features: A hexagonal or angular shaped recess usually on the side facets of a crystal and near the base.
Properties: Helps awaken your DNA, and integrate lost parts of yourself. Can be used for Shamanic Soul Retrieval.
Rainbow
Features: A rainbow reflection inside the crystal, caused by a special flaw. Only seen when it catches the light.
Properties: Works on all the chakras. Balances the chakras and all layers of the aura. See my short Youtube video for examples and more info:
https://youtube.com/shorts/AluLUDmDYcc?feature=share
Inclusion
Features: Other minerals caught inside a crystal. May appear as darker material or bits suspended inside the crystal.
Properties: Will add the properties of whatever the extra mineral is. You can also use the chakra colours to interpret their effects.
Phantom
Features: A ghost like 3D image of a crystal point inside a crystal. Shows the earlier size before it grew bigger. Some crystals have multiple Phantoms.
Properties: Helps you connect with your Higher Self or Guides. Good for meditation, personal growth, life changes, overcoming obstacles, karma release work and seeing the bigger picture.
Record Keeper
Features: A rare triangular indentation which appears on the face of a crystal. Sometimes the triangle is raised.
Properties: Used to access information from ancient pyramid building civilizations such as Egypt or even Atlantis.
Isis Face
Features: A five sided face, usually with a tall point at the top. Also known as an Isis Crystal.
Properties: Connects with the divine feminine, female guides, Isis and Goddess energies.
Generator
Features: A Crystal Point with six usually triangular faces all meeting together at the tip of a central termination. For a detailed guide to Generator crystals with examples please read my guide here.
Properties: A powerful crystal that amplifies its properties and our intentions. A high impact and healing crystal for Crystal Grids. Balances Earth energies.
Diamond Window
Features: A four sided diamond shaped extra face on a Crystal Point. Sometimes known as a Sixth Face.
Properties: Opens the Third Eye Chakra for Clairvoyance. May be used to access intuitive wisdom, inspiration and receive spiritual downloads.
Time Link
Features: A long extra facet with four sides in the shape of a parallelogram. Usually forms near the main face.
Properties: If leaning to the left it can access information from the past. When leaning to the right, it can access information from the future.
Akashic Lines
Features: Horizontal lines usually forming on the side facets of a crystal. Also known as Lemurian Lines. If they are on all sides of the crystal you might have a Lemurian Seed Crystal (click to learn more)
Properties: These crystals hold ancient information recorded from the past. Often associated with lost civilizations such as Lemuria and Atlantis.
If you’re interested in learning more about Crystal Healing do check out my free Resources section by clicking Here.
Do you have a favourite crystal formation? I would love to hear from you in the comments below (Please keep any questions you have on topic if you want a response).
With gratitude,
Ethan
www.ethanlazzerini.com
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Wonderful article, thanks so much for the invaluable information and diagrams. I always wondered what half of these things meant and you have put the information together in a crystal clear manner. I have a double terminated Tibetan point and others, and my favourite is a beautiful large Amethyst generator crystal with Phantoms and a Record keeper – I used to wonder what the heck does that mean, and now I know! Thanks again. Keep up your excellent blog.
Thank you for reading them! I am glad this gave you some more insights into your own crystals. Record Keepers are really special, what a treasure!
thank you very much for emlightening me on the subject!sooooo interesting.ihave many and will lppk at them differently!
thank ypu for the valuable info!
Thank you for explaining so clearly the formations and their implications. Do the shapes of tumbled stones also have implications that one should be aware of? I wonder as a beginner, and if you have already written about it somewhere, I would love to be directed there.
Thank you Isis, I think that most Tumble Stones just radiate their energy in all directions and as they are smooth the energy is soft not focused if that makes sense.
Thank you very much for your reply, Ethan. That leads me to think that if one wants to direct crystal energy for specific purposes, crystals with termination points will be more suitable. And if one is using tumble stones, the more angular the better.
I am so happy that I found your blog! I have collected quite a few crystals, but am definitely still a beginner. Ive tried to learn more about crystals in the past, but just ended up getting confused and overwhelmed with all the information, but reading yours just seemed to make so much more sense! Back to me being a beginner though, and if you have a chuckle at my expense I totally understand, but here it goes. Are some of these crystal points, particularly the ones that are pointed at each end or flat one side and terminated the other, cut that way or totally natural? To be honest I thought they were cut somehow! Thanks again! Can’t wait to read more!
Thanks Jean, glad my articles are helping you. Crystal Points grow naturally in the Earth but not all types of crystals grow like that. Some crystal Points you will see are cut into that shape. Natural Crystal Points usually have more character and are less perfect looking. Regardless if it grew that way or is cut into shape a Crystal Point has the same effect when you use it. They focus and direct energy. Hope this helps.
What about those where are just rounded all around? The ones usually made into keychains?
I think your talking about Tumble Stones. They were not included here as it is about natural formations or cut crystals. Tumble stones are chunks of stone that are tumble polished. They emit energies in all directions but have no special meanings.
I have a crystal or I think it is ! All different colours perple,blue,gold,green and when you turn or move it around it changes colour ! Do you know the name of it and what does it do ? Because I had to buy it ! Could not leve it there !! Thank you for enny help
It could be many different stones. I could not even guess without seeing it though
Thank you for another great articles. I just bought a double terminated point rose quartz. If use for meditation purposes should I hold it in my right hand or left hand or it doesn’t matter as long as I place it nearby me?
For meditation I usually hold a crystal with both hands but you could use either. Some say your dominant hand is for directing energy outwards and the non-dominant hand is for receiving energy. Try it out and see what works best for you.
I just realized that my clear quartz point has the following:
Rainbow
Inclusions (yellow/orange)
Phantom
Record keeper (looks like a very tiny triangle face… is this a record keeper?)
2 touching time links (past and future)
Akashic lines
Wow!
Great article. My husband is a miner in Brazil but he didnt know that the crystal he was mining was actually lemurian quartz. Thank you so much for the information!
I came across a small cluster of octohedrons. I don’t know what the crystal was but it was the most powerful energy I have ever felt. The owner would not sell it and he told me he thought it was some sort of portal. I am not very sensitive to crystal energies (I think). I have a hard time feeling moldavite even. This crystal gave me the strongest goosebumps I ever had and the energy was like smooth electricity. It was as if I had a strong electrical current going through me from the wall outlet! Any thoughts?? Thank you for this article!!!
I am not really sure. Try google images for ‘octohedron crystals’ and see if you recognise any of them
The most common crystals to come in octahedral form are Fluorite and Magnetite. They’re easy to tell apart: Magnetite is metallic grey; Fluorite comes in many colours but not metallic grey.
I’m guessing what you saw was a Fluorite cluster rather than Magnetite. Magnetite is quite strong, but Fluorite, make no mistake about it, is very powerful stuff! I’ve been working with it for well over 25 years, and holding a single octahedron up to the light and looking into it, can still catapult me right out of my body even today.
There’s a good reason for that: Fluorite is extra powerful because any crystal’s power comes from its atomic lattice, and Fluorite has two of them. This is also why it comes in two different crystal shapes: on initial crystallisation it forms cubes, but recrystallised, probably by a further application of heat, the second matrix expresses itself and octahedra form. Either form is extremely powerful, but where cubes have a more stabilising effect on the mind, making it calm, logical and organised, and are thus better for everyday life, octahedra channel energy in a completely different way and are better for higher mind functions like intuition, imagination, dream work and recall, and – for some people – even astral travel. If you aren’t especially sensitive to crystal energy, then your ability to detect the energy of that cluster may well mean you have Fluorite as your soul crystal (that crystal/s or types of crystal which resonate most closely with your own energy and with which you will be able to work closely and extensively). It may also prove to be your – to borrow a term from narcotics – ‘gateway crystal’, the one which can open your senses to the energoes of other kinds of crystal.
With these things in mind, I suggest you get yourself a Fluorite crystal, or perhaps more than one; single octahedra are fairly easy to come by and shouldn’t break the bank, unless you opt for a giant one! Fluorite is also one of my soul crystals, so if you need any more help, just shout.
Good day I have a crystal that is in a curve shape and has 3 points what would this meaning be. Thanks Olga Cc
Not come across this before. Three points is a small Cluster really.
Could you please explain the meanings of the different shaped crystals such as round, oval, angel, turtle, etc?
I have started collecting crystals for about a year now (still a beginner and learning) but have noticed that the ones being sent (I order online mostly) to me have record keepers on them. In the article you said record keepers are rare but they seem to keep finding me, is there an apparent reason for that? Also another interesting thing happened and wanted to know if you have any input, I had a herkimer diamond I used in a grid. And now about a year later, the herkimer has a notably big deep etched triangle on there that was not there before. Is there any explanation to this? Not sure if what I’m experiencing is a common thing or not. I hope to hear your input soon. Thanks alot.
Hi Shar, maybe you’re right and they find you because you are meant to work with them. I will say though I have seen some people misidentify these, I may cover them in more detail in an article at some point. People do occasionaly report changes in the form or colour of their crystals. I have had one crystal that got a milky brown patch inside it that I am pretty sure was not there when I bought it. It is generally believed that this happens when a shift occurs in the energy of the crystal, or that some energy was healed or cleared from you.
I have a crystal with seven sides in the main face…directly opposite (on the back) is a triangle face. I feel that although this is a small crystal it’s a powerful one… what can you tell me?!? I loved your article and will save it for future reference! Thanks so much
@thanks agsin
You’re right, it is special. That is a Channeling Crystal. You can work with them to channel messages from spiritual beings, angels and ascended masters or receive information in meditation.
I have some clear topaz crystals that have record keepers all over the facets. But the interesting thing is that they are rectangular record keepers rather than triangular. Would this help me communicate with cultures that build vertical, rectangular structures? Also, I have a clear topaz crystal that has 2 keys right next to each other on the side (I don’t know if it’s a face or a facet because it’s a trapezoid!) The keys are in the shape of a hexagon and a diamond. Thus is my favorite topaz crystal that i have found while rockhounding at topaz mountain in Utah.
I call rectangular shapes like this Square or Rectangle Glyphs. I think they are different than Record Keepers and indicate that the crystal is very grounding or can anchor spiritual energy.
Respected sir ji good day thank you pl give more details
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can you look at my lemurian seed crystal and tell me what special characters it has? I respect your knowledge!
Hello!
Thank you for this article. I find it so helpful and so interesting. I recently acquired a herkimer diamond that seems to have a key on one of its facets, but on one of the other facets is a raised rectangle. Do you have any idea what this would be? I have pictures if that helps at all. Thank you in advance for the help and insight!
Rectangles and squares on crystals are for grounding/anchoring energy in my experience
Hi Ethan, I have your book and have been collecting crystals to make the Angelic connection grid which is so beautiful. I have seen an angel aura quartz which has a flat bottom to stand, is quite wide and 7cm tall. The top part is formed into a point but due to the rough sides each triangle is a different length. Can this be used as a central stone? How would it compare to a point the same height but fully carved with straight sides?
You can use it as a Central Stone. It’s as good as any form
This article was great! I am still Pretty new to the crystal world, but loved how you explained the chart. I was gifted what I though was a “clear quartz” by a lady who came in the store I worked in to clear the energy, I didn’t know to much about crystals but she said here have this one and the said if you slide you fingers up you can hear amazing Things, I didn’t know what she meant then, now seeing the chart she gifted me a lamerían, which has a rainbow and a record keeper! I am in awe reading about each thing.
I have a pink lemurian crystal with a smaller crystal that grew into it on one side facet. It called to me from behind a bunch of large specimens on display in a dark corner of a crystal shop I’d never been to before. On my birthday. You can see it clearly when you look through the “front” of the crystal. It’s not a ghosty phantom, it’s a totally separate crystal. My crystal is basically pregnant. I’ve never seen anything like it! What do you think that’s all about?
If a crystal is inside another crystal it is called a Manifestation crystal and it is used to help manifest things. They are rare.
Your crystal *is* pregnant — with potential!
Ethan didn’t mention this, for whatever reason (and the reason doesn’t matter), but the fact that you obtained your crystal on your birthday is also significant. Those crystals which come to us around the time of our birth frequently have powerful connections to us; I recommend you work closely with that crystal. It will probably have birthday presents of its own to gift you with, even well beyond the actual day. It was a birthday gift crystal which taught me how to be a crystal whisperer!
Hi Ethan
I love your work and you explain things very clearly. I have a few favourites who I like to get my inspiration from and you have been on my list for a few years (this is the first time I have ever contacted you though).
Could you please tell me what is a Tower and how it differs from a Generator? And then sometimes they are called Points. I was always told they were Towers when I purchased them years ago and now people are calling the same thing Generators.
There seems to be too many inexperienced sellers out there calling crystals what-ever they want, or like you said, they may have been misguided (I think you are being very nice suggesting that), it is doing my head in.
Hi Tanya, I never really used to use the word tower but it’s used a lot now. It’s now my understanding that a tower is a carved standing crystal point. Some will also include a naturally formed crystal point that has usually been polished and has had the base cut so that it stands as a tower. A tower or standing crystal point could have any number of sides, facets or features described above, though they normally have six sides. A Generator is a type of crystal point, it could be a loose crystal point or a tower (natural or carved) but it needs to have the correct number of sides and facet formation. I’ve added a link to my detailed guide on generator crystals here if you haven’t read that here.
It’s always been my understanding, probably based on the meaning of the word ‘tower’, that crystal points and crystal towers are both crystal points, but are different in their physical proportions: regular points can grow in pretty much any ratio, but towers are considerably taller than they are wide. I have two stunning Amethyst crystals: one is a ‘regular point’ which is wider than it is tall in the ratio of about 1.5 to 1; the other is a ‘tower’ which is taller than it is wide in the approximate ratio 5 to 1. Think of a Church tower, or the tower in the fairytale of Rapunzel: small base footprint, but much taller than it is wide. The two crystals have subtly different energies: the regular point is very soothing, and I find it quite easy to fall asleep holding it, but the tower is a potent booster of psychic power and intuition, to the point where it will occasionally give me actual visions. I think it’s spiritually analogous to an actual tower, like the Tower of London: when you’re at the top you can see a lot more than at ground level!
This is a very informative and interesting article. I learned a lot about the different crystal formations and their meanings. I especially liked the part about the phantom crystals and how they can help us to access our past lives and heal our karma. I have a few phantom crystals in my collection and I will definitely try to work with them more. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and insights with us!
I have two very unusual Key crystals. One is a 4½”, very tabular crystal which has had the point of another crystal grow some way into its own point, leaving behind a very clear impression of the other one’s terminating faces. One of its body faces has distinct “steps”, like Akashic lines but deeper. It is lightly included with an as yet unidentified mineral almost the colour of medium-toned Caucasian skin and is a minor form of Cathedral.
The other is a kind of Key/Phantom hybrid: it is a Phantom, but not an included one, and the interior crystal has either fallen out or been removed at some point prior to its coming home. That’s the only way to know it’s a Phantom at all, to look at its base: again, you can see the impression of the interior crystal’s termination.
Love and Light.