Since 2014 (or at least the first part of it) is a year of shelf-clearing for me, there are a certain number of books that I just need to slog through. [Crystal Awareness] is one of those books. If, like me, you're interested in spirituality and particularly dabble in more outre and Pagan subjects, you tend, after a while, to get lumped in with 'those New Age oddballs.' It's not the end of the world, particularly here in the UK where people tend to think I'm a harmless idiot at worst (in contrast to the American South where I used to get screamed at for being a devil worshipper).

The cringe factor creeps in when genuinely sweet, well-meaning people gift you with something that they think you'll really like. 'Hey, she's into crystals and that - what about a crystal book from 1980s Llewellyn Press!'

Obligatory full disclosure: I like crystals. They're shiny. They come in a range of excellent colours and shapes and the heft of them is reassuring. I've found that they work well to promote calm and happiness as does any other beautiful natural object with the added bonus that an amethyst cluster is more practical to display on one's desk than, e.g., a waterfall. I have a crystal tucked into my pocket most days because it makes me happy. I hang out at the local crystal shop. My book group meets there.

So far, so good. But I flatter myself that there's a long road of lunacy between 'I like decorating with quartz,' and, 'In the legendary civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria, crystals were the basic energy source as well as being used for healing, teaching and interstellar communication' ([Crystal Awareness], page 2). Really? Any historical or archaeological data to back that up? 'THIS IS MY TRUTH,' declares the frontispiece of the book, waving the wand of relativism and dismissing any critical questioning of the contents. Well, hokey-dokey then, that's a debate-closer if there ever was one.

Moving on past the highly questionable historical claims, there are some meditation and visualisation techniques - fine, albeit very basic - and instructions for how to cleanse and 'program' crystals: 'Crystals are portable computers with the capability of receiving, storing and releasing upon command. Even its [sic] programming is similar to that of a computer's' (page 37). I informed my husband, who works in IT, but he seemed less than convinced. I guess it's not his truth. There are also chapters on crystal healing arrangements, colour healing (again, very basic stuff), and jewellery making (unintentionally hilarious line drawings in this chapter). Most of the instructions end by advising to simply follow your intuition. If working with crystals is primarily about doing what you feel, one does wonder why the instructions are needed...

This sucker has actually run to 12 printings (my edition's from 2005), suggesting that it's a very popular introductory text. It doesn't look as if it's been revised, updated, proofread, or expanded once in all of those printings. The most useful information in [Crystal Awareness] has been reprinted dozens if not hundreds of times in other books on meditation, chakras, energy healing, you name it. If the subject interests you, maybe pick a book that's a little more up-to-date and a little less hokey. ( )