The Crystal Boom
Photographed and contributed reporting for The Guardian.
"Amid the twin anxieties of the coronavirus pandemic and a bitter election season, sales of crystals and other ritual goods associated with metaphysical healing – the perceived power of natural objects that can be harnessed to a user’s benefit – have soared. At a time when many people have cut back on superfluous expenditures and even the diamond industry has taken a hit, Americans still account for 35% of the growing global market for gemstones, and metaphysical retailers cite current stresses for driving as much as a doubling in sales." Written by reporting partner, Stephen Robert Miller.
Busse drives along a dirt road in the mountains on his way to one of his mining claims outside of Salida. While he's not a metaphysical enthusiast, he's seen crystals "put a smile on thousands of faces. If that’s not good medicine, I don’t know what is.”
Diana Prado, co-owner of Zen Babe in Longmont. "Sales have increased as if it was Christmas time. That's a lot for a little store like ours,” she said.
In the sage-filled back room of Alchemy Ritual Goods in Denver, Charmaine Brabo, a spiritual alchemist, works to heal a newer client, Vanessa Quintana. In the wake of a sexual assault and the pandemic upending Quintana's life, she "felt compelled to embark on a spiritual journey of metaphysical practices in the wake of a sexual assault and the pandemic.”
Brabo wears a dendritic agate ring during the session. The crystal is seen as a stabilizing stone that helps with examining limiting beliefs.