It’s a small shop nestled in the heart of a village, like there are thousands in France. In the Gard, Thomas*’s store has specialized for nearly forty years in gemmology, a branch of mineralogy that deals with natural and artificial precious stones. In his workshop, the man sells scales, UV lamps and cabinets, field and office lighting… The essentials to be a perfect gemologist. A trade that could not be more respectable, which Thomas does not want to see linked in an article with another of his activities.
For several years, he has been practicing lithotherapy, a belief in the beneficial influence that certain crystals have on human beings. “The sale of precious stones is the center of my job. But today, 50 to 60% of people who enter the store ask me for information on stones of well-being, he testifies. not fail to respond to the request”. Sensing the attraction of the public for the estate, Thomas has therefore made available in his shop books that describe the power and benefits of the stones. Moonstone to fight against stress and anxiety, rose quartz to soothe, labradorite to stimulate the immune system… According to lithotherapy enthusiasts, the precious gems have multiple virtues. However, Thomas remains a little uncomfortable in front of a runaway from which he himself benefits. “We had a check from fraud enforcement officers recently, who warned us, he says. Presented as a real alternative to conventional medicine, lithotherapy can be considered a deceptive commercial practice. So, I prefer not to advertise it…” Sufficiently embarrassing not to be valued, but interesting enough to make it commercial.
Revival since the 1970s
Thanks to the renewed interest in unconventional medicine and other pseudo-sciences, lithotherapy is making its way everywhere today, from the Instagram posts of American reality TV star Kim Kardashian to the shelves of larger surfaces. You can find them in stores such as Leclerc supermarkets. Cultura devotes entire shelves to it. Simple stones, in bracelets, books… On the Fnac site, about 200 references are related to the subject. There are over a thousand of them on Amazon. It took off again after the start of the Covid pandemic, driven by a growing distrust of medicine and a return to supposedly more “natural” care. But no scientific study has come to confirm the effects.
The craze is recent, but the practice is old. Lithotherapy was even widely used until the 16th century, before undergoing “an almost total eclipse” until 1970, notes pharmacist Pierre-Yves Boudard in a thesis devoted to the subject. With the development of the New Age movement in the United States and then in Europe, it made a strong comeback in the 1970s. Parisians in the Latin Quarter”, such as the establishments Boubée, Cachoux, or even Deyrolle. Amateurs and professionals take to it, and the market explodes: in 2003, more than 250 mineral exchanges – exhibition and sales fairs – took place in France. The love of gemstones was then still confined to the circles of jewelers or collectors. “Everything changed a little over ten years ago, notes Boris Chauviré, doctor in mineralogy and general manager of GeoGems, a company specializing in the sale of minerals. New customers have arrived on the mineral exchanges” .
The gold mine of “bobo chic”
The latter are no longer interested only in the aesthetic or scientific aspect of gems, but in their alleged beneficial properties. “The minerals sector quickly took an interest in them: today, most traders explain to you that it is much better to do lithotherapy, because the market is huge”, continues Boris Chauviré. Proof of this is, according to the specialist: the installation of a “crystal and well-being space” during the annual holding of the largest mineral exchange in France – and the third largest in the world – in the town of Sainte- Marie-aux-Mines, in the Haut-Rhin. The site of the event makes no secret of it, even reserving privileged access at the show to “people who can attest to a professional activity related to mineralogy, gemmology” and… “lithotherapy”. The profile of these new customers is fairly homogeneous. “Chic sores”, laughs Thomas.
In short, members of “the upper middle classes”, deciphers Damien Karbovnik, historian of religions and author of a thesis on “General public esotericism: fantastic realism and its reception”. People whose budget is not tight and who have a curiosity of spirit that expresses itself a little outside the box. The typical profile of people who will be interested in alternative medicine”. A real gold mine for traders. “The prices of these stones increase not according to their intrinsic value, but to the benefit attributed to them by the sellers and buyers, continues Boris Chauviré. A “well-being” crystal can be sold 10 times more expensive than a simple stone to a classic collector”.
The effect Charmed
This belief, for which some consumers are visibly ready to pay the price, does not come out of nowhere. “It is explained by a general trivialization of esotericism: not only lithotherapy, but also astrology, shamanism, an interest in healing by laying on of hands…”, resumes Damien Karbovnik. In the case of lithotherapy, this trivialization was first favored by pop culture. From the 2000s, the practice is no longer confined to back shops and markets in rural areas. We see her on television, in a very popular soap opera at the time, the culmination of the “Saturday Trilogy” on M6. “A series like Charmedwhich featured three witch sisters using stones to exercise their magic, began to popularize the practice”, continues the teacher-researcher at the University of Strasbourg. A simple look on the Internet is enough to demonstrate it: on Google Trends , which brings together search engine trends over several years, the term lithotherapy has continued to increase, before experiencing a sudden peak from 2017.
With this passion for witchcraft, the stones find a new use: they are of great interest to tarot users, who use them for their so-called oracles. Sniffing out the market, the Sephora brand sold a “beginner witch kit” in the United States in October 2018, mixing body oils, face spray and “well-being” crystals. Boosted by this commercialization, minerals are then widely popularized in a second application: that of well-being. “Like phytotherapy or naturopathy, lithotherapy responds to a desire of a certain part of the population to reconnect with something natural, ancestral and authentic”, notes Déborah Kessler-Bilthauer, associate researcher at the laboratory. 2LS from the University of Lorraine.
A very aesthetic belief
It is not uncommon for these areas to be linked. As early as 2017, Kim Kardashian launched a range of perfumes with crystal names, in reference to the “healing” powers that the star attributes to stones. In France, two years later, the youtubeuse Shera Kerienski, 1.99 million subscribers, confided in her “experiences related to stones”. In a video from March 2021 where she presented her “current readings“, EnjoyPhoenix (3.68 million subscribers) also confided her passions for witches, naturopathy, and recommended reading, among other things, the book My bible of stones and crystals or of Open to the energy of the stones.
But compared to naturopathy or phytotherapy, lithotherapy has an advantage: its aesthetic side, which makes it particularly attractive on social networks. “It does double duty: the pretty side of the jewel is added to the so-called healing properties”, explains Romy Sauvayre, sociologist of science and beliefs at Clermont-Auvergne University and CNRS. The women’s press was not mistaken: in its “jewelry” section, Vogue France has in turn recommended the “5 Feel Good Instagram Accounts to follow now to understand everything about the power of crystals” or to be determined “which crystal suits you best“. She and Cosmopolitan have also devoted articles to it, either to “boost his libido” or more broadly to “take care of your body“.
A health hazard
These articles were soon followed by myriads of blog posts and videos from influencers of all kinds. On TikTok, the hashtag “lithotherapie” has more than 57 million views. On Facebook, discussion groups around the subject have also multiplied. The largest by number, “Lithotherapie Conseils”, has 57,000 members. The second, “lithotherapie & well-being minerals and mineralogy”, nearly 29,000. In each group, in each message a similar questioning, often motivated by what the Internet user presents as the “lack of listening”, or even the ignorance of a doctor: is such a stone effective in treating such a disease? “I have very important period pains that sometimes prevent me from getting out of bed, writes a woman on Facebook. The gynecologists found nothing, my doctor either, could stones calm these pains?” Answer from another: “Moonstone is very effective”. “Malachite,” corrects another.
There is no guarantee, however, that this person will find happiness in these suggestions. According to a study by British researcher Chris French published in 2001, lithotherapy only brings a placebo effect to those who use it. An effect by nature limited. As Didier Pachoud, the president of the Study Group on Movements of Thought for the Protection of the Individual (Gemppi) pointed out in 2012 in a hearing in the Senate, the practice certainly did not save this patient who, of cancer, died after buying a 5000 euro crystal bed. She had refused all conventional medicine.