Somehow, rocks are both the most grounded things there are, and for some, also a powerful part of the unseen vibrational energy of the universe.

Healing with stones has always been a part of Angeline Medina's life. The Hot Sulphur Springs resident and owner of the Earth Enchanted crystal shop said that as early as her young childhood she was picking up rocks and giving them to the people she thought needed them.

Now a certified master of crystology, Medina has crafted her own style of crystal healing, which often includes water.

"Water quickly picks up the vibration of anything around it," she said.

And vibration is the key to the healing properties of rocks.

"Crystals, we know by proof - they are used in clocks and radios - have a vibration, as well as all of us. Anything alive has a vibration," she said.

Since each gemstone has a different vibration, specific ones can be used to restore the vibrational balance of a person, simply by its presence, according to Medina.

She cited using rose quartz, which has a gentle and loving vibration, to help her daughter move through the grief she was feeling after the loss of an uncle.

But even with the knowledge she has about different gems, she said intuition has always predominantly led her healing work.

"For me, when I'm talking with a person, I will know what kind of stone they need - they have a sort of glow."

Medina said she found out after several years of crystal work that her great grandfather was a Cherokee healer in Hot Springs, Ark., who carried crystals in his pocket.

Medina, who trained in Boulder, said there are a pocket of crystal therapists there, but not many elsewhere in the mountains.

Also a rockhound, Medina digs and finds all the crystals for her store from sites in Arkansas, Utah and Colorado.

"I just feel like it's my job to get the rocks and get them to people so they can use them," she said.

The local rock shop

Larry Lewarton, owner of Nature's Own in Breckenridge, said he has seen the rock industry grow, particularly among young people.

"Go to a Widespread Panic or old Dead show, and kids are selling minerals there," he said. "They're into the metaphysical aspect as well as the natural beauty aspect."

He also sees collectors who are interested in the color and form, and those interested in the location of where the rock was found. A geologist, Lewarton also carries fossils, including a cave bear skull, dinosaur teeth and a fossil that shows continental split, to name a few.

He has built up his collection of rocks and fossils for the last 20 years at his store; some items date back 500 million years.

Through dealers and gem shows, Lewarton handpicks minerals from all reaches of the Earth.

"The world is well-represented here," he said. "... The history of plants and animals of earth - we have something that covers all eras and periods."



Colorado gems

Lewarton also carries several of the stones that were pulled from Colorado's section of the earth.

Rhodochrosite is a reddish mineral mined out of Peru, Russia and China, but the finest specimens (in terms of color and quality of the crystal) have been found near Alma, in the Sweet Home Mine at Buckskin Gulch.

Rhodochrosite was recently named Colorado's state mineral after a Platte Canyon High School class realized there was no official state mineral on the books.

Lewarton said the former unofficial state mineral was amazonite, a rockhound's favorite because of its accessibility without the need for heavy equipment.

Amazonite crystals can often be found connected with another rock, the smoky quartz, both of which are found in Lake George. This combination of rocks can be highly valuable to collectors.

Other sought-after rocks found in Colorado include Park County's blue topaz, fluorite from Park and also Teller counties and the state gem, aquamarine. The largest specimen of aquamarine found in North America is housed in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Along with stocking the store with books and guides on nature, Lewarton's passion for the natural world also has led him to give back through grassroots environmental organizations. He is currently donating 100 percent of the sales of a series of onyx sea turtles to the Global Response project which is working to save the habitat of that animal.

As far as the metaphysical aspect of rocks, he said he looks at it scientifically.

"There's energy of some sort ... There's energy in everything."



Leslie Brefeld can be reached at (970) 668-4626 or lbrefeld@summitdaily.com.