Tess McClure: Madagascar and 'healing crystals' - the human cost of mumbo-jumbo
In the US, demand for
overseas crystals and gemstones has doubled over the past three years, and
quartz imports have doubled since 2014. (Those numbers capture raw stone, but
not the crystals imported under many other categories: jewellery, home goods,
decorations.) Daniel Trinchillo, owner of Fine Minerals International, a
high-end crystal dealership, told me that his business makes between $30m and
$40m in sales each year. Trinchillo caters to a growing cohort of celebrities,
collectors and investment buyers who want rare and valuable crystals. The most
expensive single piece he has sold went for $6m, but he knows of some that have
sold for $10m. Trinchillo estimates that high-end dealers now account for about
$500m in annual sales. Include the lower end, he said, and you are talking
about a highly profitable, multi-billion dollar industry.
Believers say crystals
conduct ambient energy – like miniature phone towers picking up signals and
channelling them on to the user – thus rebalancing malign energies, healing the
body and mind. First popularised in the west in the 1970s, crystal healing’s
recent resurgence has coincided with growing interest in alternative
spirituality and healing practices. According to Pew Research Center data,
more than 60% of US adults hold at least one “new age” belief, such as placing
faith in astrology or the power of psychics, and 42% think spiritual energy can
be located in physical objects such as crystals. Not surprisingly, then,
scientific criticism of crystal healing has done little to dim demand. Last
year, Paltrow faced (and settled) a misleading advertising lawsuit for claiming that
Goop’s vaginal egg crystals had the power to balance hormones and regulate
menstrual cycles. But still, the rise of crystals continues.
Despite that explosive
growth, the way the crystal industry operates has largely avoided close
scrutiny. There is little in the way of fair-trade certification for crystals,
and none of the industry-wide transparency schemes developed for commodities
such as gold and diamonds. Tracing a crystal from the time it is dragged, dusty
and cracked, from the earth, to the polished moment of final sale requires a
journey backward down the supply chain: from shop, to exporter, to middleman,
to mine, and finally to the men and women who work below the ground, on whose
labour a billion-dollar industry has been built.
Madagascar is one of
the poorest countries in the world, but beneath its soil is a well-stocked
treasure chest. Rose quartz and amethyst, tourmaline and citrine, labradorite
and carnelian: Madagascar has them all. Gems and precious metals were the country’s
fastest-growing export in 2017 – up 170% from 2016, to $109m. This island
country of 25 million people now stands alongside far larger nations, such as
India, Brazil and China, as a key producer of crystals for the world. And in a
country where infrastructure, capital and labour regulation are all in short
supply, it is human bodies rather than machinery that pull crystals from the
earth. While a few large mining companies operate in Madagascar, more than
80% of crystals are mined “artisanally” – meaning by small groups and families,
without regulation, who are paid rock-bottom prices.
If you want to know
where the rose quartz on your shelves comes from, Anjoma Ramartina is a good
place to begin. A collection of villages that sits atop some of Madagascar’s
largest rose quartz deposits, it is a day’s drive from the capital city of
Antananarivo. The further you travel from the capital, the greater the security
risks. Large swathes of territory are described as “red zones”, considered
unpoliceable by state forces. Rural villages often face raids from armed gangs
known as dahalo, who steal cattle, sometimes killing, robbing or
raping villagers. In January, the week we arrived in Anjoma Ramartina, three
men armed with machetes were killed in a clash with village police. Do not
travel or go out at night, people warned. Drive in convoy. Stay off the roads
after 5pm.
read more: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/sep/17/healing-crystals-wellness-mining-madagascar
