by Colleen M. Quinn

For too long, rocks and stones have been given a bad name. Cold, hard, and inanimate, these members of the mineral kingdom often symbolize dullness and lifelessness. Fortunately, not everyone sees them in the same light. Karen Kuk-Nagel, Master Crystologist and founder of Hands of Spirit Gallery in Boulder, Colorado has uncovered the hidden vitality that every mineral possesses. For her, they are tools for spiritual healing and a way for her to extend opportunities for growth in others. Although, getting to where she is today has been a process.

“I always wanted to know but didn’t know what I wanted to know,” Karen laughs, surrounded by stones of all sizes in the Hands of Spirit Gallery in the Boulder foothills.

Karen always has had a strong desire to learn, and nurtured that desire through high school and college. She has a solid background in science, studying and graduating from college with a degree in chemistry. Afterwards, she spent 18 years working in the field of corporate product research. Yet Karen always had a feeling that there was something more to be learned about the world, and her search for knowledge took her there.

While in college, she took yoga and meditation classes to focus on her spiritual growth, becoming a disciple of her first teacher in 1979. Even during her time in the corporate world, Karen explored her spirituality through different techniques of meditation and learning. Then in 1990, Karen began her training at the VisionWeaving Lifework School where she studied spiritual healing within a Western earth-based tradition.

“That’s where I found my calling as a healing facilitator,” Karen says. She turned her calling into a reality in 1992 when she started Hands of Spirit Gallery, a practice dedicated to spiritual healing through crystals. A few years later, Karen added crystal and mineral sales to the services Hands of Spirit Gallery offers. She also studied with the distinguished crystologist and mathematician Melody, author of Love is in the Earth book series on crystal healing. Through this teaching, Karen became an educator in crystal healing, and is now a certified Master of Crystology in Melody’s lineage.

Karen explains that there is a solid science behind crystal healing, and that these scientific properties are “translated into what they can do for us.” The practice of using crystals to heal, either physically or spiritually, is similar to that of using herbs to cure a cold or insect bite, she says. It’s simply a matter of using their benefits to aid in healing. Crystals are compounds of different elements. On the atomic level, different atomic bonds have different amounts of energy. These are called vibrational frequencies, which can be detected with a spectrophotometer. It is this energy that may be harnessed to heal body and soul.

There are two main scientific principles that Karen works from to use these crystalline energies. The first is called pyroelectricity, which is a polarized, or electrified, state caused by changes in temperature. This releases energy within the crystal’s bonds, and can be transferred to another body. The second principle is called piezoelectricity, where a crystal is put under pressure and thus releases energy. Piezoelectricity is regularly used in making products like amplifiers and lighters.

In Karen’s words, these crystalline properties translate into helpful tools for healing. In the case of spiritual healing, Karen explains that scientific objectivity can only go so far to explain the world around us. At this point, religious and spiritual study pick up where science leaves off. Karen bridges this gap between science and spirituality through the workshops that Hands of Spirit offers.

In any workshop, Karen first talks with the participant to determine what their goals are. She then prays for those intentions, and places stones on or around the participant’s body.

“The stones expedite the healing process with their energies,” Karen says. In healing a person through the use of crystals, Karen hopes to undo harmful personal processes and habits that the participant has unconsciously formed.

For example, Hands of Spirit Gallery offers workshops called color journeys, which are programs of ten sessions. In a color journey, the participant works with the seven main colors that correspond with the body’s seven chakras, or centers of spiritual energy. In this way, the crystals enhance this spiritual energy. All matter breaks eventually down into energy, and the human body is no exception.

“You are more than matter, you are energy,” she explains. “A color journey helps someone to learn more about themselves; it gives them ways to change or enhance certain aspects [of their lives].”

There are other workshops, like Level I and II Crystal Healing. These introduce participants to the basics of crystals and minerals, healing, and using crystals. Among other skills. Level II builds on this. The Opalescent Workshops focus more on goals that participants have about changing their lives or themselves, using minerals and crystals as aids.

No matter what someone is looking for when they come to Hands of Spirit Gallery, Karen requires dedication and a desire to learn. “You must apply conscious dedication to the minerals to grow and enhance your level of awareness,” she says.

Spiritual healing is merely one aspect of Hands of Spirit Gallery. Karen sells mineral elixirs that can help in healing, much like taking vitamins. Karen prepares the elixirs by combining selected minerals with either brandy or water. These are then activated by pyroelectricity. By taking an elixir, the minerals’ properties are transferred to the body. She also sells flower elixirs and custom elixirs for specific needs. In addition to healing opportunities, Hands of Spirit Gallery has a multitude of crystals, minerals, and stones for sale. All are hand-picked by Karen or others from Hands of Spirit.

“Our stones are different than others’,” she says, because she works spiritually to pick the ones she sells. For those who come to her for crystals, Karen helps each person find the right stones for their purposes. There are also beautiful carved and polished stones, along with an exquisite array of handmade jewelry.

Even if you’re not looking to buy crystals, the Hands of Spirit Gallery is a sight to behold, to say the least. The studio is warmly lit, and almost every imaginable crystal, mineral, and stone line the windows, shelves, and cases. Simply browsing the Gallery is an experience alone. Hands of Spirit Gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday 10 am – 2 pm, or by appointment. To get a taste of what the Gallery is like, www.handsofspirit.com has several Gallery photos.

According to Karen, spiritual healing and finding one’s self is centered on a process of constant learning. Although she has found her place as a healing facilitator and educator of crystals and minerals, Karen continues in her search for knowledge. Through her healing techniques, she hopes to help others do the same. As she says on the Hands of Spirit website, “I know that as the stones find their true keepers, the love and light that we all seek, consciously or not, is spreading to the world in a tangible way. This is my delight.”