Sparkling healing stones

With 32 rings, over a dozen pendants, two dozen bracelets on, along with three in her bra, some in her socks and some in her pockets, April Culp leaves her house filled with crystal stones.

Growing up, Culp was into the same things little girls were into, sparkly, pretty things. And that’s exactly how her story starts.

Back when she was a kid Culp has had an interest in sparkly colourful stuff like glass pieces, sea shells and stones that she would pick up either while walking with her family on the beach or at a gift store. But what started as an innocent oh that is pretty I want to take It home turned into oh my god how did this happen? How do I have so many stones?

Five or six years ago when Culp was around 42 years old, her friend told her about a store around the corner from her house that sells crystals, she went there picked up the ones she was attracted to like Amethyst and other tumbled stones and then went home and read about them.

After that she started reading more about the stones and going to the store regularly to pick up the ones she found online and soon it became an obsession.

“Sometimes you’ll see a little picture so it’ll be like a little rainbow or something,” Culp adds “You see different things in them and then sort of get caught in it you sort of look into it and you’ll see like an owl or something and you’ll get like oooh.”

For around a year now Culp has been working at a crystals store, giving her an employee discount and access to be surrounded by the stones that calm and relax her. “This is like my heaven,” She says.

Culp’s house looks like a crystals’ store. It is filled with stones of all shapes and sizes “Every surface, every window ledge, every dresser,” she says “I probably have over a 150 probably just the skulls from middle to medium to large and then I have tumbled stones and then I have spheres and so hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds [of stones].”

The stones help Culp feel relaxed, after a long overwhelming day she would start playing around with her stones, rearranging them and moving them around. “Just the routine of touching them and moving them around just sort of calms you, you get lost in the moment and you forget everything else going on and you’re like oh I’ve been at his for three hours.” says Culp.

 The stones also help Culp keep her energy balanced as sometime people describe her as “Too happy.” She cleanses everything by putting selenite all around her house and/or on herself.

She also has a routine with candles to wash out the negativity and darkness. “I usually light about 15 tea-lights every day and when the sun starts going down I just sort of bring in the light again, in a way pushing negativity, darkness everything away and getting everything great and calm and cool.” Culp says.

Countless money is spent on all the crystals but Culp pays no attention to the prices when it gets down to buying her stones. She could pay two, three, forty here, forty there or even a hundred but when she sees one she likes she has to have it “I’ll see something and I’m like I don’t want anyone else to have this one so I’m a little bit greedy but yeah I just find certain ones and when they come I just, I want to take them home for someone who’s sensible.” She adds “So yeah definitely an obsession.”

Some people support her interest in stones and some people don’t, her family mostly talks about how much money she spends on rocks “And I’m like it’s not rocks, you don’t understand,” says Culp.

When people tease her about her interest in stones Culp likes to show people what those stones do and why they are not just regular rocks. “I’ll take like an Amethyst and cure someone’s headache by rubbing the head and they go like oh,” she adds that’s when someone usually say that they want to get into this.

Culp’s kids, 11 and 6, are picking up on their mother’s interest, sometimes she would find ‘lost’ stones under her kids’ pillow or mattress.

Most of the common stones Culp is “Fluent” in she knows what they’re called, what they do and how to use them. And it is the result of hours and hours or research, she has been on the Jude Hall Bible, she is part of a Facebook group called Crystal Healing Know your Stones “I find that they have a lot of insights,” she adds “Google is always easy though.”

Culp has no deep spiritual belief on the stones she doesn’t know why or how they work she just knows they get the job done and that having them does no harm. “This is life, this is what you get and you might as well enjoy it while you’re here without going to excess on anything,” she adds “Except for stones.”

Even though Culp says she is greedy, she gives out a lot of stones. “I’ll run in to someone who tells me a story that the stone is like,” she says “This is for you this is why I got that this morning.”

“Spread the joy” is one reason Culp gives the stones away another is because she thinks the world is full of anxiousness and stress and for her the stones help her get through rough times. “If everybody just had one thing which has helped them just be nice, this for me is it.”