Episode Details

Open your chakras, cleanse your biomagnetic sheath, and charge your treasures beneath the light of the moon, for in this Bonus Episode Eleanor offers an introduction to the history of crystal magic - while Martin expresses a bit of skepticism...

Part of the "Magic and Medicines" series, they start by chatting through the earliest recorded uses of crystals in healing, worship, and for apotropaic purposes, which come to us all the way from Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Next they move onto discussions of Ancient Greek, Roman and Eastern systems of belief, discovering which gems and minerals were thought to offer different powers, including such diverse uses as defense in battle and immunity against hangovers!

Via a range of shimmering treasures, including the Breastplate of Aaron, the diamond throne of Siddhartha, and a whole range of other glittering carbuncles, they explore how tensions in the early Christian church rubbed against these beliefs and were polished through the Medieval and Renaissance eras into very modern-sounding ideas like "Birth Stones" and "Crystal Healing."

But when does a necklace become an amulet? Or a ring transform into a talisman? And are so-called 'New Age' concepts utterly divorced from scientific notions like computing, ultrasound scanners, and quantum mechanics?

The answers might surprise you...

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

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