This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Crystal Way located at 2335 Market street seems innocuous from its dated awning, but as soon as one enters a sense of positive energy overwhelms. A near silence, that is truly palpable, is easily perceived as this quiet space full of gorgeous and useful stones catches the eye. Peridot, selenite wands, emeralds, many types of quartz, and others surround the patron. This includes a Herkimer diamond case that hosts very clear, high quality gems from the $60 range. There are also intention candles, French-imported artisanal soaps, and jewelry such as copper earrings. Patrick, the salesperson on duty at the time, was an absolute delight to work with and was very knowledgeable. I was looking for stones useful for helping focus on memory. They were sold out of smaller Herkimer diamonds in the $30 range, that the establishment's "crystal bible" said were great for focusing on memory. In fact I was told they "sold out fast." Nevertheless emerald was also mentioned as a substitute for my purposes. They were in stock from $10-15. I was told the owners are not often around, but customers are flowing in constantly. The pandemic has created a huge demand for healing stones which many believe have medicinal and spiritual benefits such as warding off maladies from Covid-stress to bad relations with roommates. I was told that during the worst of the pandemic they had, "a line out the door, and had to limit how many customers could come in." Crystal Way was established in 1987 according to staff. The boutique is situated five minutes from the Castro street Muni station. There is also a second location in the Sunset at 1348 9th Avenue. Tarot and healing services from the three resident readers have been suspended. To adapt to changing times the reading room up a half flight of stairs has been converted into more sales space with more of the same. All in all this business seems to be thriving. I was able to spend about $20 for two items; the emerald and an artisan-made sandalwood scented soap. Patrick even "saged" my emerald for me with a small piece of smudging sage whilst we asked for better memory. Their online store is at crystalwaysf.com and sells mostly the stones in addition to incense. Their Instagram (@crystalwaysf) features a myriad of colorful stones from the "natural world". The Upper Market location is open noon-7pm daily and is a place where "[the] community can heal."

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