Judy Hall's New Book

MCsea

Just saw this thread again - I still have not bought the new book - but I must go and check it out!
blessings

MARINA
 

wumpkie

I just got the book *Happy birthday toooo meeeee* Like SilverCloudedWolf said it really is the Crystal Bible & New Crystals all in one book. But it is nice to have it all under one cover and it also because it is a bigger book the pictures are bigger to look and drool over.

I'm pleased to have got it :)
 

RedRobin

I picked this book up last week. I like most everything about it, except for the index is poorly done, and I didn't notice it at first until I tried to use it.
If you want to check a particular crystal/mineral, it isn't always listed alphabetically or by mineralogical name.
Crystals are listed in the book according to color. It makes it much harder for quick references.
The book itself could have been made smaller in size ( like 8x10 inches), if they would have used a different format to rid the edges of dead space. It's 9.5 inches by 11 inches which makes it more a coffee table book and harder to fit on bookshelves. At least my bookshelves, anyway.. :)

Namaste, Robin
 

KaiMoonshadow

wumpkie said:
I just got the book *Happy birthday toooo meeeee* Like SilverCloudedWolf said it really is the Crystal Bible & New Crystals all in one book. But it is nice to have it all under one cover and it also because it is a bigger book the pictures are bigger to look and drool over.

I'm pleased to have got it :)

Agreed... I do also agree with Robin though - it would have been nicer to have a slightly smaller version to be able to use... I work as a crystal therapist and always have my Crystal Bible on hand for reference - it would've been nice to have this one as well but it's a bit big to carry :p
 

wumpkie

I've mentioned it before but I do like to carry around 'The Essential Crystal Handbook' by Simon & Sue Lilly as it is just the perfect size to carry around (smaller than the 'Crystal Bible' :D) But I can understand where people are coming from it would be excellent to have a scaled down version. I mean they can to it for most information books and travel sized magazines so it would be possible. I would buy a smaller version but I still love the big book, as Red Robin said it's a coffee table book and a great centre piece so to speak, I've even seen my Mum pick it up on more than one occassion.

Bring out a smaller book :D :D :D
 

Neely75

I have the Crystal Bible and for a beginner such as myself I find it sufficient for now. Maybe later on if I'm still interested and find that it has enough extra information for me then I will consider it. I haven't had a really good look at it yet.
 

wumpkie

The crystal bible is great, I still love to use it. You well may find that you will move on to extra books but if you are happy with what you have for now that's great (saves you having to search through many books :D) But when you do, my recommendation is to get the Crystal Encyclopedia. But who knows what the future may bring you might get something completly different.
 

wizzle

I just got a copy of The Crystal Bible. It is a lovely book and I like the illustrations, but alas, it has errors of fact. I haven't been through every page of the book, but I did note the following while doing a quick scan:

1. Judy uses the word "occlusion" when the correct terminology is "inclusion." This is a serious gaff because inclusions figure very prominently when trying to determine which gemstone is which.

2. She mentions gemstones with 5 stars. I don't believe this at all possible in a natural gemstone. Natural gemstones only exhibit asterism (stars) in 4 or 6 rays. This is due to how crystals are formed. The single ray is termed a cat's eye. Only diopside exhibits a 4 rayed star and that is one of the ways you can identify the stone. 6 rayed stars are most often in the corundum family, that is saphires and rubies, although there are occasional occurances in quartz, notably rose quartz.

3. She states that crysoberyl is a member of the beryl family. Sorry, but wrong. Any basic field guide will tell you that they are members of different mineral families with different crystaline structures, although they may be associated in mines. But that doesn't make them the same family any more than bery and tourmaline, also often found together, are the same family.

Now, these are pretty minor points and probably only of interest to the gemstone collector. However, they make me wonder what other mis-information there is in the book.
 

wumpkie

lol i'm glad you know this as I wouldn't have a clue if it was right or wrong :D I mean I still love it to bits as I love looking at the pictures, when I can't be bothered to read (How lazy am I?) I'm sure that in the future there will be newer and better books published and that I will probably leave this one in the bottom of the pile. But for now I like it, it's keeping my paperwork flat as we speak :D
On a different note seeing that you are the person in the know...What books do you recommend? That sounded sarcastic but wasn't my intent :)
 

wizzle

A book I like from a metaphysical standpoint is the one Scott Cunningham wrote ages ago. Since it's still in some box in my garage, I can't give you the title. It's very plainly written, has good associations (imo) and also mentions substitions. Neither Hall nor Melody do that (at least I don't think they do... I've only scanned the books so far). And Cunninham is welll versed in magick so when he says you can substitue one stone for another, I believe it. My mind was boggled by the sheer number of different stones described in Melody's books. And when you compare descriptions in Hall's book with what Melody says, it's pretty obvious Hall leaned very heavily on Melody for information.

I think that it's essential to have some sort of a field guide so you can see pictures of the stones and check their physical properties. You don't want to put very soft stones in a bag with very hard stones, for instance. I have the Audubon Society's Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals and also Gemstones of the World, by Schumman which is an absolute classic. Both are loaded with pictures.