I believe most of us who love natural crystals, never discard any that have sustained some knocks and bruises on their way to us. No need for past knocks and bruises to define our capabilities, nor those of crystals'.  What one might understand as a  'damaged' crystal can still have so much life and energy within it, and deep wisdom to share.

My collection of wounded healer crystals have been drawing my attention and pulling me to them repeatedly for a while now. Some crystals, whether broken or not, like to be gifted back to earth at the point when their work is complete. But some of the damaged crystals seem to still seek further work, and this request eventually led me to think about the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery. Kintsugi (‘golden joinery’) also known as Kintsukuroi (‘golden repair’) describes the mending of areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. Kintsugi can be seen to have similarities to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which is about embracing the flawed or the imperfect.

I tend to not combine hard metals with crystals for wearing, as there can be an energetic discord due to the impurities within the metals. During my bookbinding years I used to work with 'soft gold' (pure genuine 24 carat gold leaf) and always loved its warmth and vibe. Its handling always required a lot of skill and care, and working with it is one of the things I've missed from those years.

One of the bookbindings I created for a poetry collector in 2010 ~ cover leather decorated & page edges gilt in 24 carat gold:

Whilst there certainly is no need to 'fix' broken crystals, and you can happily work with them as they are, I am currently hugely enjoying the energetic symphony that happens from the combination of crystal energy and pure soft gold. They form a lovely companionship, energising and supporting each other. Perhaps this symbolic act of 'mending' also mends any association that people might have about what is considered broken and what it might mean. Perhaps a wound is a wound only when viewed from our daily, ordinary level of consciousness, and when you take time looking at it from a higher perspective, or dig deeper, you will find a way to transform the perceived damage into a gift that is pure 'gold' ~ through your own inner alchemy.

My intention with creating these crystal amulets with gold is to remind you of your capability to do that in your own life, to fully embrace all that you are and shine bright!