I'm, as you very much don't care, a student of Geology. As such, I'm partial to a mineral specimen here and there, so where better to come, apparently, than Eurasia Gifts for to further my need to study these treasures from the depths, or indeed the surface of the Earth. There's not really anywhere else (that I yet know of) to get minerals, and that's a shame for folk like me, as I have to immediately write off the copious bullshit that comes with minerals sold in establishments like this.
So this is the deal; minerals are formed from processes relating to pressure, temperature and chemistry in a way that is completely separate from humans, and their endless fucking emotions. A piece of quartz in your hand is most often older than proto-humans, even the dinosaur race, and not always, but often even creatures from the Cambrian explosion some 542 million years ago. So why are they so intertwined with our ability to love, live and connect to the spirits? They're not. That's your answer. Minerals do not give a flying fuck about humans, and that's a fact, but try telling that to a bunch of grasping hippies.
Having said that, there's some nice, more raw, pieces of this and that; Selenite Gypsum, Labradorite, Kyanite and Tourmaline adorns the shelves in little compartments, along with several segregated tumbled gem varieties. I actually got a decent Ammonite fossil from here, and it's good quality too. However, some of the tumbled gems are bullshit. Don't go for Unakite or Howlite; Unakite is just a feldspar 'mix-up', and not a true mineral, and Howlite is a white mineral; not blue. The Howlite in many of these hippy shops are artificially dyed. Rainbow, or Aura Quartz is bollocks as well; it's just normal Quartz that's been stuck in a big oven and altered by heat (see: man-made). Additionally, the 'turquoise' that's for sale at these places is very often some other cheap clay mineral that's been crushed into dust, reformed, and then dyed so that it resembles the semi-precious gemstone that we all know and love. it's bollocks, and the spiritual Guatemalan lady at the counter is in on it.
There are some beautiful, actual specimens (Fluorite veins etc.) in glass cabinets for several hundreds of quids at the back of the shop, but that's far too pricey for myself, so I can barely comment, but they're top quality as far as I can tell. Apart from that, it's the usual hippy tat that you'd expect from this sort of place; rainbow-toned woolly jumpers, feathery dream-catchers, and other shite you don't particularly need to get on in life, unless you believe in chem-trails and fluoride-based mind control.
The one thing that irks me beyond belief as a person that utilizes some critical thinking and basic logic is the very typical and prevalent healing qualities displayed for each and every gemstone available. Tiger's eye has some relevant spiritual attributes attached to it's compartment, but I can tell you it's actually Chrysotile - an asbestos mineral, so suck on that. Quartz doesn't heal your soul, calm your kids and rekindle your waning libido - It's an extremely common silicate that's formed from processes that literally nobody in the hippy tat industry has ever fucking studied before. It's just a money-making ploy to get gullible people to shell out for bollocks that a business person (of sorts) has dictated as necessary to living itself in order to make loads of money. AND IT WORKED.
Go here if you want some nice, cultural pieces for your house, but don't be fooled by the shite that comes with it. You may think that me going on about minerals is missing the entire point of the shop, but think about it - if they smilingly bullshit you on one thing (gems, minerals) then they're doing it with everything. That Himalayan hand-woven beanie may as well be made in a factory on the edge of Brazil by people who would fight to the death for a week's supply of food, but if you buy into it, you're continuing this farcical charade.
Anyway, I'm off to bed. read more