Crystal healing

Crystal healing is a recurring alternative treatment in Andy Warhol’s diaries, moving from conspicuous objects he wears to a session he describes as physically effective. His account captures both the appeal of a practice that promised relief without conventional manipulation and the moment his skepticism gave way to belief, while the surrounding entries record persistent anxiety about illness and medical treatment.

Crystals as Everyday Objects

Warhol says he always wears two crystals, one called a “vitalizer” and another; both look, to him, like diaphragms. He identifies them as Harmonics and notes that they are manufactured by Dr. Reese’s son. The crystals are not merely props from an isolated appointment: his phrasing presents them as part of his regular routine, portable objects he keeps close to his body.

That habit gives crystal healing a material presence in the diaries. The named “vitalizer” suggests a promise of bodily support, while the diaphragm-like appearance makes the treatment’s objects unusually concrete. Warhol records their look and origin, but does not explain how he uses each one or what effects he attributes to them individually.

A Session at Bernsohn’s

In the morning, Warhol persuades Stuart Pivar to accompany him to see the crystal doctor. Pivar questions why Warhol would visit such practitioners if he is supposed to be smart, making skepticism part of the scene rather than an outside judgment. At Bernsohn’s, they meet a visiting American doctor who lives in Japan and has brought a new, large, round crystal intended for rolfing—a form of treatment involving the kneading of muscles.

The doctor tries the crystal on Warhol and instructs him to imagine white light and white arrows. The doctor and Bernsohn stand in a circle around him with their hands raised, while Pivar watches in disbelief. Warhol records the arrangement of bodies, the visualization, and Pivar’s reaction, but does not describe the physical sensations of the session or claim at that point that it cured a particular ailment. The episode presents the treatment as a structured ritual, not simply as an object being applied to the body.

From Experiment to Conviction

In January 1987, Warhol returns to Bernsohn while suffering from a cold. He says he does not tell Bernsohn about it, but Bernsohn detects congestion and works on him with crystals, including long, thin ones. Warhol reports that his cold is completely gone when he leaves. Unlike the earlier account, which details the procedure without declaring a result, this visit ends with an explicit change in his confidence: he says that, for the first time, he completely believed in the treatment.

The practical exchange that follows keeps the account from becoming a simple testimonial. Bernsohn asks to raise his price by ten dollars, and Warhol refuses; Bernsohn then proposes a five-dollar increase, to which Warhol gives a reluctant response. The negotiation places payment and the practitioner’s purchases of clothes and records beside Warhol’s newly reported experience of relief. Belief arrives, but it remains within the ordinary friction of a paid service.

Illness, Uncertainty, and Treatment

The crystal episodes sit within a diary shaped by Warhol’s fear of illness. He was especially afraid of cancer and could interpret a headache or freckle as a possible sign of it. In 1977, he underwent a neck biopsy under local anesthesia; before receiving the result, he described the wait as a period in which his days might be numbered. The result was good news, and he later went to church to give thanks. These entries establish a wider context of bodily vigilance and uncertainty, not a direct cause for his interest in crystals.

The diaries also record a separate anxiety about the safety of treatment. After learning that Robert Hayes’s boyfriend had a concealed illness described at the time as “gay cancer,” Warhol worried that Janet Sartin might have used the same needle on him and said he would stop going to her. This concern is distinct from the crystal sessions: the diary does not say that crystals involved needles or that Warhol sought them because of this fear. Read together, the episodes show a person seeking explanations and relief while remaining alert to the risks and uncertainties he associated with care. The January report that his cold had disappeared marks the point at which crystal healing, for him, seemed to offer more than reassurance.