Scientific break throughs are being discovered all the time,
With oils, you use them bodily. Bath, massage, compress..etc
With stones, you have to use your "mind". Hence ..your tripping into a spiritual battle right there.
There is a distinct difference between using an object for natural daily purposes, and to draw supernatural power. I would guess that everyone on the thread acknowledges this, but we're sort of dodging it. Medicinal mixes and oils can improve health, but the people selling crystals are promoting more than just medicine.
My theory on why people believe crystals "work:" The devil roams around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour. Spirits are
looking for ways that we will willingly yield ourselves.
We are curious and fascinated by understanding powers that we can't see. We have problems that aren't solved by ordinary logic and effort, so we try whatever people tell us works.
God has instructed us not to contact the dead, not to practice fortunetelling or spell-casting. There is a reason for this. He does not want us gullible, yielding to whatever unseen powers might be attracted by our openness.
It is not for obedience to rules that God tells us these things, but to protect us from being sucked into something more powerful than we can handle on our own strength.
When we assign power to something, we allow it to have power in our lives. Or at least, we allow a force behind it/assigned to it to have power.
It is not the crystal or the oil or the voodoo doll or the herb mix that causes a transfer in power. It is our minds and our yielded wills.