Crystal Alchemy Oracle, by Kate Mantello with illustrations by Amy Salomone
Rockpool Publishing, 1923208314, 128 pages, November 2025
Crystals and chakras share a natural harmony, both working through the subtle language of energy. The many crystals and chakras each vibrate at their own frequencies aligned with certain energetic states, which when attuned to can shift one’s state of being, such as deepen spiritual awareness, enhance emotional healing, or promote mental clarity. When used together, crystals can act as tuning tools for chakras, helping to clear blockages, amplify the flow of life force energy throughout the body, and activate the energy of each chakra.
In Crystal Alchemy Oracle, creator Kate Mantello, renown for her work in crystal therapy, brings the vibrational medicine of crystals into a beautifully-structured deck that guides readers in working with crystal energies for personal growth and transformation. Filled with a luminous fusion of crystal wisdom, energy healing, and spiritual insight, each card captures the essence of a specific crystal and chakra while also inviting readers into a meditative dialogue with their own intuition. And thus, the alchemical process begins!
“Life itself is built on the backbone of alchemy, the underlying principle that teaches us that the highest and purest expression of ourselves comes when our energetic offerings are of higher value than the energy we consume to create them. It is the process of turning our fears into strengths, knowledge into wisdom and shadows into light.”1
Within the guidebook Mantello offers plenty of insight about how to best work with this deck. She teaches readers how to understand and use the cards, provides insight on finding one’s own meaning for the cards, shares how to cleanse and protect them, guides how to use the cards intuitively, and offers spreads to use for this deck.
The deck is structured by chakra, which all have their own color. Going beyond the traditional seven chakras (Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, Crown), Mantello also includes the Soul Star Chakra and Earth Star Chakra. For each chakra, there’s four different cards, each represented by a crystal, bringing the deck to a total of 36 cards. The gilded red edges of the card make for a fun shuffle and visually appealing aesthetic.
My initial impression of the deck was that it is whimsical, light, and ethereal. When I first opened the deck and saw the rainbow of colors, I felt a tingle go up my spine, as though just holding the deck made my chakras come alive. The illustrations by Amy Salomone seem to shimmer with the living energy of the crystals themselves. Yet when I dove deeper into the deck, I saw that amid the beauty there was also plenty of deeper spiritual knowledge; it’s not all light and love – the shadow too has a place in this deck as a base to start our transformation with.
Salomone’s artwork, which is delicately layered in a collage-like format, evokes the natural attraction of each crystal while also capturing the chakra energy that the crystal represents. Filled with symbolism, each card has its own special energy that covers the full range of human emotion within the deck. It’s gorgeous how Salomone bridges anatomy, crystals, spheres of light, celestial objects, plants, animals, and sacred geometry to show the progression from the cards representing deep Earth through the human body up to the stars.
The soft yet radiant images create a surreal quality that evokes both the geological beauty of crystals and their metaphysical resonance. These are cards that I absolutely want to keep on an altar where I can see them over and over again to meditate on them daily. Each card feels like a sacred portal, providing the visual stimulus to activate the chakra energy.
One thing I love about Crystal Alchemy Oracle is how you can access the frequency and move through the alchemical process without needing to purchase or work with the actual crystal. This saves a lot of time, money, and energy that would otherwise be spent hunting for the right crystal; the deck is more than enough to activate the energy on its own, making it a potent yet practical tool to have on hand! This also provides new ways to learn about the crystal through Salomone’s symbolic depictions and Mantello’s oracle insights.
For each guidebook entry, Mantello has provided a spirit and shadow keyword, key energies, affirmation, healing opportunity, and crystal alchemy. The crystal alchemy section “includes practical suggestions and prompts” for working the crystal that highlight its properties based on “colour, mineral composition, energy and shape.”2
Together, Mantello’s insights provide plenty for readers to reflect on to assess the current energy in play. Being able to acknowledge the healing opportunity presenting itself and then also read the crystal alchemy section for guidance on what practical things can be done to realign this energy is very useful. I appreciate when a deck is direct yet leaves plenty of room for the reader’s intuition to be heard too, which is just what Mantello has made happen in Crystal Alchemy Oracle.
So far, I keep pulling Star Soul Chakra cards. Mantello explains how this chakra is a very high vibration, connecting acting as a “doorway through which you can connect with your higher self and the spiritual realm.”3 Crystals in this suit, such as Clear Quartz and Apophyllite, have shifted my attention to my greater life purpose and how reaching this potential requires releasing old trauma to allow for deep healing to occur. As I realign my direction right now, it actually feels good to rip the band aid off some wounds I’d been neglecting to truly look at and tend to with care. Based on this guidance, I am spending more time outside having quiet moments to listen for higher wisdom, opening up to the advice of my spirit guides and divine protectors.
Overall, Crystal Alchemy Oracle is a beautifully crafted deck that merges crystal guidance with energy work through the chakras. There’s so many ways one can work with this deck, including for divination purposes, deepening one’s spiritual connection, facilitating personal growth through inner wisdom, or to do energy work. It can serve as a daily source of affirmation, a companion in meditation, or a way to align one’s energy with specific intentions. The versatility of this deck makes it a wonderful, multi-purpose tool.
This oracle deck is ideal for readers who want to deepen their relationship with crystals, energetic anatomy, or intuitive healing. The combination of Mantello’s crystal therapy expertise and Salomone’s ethereal artistry creates a sublime experience that feels nurturing, radiant, and deeply empowering when reading with this deck. It’s perfect for healers, intuitives, and anyone drawn to the subtle conversation between crystals, body, and soul.
Alanna Kali is an astrologer, numerologist, and pioneer spirit that loves to explore life through the lens of depth psychology. She has a passion for studying the humanities and social trends. Her academic work is centered upon reuniting body, mind, and spirit through eco-psychology. She loves reading, spending time in nature, and travel.