Susan Moen, owner of downtown's Crystal Cave, has only been in business in Sarasota for three years--but she's been dealing in crystals more than two decades.

Moen, who previously had a shop, also called The Crystal Cave, in Massachusetts, said she decided to relocate Sarasota for the same reason many of us do: the weather. She found a storefront in Historic Downtown Village, near Fruitville Road and U.S. 301, and said she knew the space would be a perfect spot for her business. "There's lots of other cool shops here, and they're all women-owned businesses," Moen says. "And the community response has been great."

The Crystal Cave has five rooms filled to the brim with crystals and crystal-related gift items, like tarot card decks and oracle card decks. Moen also hosts tarot reading and crystal gridding workshops; she herself teaches classes on crystal healing and quartz formations and pendulums. 

"I've always been a rock hound, ever since I was a little girl," Moen says of her love of crystals. "It morphed into [an interest in] crystal healing when I started feeling certain things from certain stones many years ago."

Crystal healing, Moen explains, is based on the energy the stones give off. "They emanate an energy that comes from their absorption of the Earth's energy, the magma of the earth," she says. "We use different stones for different reasons--physical healing, spiritual healing, meditation, intentional purposes, superstition--some people even use them for superstitiuous purposes, as a good luck charm. But [my crystal healing] is based on science--I use the scientific reasons behind the formation of crystals in my work."

For people who are new to crystals and crystal healing, Moen encourages them to walk around the store and see what they're attracted to. "Your first sense that's activated is vision," she says, "so see what you're drawn to visually, then pick up [the crystal] and see if you have a physical reaction to it. That could be anything from feeling heat or coolness in your hand, or pulsing, or just little vibes. I purposefully don't put what metaphysical properties a stone has on it. People use their intuition."

The Crystal Cave is located at 1899B Fruitville Road, Sarasota; for more information, including classes and special events, visit crystalcave.me or call (941) 346-6203.