With the Christmas and New Year's Eve approaching, each of us is thinking of gift ideas for our loved ones. Before the holidays, the market abounds with all sorts of eye-catching stuff. These include beautiful natural stones - either set in exquisite jewellery, or presented in their whimsical natural form. Those who know their crystals say that each of them has a message, carried through its unique vibration. Their perfect structure has a beneficial effect on our biobalance and on human health in general.

According to collectors and seekers of precious and semi-precious stones, Bulgaria is very rich in natural crystal deposits. And although the territory of Bulgaria is one of the most explored geological territories in Europe, there is still much to discover. That's why mineral seekers spend hours on end in the great outdoors.

Evgeni Vulev, an experienced mineral hunter, says that the most popular deposits are in the Madan, Rudozem and Zlatograd regions. Polymineralic rocks and polymetallic deposits abound there:

"In general, these crystals are not very common in nature, especially the combinations between them. For example, of crystals such as galena, sollerite, pyrite, chalcopyrite. Moreover, in Bulgaria we have an exceptional rarity - mirror galena. It looks as if it's surface has been pollished, but it's not - it comes out of nature this way. This is a crystal much sought after by collectors worldwide. Especially when it is of a large size and in combination with other minerals. Collectors from Japan, Australia contact us. European, US and Canadian crystal hunters come to Bulgaria to seek for minerals, although Bulgarian crystals reach their markets through the traders. But let it be known that the most beautiful mineral is not necessarily the most valuable. Such is the epidote crystal, one of the rarest - usually large and transparent crystals. Epidotes are some of my most prized specimens, which I have donated to the National Museum "Earth and People" in Sofia.

I have also donated finds of pygmatite and amethyst crystals - large and beautiful shapes that can now be seen in the museum. I also have a relatively rare cuprite from the Tsar Assen mine, which has been abandoned for 20 years. It is a mineral with pale red threads, also rare. I even found chrysocolla crystals in this mine, I collected as much as I could. When I returned a few days later, it was all taken out and ground as ore to extract copper. In fact, the main reason why minerals are preserved all over the world is collecting. The foundations of all great museums have been laid with donations from collectors."

The two largest International Mineral & Gem shows in Europe are in France in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, and in Munich, Germany. The two largest International Mineral & Gem shows in Europe are in France in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, and in Munich, Germany. The longest is in the USA, lasting nearly a month. There are also shows in Asia, many of which have been attended by Simona Pozharevska, whose father is a geological scientist and she has become an expert in minerals: "Since I was a child, I have been travelling everywhere with my father, searching for crystals and visiting exhibitions to present crystals from Bulgaria's nature. And from these exhibitions we bring foreign crystals to Bulgaria. I have hundreds of thousands of stones at home, I will not have enough time to list them.

There are stones that have a positive impact on family happiness and well-being.

It's nice to have them discreetly arranged at the dinner table where we gather for the feast. Crystals bring people together, they soothe and cleanse the energy. For instance, I sometimes give as a present mangano calcite, which is the crystal of love and family. Amethyst on the other hand is a good crystal to put in kids' room to bring them peaceful sleep. I wish everyone to be surrounded by positive, good energy."

I have a genuine petrified palm from the Rhodope Mountains, this is one of my most interesting new finds," says Dimitar Goranko from Sofia, who is also dedicated to crystals and nature:

"We find stones mostly in the Rhodope Mountains, and we have special places which we keep in deep secret. There was a tropical sea 20 - 30 million years ago. Years. The palm tree was buried by ash and dust when a volcano erupted. This year we have another very big find - a huge ruby mined in the Rila Mountains. This is a gemstone that is extremely difficult to find. We donated this ruby to the Museum "Earth and People" and it will be part of the exhibition of emeralds mined in our mountains.

For days on end we have been searching, hoping to find at least a small speck of ruby, but we got lucky and in three days we found much more than that. The museum specialists were very happy and thanked us, they said somebody else would have sold such a large ruby but we donated it. In one publication I wrote that this was among the largest rubies ever found in Bulgaria. For the holiday I would like to wish all people to have more faith and love, nothing is achieved without them. Love is everything, if there is love, then a person is healthy and his life is full of meaning and harmony."