Crystals are an interesting creation.  There is an ongoing debate concerning whether or not the Crystal is a living being.  Perhaps, to understand the crystal as a 'life form' and study it from the perspective of it being a life form, we can have a better chance of noticing life on other planets, and not passing it by.  What if the crystal represented a lower life form of a form of life that was not a carbon based, bipedal fluid sack, such as ourselves? 

Wired: Science Creates an Almost Living Crystal

 

Below is a time lapse of crystals as they grow... 

 

An Interesting Experiment is below, where Dr. Emoto exposed Water Crystals to various human emotions.