Cleansing and Charging Your Crystals

In order to receive the most benefit that your new crystals can offer you should cleanse them before using them. Most crystals absorb energies, and your new crystals have been handled by many people before they found their way to you. Who knows what they’ve ‘picked up’ on their journeys? If you ask 20 people how they cleanse their crystals you’re likely to receive 20 different answers. Me? I like simple. I cleanse mine by immersing them in running water and visualizing any residual energies being whisked away. I like to use actual streams as often as I can, but in a pinch you can run them under water from your kitchen sink, or anywhere else where you can concentrate undisturbed¬¬ for a few minutes. Like I said – I like easy. So – now you have some very pretty stones that are clean and ready to be re-charged. Again, I like easy so most of the time I leave them to dry in the sun and/or moon (full-spectrum lighting works as well) for half a day or so. Alternatively, you can soak them in a bowl with flowers, like rose petals or carnations for 24 hours – the crystals’ negativity is removed and it is charged by the plant essences. On the other end of the spectrum, when I’m going to be using a stone for a major undertaking (like healing, or as an offering) I charge them with each of the 4 elements: Earth – by burying* in the earth or in sea salt or soaking in sea-salt water (caution – salt is not safe for all stones - Lapis Lazuli, Halite, , Malachite, Selenite, Turquoise, Hematite, Opal , Pyrite and probably some others can be damaged by salt – when in doubt err on the side of caution); Air – by exposing to incense or through smudging; Water – by soaking in a natural water source, or in bottled water in a pinch; Fire – by passing through smoke from a fire, or from a candle in a pinch. OK – you have your cleaned and charged crystals. All that’s left is to tell them what you expect them to do. Let’s go back to ‘easy’. Find a place where you can sit undisturbed for a few minutes. Clear your mind of the happenings of the day. Concentrate on what you wish your crystal to do. Hold your crystal between your hands, rolling the crystal back and forth a few times. Then hold the stone to your face, inhale deeply through your nose, then exhale slowly through your mouth, onto your crystal. Another method is to place the stone on a piece of paper with your intent written/pictured on it, or on a picture of the person your trying to help (yourself is fine!). This should be left for 24 hours. Voila’! You’re good to go! *It’s important to not only mark where you bury your stone, but to remember to dig it up again – preferably before you go home – especially if home is about 300 miles away! Can you believe that after an entire year in a very popular State Park I was actually able to retrieve them?!