Charging and Cleansing your Crystals
Crystals themselves are like the ingredients of a delicious cake. Owning the ingredients isn't enough. The magic is in the preparation of these unique ingredients. Combining them and mixing them in the right quantity all with the focus of creating something spectacular. Aristotle once said - “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” - this could not be more accurate when referring to a collection of beautiful and unique crystals.You need to allow your energy to merge and interact with the energy given off by your healing crystals. This can only be done when you look at your crystals with gratitude and attention.
This relationship allows you to feed your positive energy into the crystal, this energy then interacts with the crystal's pattern of energy and neutralises both your negative energy and your unwanted energy feeding pure clean and positive energy back to you. This feedback loop is the very essence of a healthy crystal collection.
With the above in mind, you need to collect your crystals together and actively and regularly engage with them in a two way interactive relationship. The crystal requires you to feed it with this emotional and spiritual energy to function - it does not ‘create’ energy but rather restructures energy, amplifies energy or molds energy.
This is the cornerstone of crystal healing and is often one of the biggest reasons why a person might spend their entire life around crystals and not experience any of their significant healing benefits. Sharing a physical space with crystals is different to choosing to work with them and their energies.
Another reason why your crystals may stop working over time even if you have been interacting with them might also be around the fact that their energy becomes blocked and you need to wash your crystals or more specifically, you need to wash the negative energy from your crystals.
You can lay your crystals in a dark place and leave them there… for years. This will help both charge and cleanse them but surely there are faster ways to charge and cleanse our frequently used precious gemstones.
The longer you charge your crystal with additional energy, the longer it serves your purpose working with both more vibrancy and for a longer period of time before you might need to consider charging it and cleansing the crystal again.
Charging can also increase the intensity of any intention placed into the stone. There are numerous ways to charge crystals, but the following are the core techniques to be familiar with.
Moonlight
Cleansing crystals and recharging crystals with moon energies is a fairly common practice.
Working with the energies of the moon gives us subtle tones of feminine energies. These energies are ideal to help one through transitions and lend insight to situations where introspection is required. If you feel you might need this sort of help - cleansing crystals with a full moon would be both the most practical and helpful way to go.
Choosing to charge your crystals with a full moon is sometimes called a moon bath. If you choose to do this though, you should be aware that different phases of the moon are associated with a host of different energies which are used when cleansing and charging crystals.
If you plan on using the energies of the moon to charge your crystal, you should take some time to learn about the subtle differences in energies which each phase of the moon can provide.
A full moon amplifies a waning energy which is an energy of release. The new moon provides energies focused on growth. Each phase can be used to help enhance the energy that you charge your crystal with.
Sunlight
Sunlight contrasts moonlight with a brighter white light directly on the natural surface of the crystal. Sunlight is considered a more masculine energy that is vibrant, strong and provides an energy that strengthens, feeds and helps us move forward.
Beware, some crystals can be sensitive to light and sunlight can cause the colour to fade whilst others can be sensitive to water.
Assuming you have a crystal that is not sensitive to either, you can use the water method. To do this, bathe the crystal in a bowl of fresh water, or you can use sea salt to create a salt water solution. After bathing the crystal, dry it and place it in sunlight to further charge it.
Other methods can be used in conjunction with sunlight to charge your crystals, this includes running water.
How much time this takes depends on how much sunlight there is, what kind of sunlight it is, the kind of stone you have, and how much you want to charge it. This process may take a few minutes or a lot longer, depending on what your circumstances are and how much you want to charge the stone. Simply hold your crystal and feel if it has been charged enough for you.
Eclipses
Eclipses provide us with the opportunity to charge our crystals with rare energies which are often associated with dramatic change. Charging your crystals with the energy from an eclipse will invite change into your life.
Lunar eclipse energies result in internal shifts which result in radical changes within yourself. Solar eclipses invite external changes. If you do make the decision to charge your crystals with eclipse energy, be prepared for the change that this energy will bring.
Clear Quartz is the ideal stone for eclipse charging. Choose one that can be kept close to your skin, like a pocket stone, so that the energies stay near you as you go through the process of change.
Place and light a candle outside before the eclipse and then place your crystal besides it. As you smudge the crystal with a sacred herb, set the intention of change you want to manifest. Hold this intention as the eclipse passes over the crystal.
Palo Santo
Smudging is an ideal way to remove negative energies and recharge crystals.
Smudge sticks to remove negative energies from a crystal before charging them. To use Palo Santo:
- Collect your crystals and place them together in an area.
- Light the Palo Santo stick and allow for it to burn for approximately 1 minute.
- Use the smoke from the Palo Santo stick to envelop your crystals.
- Once the stick has burned out completely, you can consider your crystals completely cleansed and you can reset them with fresh intentions.
Burial
To remove heavy energies from your crystals, you can return them to Mother Earth for rejuvenation and healing. Some choose to bury their crystals directly in the Earth whilst others choose to place their crystals in a box which is buried for a later retrieval. The length of time associated with how long it is buried is all dependent on how much you feel it may need to be cleansed.
If you feel a crystal energy is too heavy or if you feel it may have been preprogrammed with poor intention, giving it back to Mother Earth to be cleansed may be one of the most certain ways to cleanse the crystal.
DISCLAIMER Energy work and Crystal healing are not to be considered as a substitute for traditional medical treatment. If either you, or someone you know, has a serious health issue, you or they should consult their own doctor and/or other appropriate professional medical practitioner, and make complementary healing part of a complete health care program. Customers should be advised that crystals and stones are not recommended for small children and they should only be used by children under adult supervision. Crystals and stones can have sharp edges. Small stones and crystals should never be left near babies and toddlers.