How To Cleanse And Purify Your Crystals !
There are different methods of cleansing and preparing your crystals before being able to use them. Here are a few basic ways to Purify, Preparing and Charging your crystals before use.
Physical Cleansing – With Water.
In order to use a crystal for healing or any other purpose, it must first of all be cleansed. When you cleanse a crystal, you get rid of all kinds of super-fluous vibrations that are not needed for the type of use you want it for. And since crystals come fron the earth, when you buy or find one, there may be mud or dust, oil or debris attached to it. So the first step is to physically clean your new crystal.
Usually, the way you clean it depends on the type of crystal. If you are not sure about it’s properties, try first of all to use water. The empirical method is that any crystal with a rate of 6 or more on the Mohs Scale Of Mineral Hardness can be safely cleaned with runing water from a tap or river. The crystals that can be safely cleaned with water include those beloning to the quartz family (clear quartz, smokey quartz (or cairngorm), pink quartz, amethysts, chalcedony, aventurine, etc). And gemstones ( diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires).
Other crystals are soluble in water –
Those with a low score on the Mohs scale. Same are so low on the scale that even a short immersion can begin the deterioration process. If you are unsure about where a crystal is situated on the Mohs scale, a guideline is that those ending in “ite” tend to be soluble in water.
These include fluorite, calcite, malachite, halite, sodalite and rhodizite. These must not be exposed to water. If you are not certain about the reaction of a crystal to water, then try the following test – take a steel knife and try to scratch the surface of the crystal. If you succeed, then there is a fair chance that it is soluble.
If you buya crystal with mud on it, it is likely that it still has debris from the matrix in which it grew. The matrix is the part of the earth where the crystal “grows”. It is filled with mineral nutrients. Gently remove the matrix with a dry brush. Be careful that the crystal may be more delicate than the matrix in which it is found. The matrix is usually yellow and hard, rather like a cake on top of the crystal. If water and the brush are not successful, it can be removed by soaking it in a bowl of oxalic acid for 2 to 5 days. The proportions are one part oxalic acid and two parts water.
Crystal “Grows” –
It is filled with mineral nutrients. Gently remove the matrix with a dry brush. Be careful that the crystal may be more delicate than the matrix in which it is found.
Another method of cleansing crystals is to immerse them in water and add a little sea salt. Adding salt enhances the electrical properties which encompass them. Use a non-metallic bowl and 1 or 2 tablespoons of non-ionised sea salt per litre. Soak the crystals for 24 to 48 hours. You can use or add mountains water, rainwater, mineral water or water from a sacred spring. If the water becomes too murky, it should be changed. Pearls and angelate are sensitive to salt. Leave your crystals to dry in the open air. Sunlight or moonlight are used by some people for this.
Other types of Cleansing:
Once the crystal has been physically cleaned, it needs to be cleansed spiritually to remove un-wanted vibrations. This is so that the latter do not interfere with your intentions and the way you wish to use the crystal. Crystals pick up other energies without discrimination. Also cleanse your crystals after using them in a seance with someone else or by yourself. Crystals worn as jewellery can also be cleansed from time to time.
For this there is no need to immerse your crystals in water for days on end. The ones that are not soluble in water can be cleansed with a little salt for 7 hours. If you have performed a difficult exorcism with your crystals, then you can clean them for 3 to 4 days or longer. A plastic bowl is recommended for this kind of cleansing-glass is all right, but can chip the crystals. Cover the crystals with two centimeters of water, preferably at room temperature. Mountain water is the best, since it is full of minerals and vitamins. Sea water is also very good. You can use distilled water for refined work.
Another cleansing method is to bury the crystals. Burying the crystals in earth is another alternitive. A hole should be made in a secure place, in which you can deposit your crystals.
“Incense”:
Is another technique used for cleansing crystals. Just as sacred herbs are burned and used to purify places and people’s aura’s, they also used to purify crystals. The latter are passed through the smoke to be cleansed and purified. You can use a mixture of dry sage, cedar, lavender and/or herbs, which cleanse the crystals latticework and energy field. You can cleanse the crystal before or after a treatment session. It can also be done with the smoke from incense. Fumigation should last for 3 to 7 minutes. The smoke can be spread out with a small ventilator. Never vetilate the smoke or put your hand in the smoke while cleansing the crystals, because this would make you absorb negative energy. Do it to yourself afterwards to remove all the negative energy, especially on your hands. You can also wash your hands in saltwater.
Yet another way of cleansing your crystals is by using your Breath. Take the crystals in your hand and breathe slowly to prepare yourself and concentrate on the crystal. Breathe in deeply and focus on the crystal you are cleansing. Lift it up and breathe out again. Visualize the static and ambient energy that is being driven away. Repeat the operation until you are satisfied or when you feel, begin to feel dizzy.
You can also use energy to cleanse your crystals. Several methods exist to channel the energy necessary for purifying them. One of these consists in focusing via deep and relaxing breathing. Take the crystal in both hands and visualize the energy flow.
Draw on universal energy first of all, from your favourite vertical source, then visualize this energy shining through the crystal. Another method is to channel the light through the crystals, through your hands via your crown and heart chakras. As it flows from your chakras to your hands, visualize the energy passing into the crystal.
A little advice on the sources of energy for this type of cleansing:
Energies of the Cosmos or the Earth. Energy of gold – the energy of divine compassion. The clear light that is the energy of pure creation. Reiki energy ( level 1 cleanses and charges, level 2 sets in motion).
Charging And Activating Crystals:
When you cleanse a crystal, you remove all the negative energy that may be in it in order to purify it. When you charge a crystal, you direct the use of the energy that the crystal is going to take. You energize the crystal for a spesific purpose or use. Activating a crystal increases its capacity for energy and light. When a crystal is activated, it opens up the dormant energy to its maximum capacity. Activating a crystal awakens its matrix, which increases the spectrum of light where energy is found.
In the same way as there are several methods for cleansing and purifying, there are different ways of charging and activating. Here are some general ideas on the ways to charge your purified crystal:
Sunlight also charges them, thanks to its ultraviolet rats which are known as “light radiation”.
Since crystals come out of the Earth, they are filled with feminine energy, the Yin. They have taken their nutrients from the ground – gas, water and different minerals – in order to develop as crystals. When they are taken from the earth, they lose this Yin energy and need to receive the Yang energy as a source of renewal. The ultraviolet light from the sky and the whole spectrum of light restore the worn out energy within the crystals capacity to absorb light ( its crystalline energy structure plays a big role in this), the level of energy left inside it, and the willpower of the person who manupilates it. As a general rule, 4hours in the sun once a week keeps a small crystal energetic and alert.
However, there are some that require much more time to be recharged. You can test this by putting a crystal in the sun for a week and then holding it in your hand. If your crystal is not threatened by the sun, solar energy is a strong charging method. Sunlight is benificial for improving the parts of your life that vitality, your revenues and love. Put your crystal in the sunshine, then set out your intentions.
Although your crystal already contains its own, unique vibratory energies, the latter may be low or exhausted. Charging a crystal is like restarting a low battery with cables. You need to charge your crystals after having purified them and before using them for a specific objective or when their vibrations seem to be feeble.
Charging is easy –
You give your stone a task and directives. Depending on the stone and your objectives, try to limit your intention to a sole task. For example, love or psychic visions with an amethyst etc.
Moonlight is another option for positive charging, particulary for moonstones and milky stones such as milky quartz, opals and pearls. For lunar-type energies ( mystical, magical, inner fulfillment), put your crystal outside ( in water if desired ) under the light of a full moon for several hours. For slightly different purposes, put your crystal beneath a waxing moon (before the full moon) for increase, such as pay rise or a new start, and under a waning moon (after the full moon) for decrease, such as a debt or an illness.
Passing the crystal through incense impregnated with the same intention can help to give an immense stimulation for power. For example, a kind of incense associated with the energies of love (lavender, rose or apple blossom) create a good charging element for a stone used to encourage these energies (pink quartz, emerald).
Crystals which incense power, such as malachite, may be charged with resin. You can also choose an incense based on planetary or elementary associated. For instence, use an incense associated with Venus, or incense associated with an earth element for crystals having the same association.
There are particular moments in the solar cycle which possess specific energies. The autumn equinox is associated with the harvest and you may like to charge your crystals at that time in order to fulfill your dreams. The vernal equinox is linked to growth.
You can bury your crystal for a few hours to obtain earthly energies (strength, magnetism, banishment of negativity). If you have no garden, a pot filled with earth will do the job. You can charge the earth on which you live with crystalline energy by burying your crystals in earth. (But don’t forget where you have them buried! A plan might be a good idea). Some people like to programme their crystals, then bury them in their garden to help to have a plentiful harvest. If you like to charge your crystals in preparation for this, you can bury them in dead flowers. (If you use a potpurri, ensure that it does not contain artificial scent).
Provided that the ground is not frozen, you can bury them at any time of the year next to a tree. This may be your favourite tree, or else a tree associated with a specific positive value. Oak trees symbolize strength, junipers purification and pine trees, many of which are cultivated, are associated with healing.
For a powerful charge ( strength, breaking stubborn energies), put your crystal out in a storm where it can absorb the negative ions from the lightning. If you purify your crystals in lightning, this will be very strongly charged when you take them back.
Music and sound also have a charging effect on crystals. Put your crystal near a bell and strike the bell gently several times. This gives a harmonizing effect to the crystal. If you enjoy singing and you sing reguraly, do so in the presence of your crystals, especially if you want to use them as part of your meditation. In the same way, different instruments are associated with different vibrations, as are the different notes in the scale. You can carry out some research to find out the correct associations with your crystals and play live or recorded music to them. You can also use a tuning fork or a “singing bowl”, which is a crystal bowl that gives out a heavenly sound when stroked correctly.
Another method for charging crystals is the use of pyramids. The Ancient Egyptions believed that the shape of a pyramid collected spiritual and magical powers when used correctly, and liberated energy. Like balancing effect on the electromagnetic field of our crystals can be charged.
There are also glass pyramids made to charge crystals. Since they are hollow, they can be used in the same way as the metal ones, with the crystals either inside or held above it. Crystal pyramids are also used for charging crystals. They can be made from a wide veriety of crystals. Some are made from fine Austrian crystal, which reflects the rainbow spectrum when you charge your crystal.
Give it your own energy –
You can transfer energy into your crystal in many ways to give it power. You can meditate while visualizing the energy that is flowing into it. You can hold the crystal and charge it with your own breath. You can also charge it during religious rites and rituals by placing it in front of you or on an altar and directing energy towards it with your sacred tools.
Concentrate on the positive while your energy “connects” with your crystal. Positive Affirmations are very good for this. While you are holding your crystal, you can say, “I am protecting by the divine light and love of the Universe”.
Crystals and Metaphysics
There are thousands of kinds of crystals on the planet. It would take a life time to list them all. But here are some of the main ones and their virtues.
Types of Crystals and their use –
Agate:
A wide varry of colors. Also known as quartz stone. The colors vary as well as the spectrum. Used for spiritual healing and for cleansing your chakras. It allows you to look into the mirror of your soul.
Amethyst:
Light to dark purple. Protection. Improves intuition and helps you to remember your dreams. Stimulates the hormones, calms the nervous system and treats disorders of the digestives system, heart and hearing. Goor for insomnia, the bones, stomach, skin and teeth.
Angelite / Anhydrite:
Pale blue. Helps the balance between the physical body and the spiritual aura. Also used for physical healing and for communicating.
Aventurine:
Various shades of green. Used for emotional balance. Also to treat disorders of the lungs, heart, adrenal glands and muscles
Blue Dumortierite:
Denim blue – can also be purple and pinkish brown. Works on the emotions and crearivity. Operates with the third eye and psychic research.
Calcite:
Usually white or colorless with tinges of yellow, orange, blue, pink, red, green, brown, black or grey. Occasionally iridescent. Heightens vibratory levels and boosts faster healing in the body.
Cornaline:
Colors ranging from orange to coral, red and brown. Considered to be a “good luck” stone. Protects against anger, rage and jealousy. Helps to express a person’s desires. Can calm sorrow and physically heal wounds, rejuvenates tissues and cells, and trear colds, allergies and neuralgia. Can help to stimulate sexual desire.
Cat’s Eye:
Colors ranging honey to yellow, green and brown. Stimulates intuition and awareness. Dissipates unwanted energy. Also used as protection.
Apatite:
Typically green but can also be yellow, blue, brown, reddish brown and purple. Apatite is a stone for equilibrium. It helps to balance emotional, mental, physical and spiritual bodies. Also used to lose weight.
Apophyllite:
Transparent, white, green, yellow, pink and purple and more rarely brown. Used to conserve and rejuvenate energy. Aids the awareness of the highest levels of spiritual consciousness.
Aquamarine:
Light blue. A stone of joy and happiness. Protects the traveller. Helps to see through people. Good for ears, nose and throat, the spleen, heart and immune system, as well as respiratory allergies.
Aragonite:
White, colorless but with tinges of red, yellow, orange and brown. Promotes patience and stability. Also used for loss of hair and the skin.
Celestite:
Light blue to steel blue and grey, sometimes grained with yellow and red tints. Generates positivity, helps to relieve worry and despair, and boosts intellegence.
Chalcedony:
(Represents a large family of stones with many shared properties).
Colors range through the entire spectrum. Includes agates, jaspers, heliotropes, cornelions and onyx. Helps to eliminate fear, hysteria, depression, mental illness and sadness. Reduces high temperature. Good for the eyes. Encourages stability in the practice of rituals.
Chiastolite or Cross Stone:
Colors range from white to brown, green, red and orange with the visible shape of a cross. Stone of harmony, balance and mental, intellectual and emotional stability. Good for the blood, veins and respiratory problems. Balances chakra energy.
Chlorite:
Mainly green but can be white, yellow, red, lavender or black. One of the most favourable healing stones for positivity of all kinds.
Citrine:
Ranges from sunshine yellow to orange. Known as the stone of expression. It dissipates anger, gives optimism, helps the digestion and mental clarity.
Diamond:
All spectra of white. The more light that shines through the stone, the more luminous white is given off. There are some very rare diamonds which are yellow, brown, black, pink or blue. Known as the stone of innocence and purity. Attracts positivity and good luck, aids creativity, improves psychic capacities and encourages harmony and equilibrium.
Dolomit:
Mainly white, but can be yellow, pink, grey, brown or black. This stone is specifically destined to cure depression. It helps to relieve sadness. Used to align and balance the various energies and to remove blockages. May be used for leaks of energy from chakras. Also helps to reconstitute muscles, blood, bones, teeth, nails and hair.
Emerald:
Various shades of green with somr featuring yellow and blue. Known as the “stone of success” in “love”. Brings domestic happiness and at the same time loyalty and sensitivity. Brings harmony to the different aspects of a person’s life. Helps communication. Good for fertility and eye sight.
Fluorite:
Ranges from the characteristic mauve to blue, green, yellow, brown, pink, black, reddish orange and colourless. Warns that others are affected by unwanted energies. Balances energy and enhances well being. Absorbs conflicting energies and because of this, is good for use in massages.
Geodes:
Various colors, frim transparent to white, mauve, blue and smokey grey. Geodes need to be opened to see their color. Help you to see the general picture of a situation, so that you take a decision before things get out of control. So touch them and at the same time remember something.
Garnet:
All shades of red, from red to reddish brown, reddish purple and very dark, almost black red. The stone of health. Changes negative energy into positive energy. Helps the circulation, as well as the lungs and heart. Deloxifies and strengthens the blood. Helps to fight exhaustion and inflammation and restores balance.
Galena:
Various shades from lead grey to silver and black. Considered to be a stone of harmony. Reduces ideas and feelings of self-limitation.
Howlite:
White with black or grey veins. Encourages tranquility, calm and patience, as well as prudent and positive actions. Used to eliminate pain, anger and stress. Deters impertinence and courages stability.
Hyalite or Water Opal:
Hyalite is a white opal with a glassy appearance which reflects the whole color spectrum. Helps a person to progress and to find peace. Increases self-esteem and the chance of winning money and stimulates conversation. It contributes to the balance of male and female energies in the body. Helps mental clarity.
Iolite:
Colors range from blue to violet, with the possibility of seeing yellow through transparency. Resembles s sapphire. Used to strengthen the aura, balances the Yin and the Yang. Yang, awakenss knowledge about oneself and improves intuition.
Indicolite:
A blue tourmaline, of a deeper blue than other blue stones. Used to reinforce communication skills, works the third eye and the throat chakra, facilitates psychic awareness.
Jasper:
Ranges from brick red to reddish brown with yellow, white, grey and/or black veins or spots. Used for power and protection. Gives the power to express oneself and to gain independece. It is a stone that elevates people and is good for those who are shy, a warrior’s stone, used to fight against injustice. Keeps people down-to-earth.
Kyanite:
Mainly blue, but also exists in other colors, such as white, green, grey and black or colorless. Balances and opens up chakras. Helps communication on all levels, guides conscious energy, promotes tranquility, stimulates the immune system, helps to express and remember dreams.
Labradorite:
Multi-coloured. The color changes according to the angle of refracted light. The base of the stone is silvery grey, veined with blue, pink, green and yellow. Protects the aura, cleanses and balances, aligns subtle bodies, transforms intuition and intellect so as to carry things out. Clears the eyes, helps to cure gout, colds, rheumatic fever and stabilise blood pressure.
Lapis – Lazuli:
Different shades of blue, same which have white attributes and some with pyrite yellow. It is said that this stone existed before the beginning of time. Used to gain access to these mysterious realms, based on ancient texts. Stimulates awareness, good for the kidneys, liver, bladder and stomach. Helps restore the sense of smell and to remember dreams.
Malachite:
A stone with stripes that range from light to very dark green. Excellent for clarifying emotions and improving physical capacities. Liberates from old troumas. Good for asthma, swollen joints, tumours, torn or stained muscles.
Lepidiolite:
A kind of mica. Exists in mauve, pink, yellow, green or white. A stone that assists in the transitions between body and spirit. Allows change to take place gently and with hope and acceptance. Connects the heart with the soul and is used to locate energy blockages. Prevents nightmares. Good for aching muscles, fatigue, stress, wrinkles and the nerves.
Moonstone:
Milky color with a bluish or yellow tinge. May also be transculent with soft pink or yellow patina. Carries energy from the moon, which helps to balance emotions. The blue moonstone facilitates telepathy, balances the Yin and the Yang, and aids spiritual growth. The white moonstone protects against mental disorders. Protects woman and is by nature a stone of renewal. Absorbs pain and illness, feminine health problems, regenerates tissues and organs and takes care of the reproductive system.
Obsidian:
Usually black with insertions of greyish white, resembling snowflakes. This is why it is called “snowflake” “obsidian”. Used for protection against negative comminication and overcome obsessions. Relieves pain and helps blood circulation, particulary in the hands and feet.
Opals:
Opals come in many colours – they can be white, blue, pink or green for water opals, or orange to cherry red for fire opals. Each color is linked to a specific part of the body or chakra. Each one possesses its own metaphysical attribute corresponding to its colours. The benefits of using opals are, in general, to encourage intraspection and imagination, awake intuition and improve clear – sightedness. It is also used as a tool for expression.
Bornite (Peacock ore):
Brown or black, typically with a dark tinge of purple/blue and a fracture copper – coloured surface. Has a metallic shine. Brings hope and boosts the morale. Used to treat chakras and make them work both together and individually. Protects from exterior negativity. Assists construction of the body by renewing growth and developing cells in a perfect manner.
Peridot:
Lime green, yellowish green and olive green. Treats and relieves emotional stress, depression and anger, cleanses the lungs, heart, lymphs and torso, helps to combat fear and jealousy. Used for renewal and renaissance, intuition, inspires healing and fights against infections and flu. Good for preventing nightmares and strengthens eyesight. Also used to reduce weight.
Tiger’s Eye:
Rich brown and gold, with golden and brown stripes, resembling a tigers eye. Offers protection, clarity and courage, gives power, integrity and willpower. An excellent stone of stability, giving strength in difficult times. Helps with hyperactivitu, manic depression and immaturity, creates orders from chaos, and enables one to see without illusions. Good for the eyes, the reproductive system, nocturnal vision, broken bones, wounds, bruises, the colon, digestion and the stomach. Helps to relieve pain.
Topaz:
Although mainly known for its blue color, topaz exists in yellow, brown, rainbow green, red, grey, pink and colourless. Encourages a practical mind. A stone of expression with positivity and joy. Helps to maintain faith towards the state of enlightenment. Restores loss of taste, heals wounds and rashes. Good for disorders of the liver, gall bladder and endocrine glands.
Tourmaline:
Many varieties of color, each of which has a specific use. Each color corresponds to a chakra. Black repels negativity. Blue is for communication and the third eye. Brown cleanses the aura. Pink brings love and joy. Green opens the chakra of the heart. Orange improves creativity. Purple gives protection from dark bodies. Bright red is for unconditional love. Yellow enhances intelligence. Good for the nervous system and against toxins in the blood or lymphs, resentment, migrains, burns, asthma, arthritic pain, swellings and paralysis.
Black Obsidian:
Dark green, dark brown or black. Encourages stability and protects against negative energy.
Black Tourmaline:
Black, can be marbled with grey or brown. Protection on all levels. Repels and purifies negative energy. Stimulates the adrenal glands and the reflexology points of the lower back. Used to treat arthritis, heart diseases and dyslexia.
Heliotrope:
Varies from dark green to greenish black with red markings. Stability, concentration, protection and prosperity. Relieves anxiety and depression. Works with the blood and bone marrow to strenghten the blood. Also good for female hormone imbalance.
A Thousand Words 