Cleansing Your Crystals…

If you’re new to Crystals, you might be wondering why you should cleanse them; it’s hard to imagine how they can get dirty. If this is you, read on for the hows & whys of cleansing Crystals. If you’re familiar with cleansing, just skip down to where the various methods are listed for a refresher course 🙂
Why cleanse your Crystals? Whether you use yours for programming, or you just like to wear them, it’s important to keep them cleansed on a regular basis. Let’s say you don’t actively “work” with your Stones, but you like to wear them, either for protection against negative energies or perhaps you just like the way your Crystal pendant looks on that chain around your neck. Either way, after wearing a Clear Quartz Crystal for a day (or holding one in your pocket), you’ll probably come into contact with some negative energies, especially if you wear it at work. Not only that, but you might also be feeling some negative emotions yourself at some point during the day.
Crystals have a tendency to absorb the energies around them. This is especially true for Quartz Crystal, which makes it so great to work with; it has wonderful properties of focusing & amplifying energies that are sent to it.
There are only a few Stones that don’t absorb negative energy & don’t need to be cleansed regularly. These include, but are not limited to Citrine, Carnelian, & Kyanite.
There is a multitude of ways in which you can cleanse your Crystals. With each method, visualisation can help in the process. Certain Crystals have the ability to cleanse other Crystals, Carnelian is one of these. If you keep a Carnelian in a bag of tumbled Stones you will never have to cleanse them using any other method. However, Carnelian cannot cleanse itself, so be sure to cleanse your Carnelian regularly.
Running Water:
Hold your Stones under running water to remove negative energies. Using visualisation can help the process; to do this, simply hold your Stone under a running tap, or in a stream, & imagine the moving water washing your Crystal clean of all negative energies. You cannot use this method for fragile stones such as Azurite, Sulfur, Kyanite, Zeolite, among others, or for some jointed Crystals like clusters or twins, as the water may break them apart.
Salt Water:
Salt water is very popular, as it’s a very cleansing mineral. Fill a bowl of water, add salt, & then place your Crystal in it. Some people visualise the Crystal releasing old energies out into the salt water; again, don’t use this method with delicate ones. Both salt & water can damage your Crystals if left on them for too long, so if you use this method, make it short & sweet.
Salt:
To avoid the degrading nature of water to Stones, you could choose a method of cleansing where the Stone is placed in a bowl of dry salt. This is a good method for most; the only thing to watch out for is that there is no salt left on the Stone when you’re finished cleansing. Salt will degrade it if it gets into small crevices, especially in a moist environment. Using a makeup brush, you can get into those crevices to make sure there is no salt left there.
Earth:
The source of our beautiful Crystals is Mother Earth, so what better way to clear away negativity than by placing your Stone back into its original home. For this method, you can either bury it in your garden (use a marker) , or you can simply gather some soil in a container, & place your Stone inside. A possible drawback of this method is if wind or an animal pulls up your marker, leaving you unable to locate where you buried it. If you decide to use this method, just use a makeup brush to remove excess dirt. Blowing on it afterwards can not only help remove small bits of dirt, but you can also visualise yourself blowing away any extra stagnant energies.
Breath:
You can cleanse your Stones energetically simply by using your breath. Visualise yourself blowing clear, white light into each Stone & use as many breaths as it takes until you feel that it’s “shining” & clear again.
Flame:
This is felt to be the most purifying of all the cleansing methods. Simply light a candle & pass your Crystal quickly through the flame so you don’t get any black soot on it. Be careful not to burn yourself! Some people don’t actually pass the Stone through the flame, but over it instead.
Sunlight:
For many Stones the Sun acts as a wonderful purifier. The method commonly used here is placing the Stones outside for a specified period of time. It could be for a day, while others prefer leaving them out for a week. There’s no rule for the time period for doing this, so follow your intuition for what is right for your Stones. Be aware of a drawback to this method: Some Crystals will fade in the Sun. Crystals not to be left in the Sun for any period of time often have deep colour to them & are partially translucent such as Amethyst, Smokey Quartz, Rose Quartz, Celestite, Citrine, Fluorite & others. So, please be careful 🙂
Moonlight:
This method is pretty safe, using the same method as above, except with the Moon instead of the Sun as the cleansing agent. Of course, using the Moon, there’s no need to worry about fading! The only drawback is that you must be sure your Stones are safe. Some animals like certain Stones, so just be sure nothing can get to them. Timing is the same as with the Sun method – use your best judgement.
Soak in Flowers:
A Crystal can be “soaked” in flowers, such as rose petals, orange blossoms or honeysuckle for 24 hours. The essence strips away negativity & cleanses the Stone while the purity of the flower is transmitted to the Stone.
Smudging:
Coming from Native American tradition, this is a simple method of cleansing your Crystals. Light some incense or herbs & pass your Stone through the smoke. This method is pretty safe, without fading & nothing to harm the Stone. Always do smudging in a ventilated area, & keep a window open to allow the negative energies to flow out. Use Sage to clear away negative energies, & Cedarwood to bring in positive energies.
Reiki or other Hands On Healing Energies:
Hold your hands in the air around the Stone or hold it in your hand. While doing this, visualise the Stone as a beautiful sphere of white light. As you imagine this, notice any “blemishes” or portions of the sphere that do not easily appear as being white to you. Send energy into the Stone for anything from 10 seconds to several minutes depending on the amount of energy that needs to be cleared. When you can easily imagine the Stone you’re cleansing as a perfect sphere of white light, then you’ll know you’ve finished. You can also use other Crystals to help with cleansing, such as Amber to help transmute the energies or Clear Quartz to amplify your intent.
Sound:
If you play an instrument, you can direct the sound towards the Crystal & they will naturally clear as a result of being exposed to the pure vibrations of the instrument’s music. You could also use a tuning fork to create a pure vibration that resonates throughout the Crystal & “shakes loose” all vibrations that have been stored around it. This will “reset” the Crystal to a natural & clear state. When the crystal “feels good” again & it appears bright energetically, then the process is complete.
With any Crystal work, always remember that your intention holds the key to the possibilities….
Crystal Blessings <3
Sharon