Working with Crystals: Choosing and Cleansing

Choosing Your Crystal:

The main factor for choosing a crystal is to pay attention to what you are feeling. Are you gravitating toward a certain color? or shape? Perhaps you would like to choose a crystal based on your needs at the moment. Whether it be working toward self-love, abundance, or creativity, there is a crystal for that! Consider the Shop by Intention section. Once you settle on a crystal, look into their properties in the description. See if any of the properties are relevant to what you need or would like to nurture about yourself. If you are choosing a crystal as a gift, close your eyes for a moment and picture that person. Think of traits and characteristics of this person. Now, when you browse around, think of these elements that make them unique so that you gravitate toward a gift that really resonates with them.

Cleansing Your Crystals

When is a good time to cleanse your crystal? This should be done before working with a new crystal for the first time and any time after that when you feel the energy has become stagnant within your crystal. If you don't feel a connection with the crystal you are holding, it may be a sign that it needs a cleanse. 

There are many ways to cleanse your crystals. Here are a few known methods of doing so:

Hold your crystal:

This is a great way to connect with your crystal while cleansing it! It is also a method which requires no other tools.

First, hold your crystal in one hand. Imagine a white light coming down from the top of your head, down your arm, and into your crystal. Imagine the white light pushing away any stale energy remaining in the crystal. If you choose, you can say:

"I cleanse this crystal so I may attune with it more strongly."

Clear Quartz:

Clear Quartz is on my list of essential crystals. It cleanses other crystals around it while amplifying their energy! You can place your crystals on or around a clear quartz to cleanse them. If you choose, you can say the mantra above when doing so.

Smoke:

The use of smoke to cleanse spaces and objects has been used since the beginning of time. For this method, choose an herb, palo santo, or incense. Either pass your stone over the smoke or use your herbs or palo santo to waft the smoke over the crystals. If smoke is not an option, don’t worry! Choose from the many other cleansing methods.

Dirt:

Crystals come from the Earth, so when placed in the ground, they become cleansed and re-energized. If you choose to bury your crystals for cleansing, be sure to remember where you placed them! If not, you can bury them in a pot of soil, rice, sand, or salt to do this. You can leave the crystals in the soil overnight and dig them up in the morning!

Sunlight:

Sunlight has been known to be cleansing and purifying in many ways. To easily cleanse your crystals (on a sunny day), place your crystals inside or outside where they will get plenty of sunlight. Leave them for no more than a couple of hours for them to be fully cleansed and recharged!

Running Water:

As mentioned before, running water is a great way to cleanse quartz crystals and any crystal that is higher than a 5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. As a reference, talc is a 1 on the Moh's hardness scale, whereas a diamond would be a 10 on the scale.

Another factor to consider before using water as a cleansing technique is the inclusion of iron oxide in a mineral or crystal. Iron causes rusting to take place, keep this in mind when cleansing with water.

A list of crystals safe in water:

Most quartz crystals

Agate

Amethyst

Aventurine

Black Obsidian

Carnelian

Citrine

Jasper

Moonstone