Treat Me Right
The Care and Feeding of Crystals
Once you find your crystals and bring them home, you’ll need to prepare them for your use. Here are some simple starting techniques.
How to Clean Your Crystals
When you first get a crystal, you may want to cleanse it, both physically and spiritually. It might be dirty, or it might have picked up some unwanted vibrations from people who have handled it. You should also clean any crystals you have used in healing to ensure that they don’t retain any vestiges of disease or poor health.
If your crystals seem physically dirty, dusty, or grimy, cleaning them is easy—wipe them with a damp washcloth or a soft dust rag. If they are especially grubby, you can usually wash them with water and a gentle dishwashing detergent. Be careful not to subject your crystals to extreme temperature changes, of course; if you plunge a cold crystal into a sink full of hot water, it could crack.
But some crystals need more than just a quick wipe with a wet rag—they need a metaphysical spit and polish, too. In other words, you may need to take cleaning one step further and give your crystals a good clearing.
How to Clear Your Crystals
Because crystals can store energy, they can hold on to more than just fingerprints. They can retain psychic energy, too, from anyone who handles them.
Most crystal aficionados agree that you should cleanse and clear new crystals whenever you acquire them. Some also suggest that you should clear them whenever other people touch them. In fact, some even go so far as to suggest that you shouldn’t allow others to handle your crystals. Your stones, they suggest, are only your own. If you let other people work with them, your crystals will lose their focus, their energy will be dissipated, and they’ll have less power to affect and change your life.
That argument works both ways, though. If your friends, family members, and loved ones pick up your crystals,
they could actually imbue them with positive emotions. In fact, people who look at crystals usually pick them up to admire them, which could only have a positive affect on your collection.
What’s more, there is probably enough power inside a crystal to go around. After all, every crystal ever mined has been around for far longer than most of us can imagine . . . and those crystals will probably still be here long after we’re gone. Their energy can’t be dissipated or destroyed simply by being handled for a few moments.
Granted, if someone who is feeling sad, angry, depressed, or frustrated picks up your crystals, you might want to polish them up a bit and return them to a state of positive balance. And if you use your crystals for healing or for reflection on dark and shadowy issues, you’ll definitely want to clear them afterward.
Here are some common crystal-clearing techniques you can try:
Breath. The easiest way to clear a crystal is simply to hold it with both hands, and gently blow a slow, steady stream of air over and around the stone. How long you blow doesn’t matter. How hard you blow doesn’t matter. The only thing that truly makes a difference is that you intend to clear your crystal, and that you focus all of your energy and attention to that task, even just for a moment.
White light visualization. You can also accomplish a remarkably effective cleansing and clearing through visualization. First, sit very still—preferably on the ground, but if you’d rather, sit in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor. Take several deep breaths. Clear your mind, concentrating only on your breathing. With each breath, imagine that the space around you is growing lighter and lighter. Then envision waves of white light surrounding your crystals, shimmering, glowing, and filling them with clear, clean energy.
A bit of polish. Wipe your crystals clean with a soft cloth, imagining that you are also wiping them clean of stored impressions, emotions, programming, or patterning.
A pinch of salt. Salt is a traditional method of cleaning and clearing crystals. Some people suggest that you soak your stones in salt water or immerse them in a bowl of coarse salt. Sea salt is especially recommended, because it’s natural—but any type of salt will do. Salt is a crystal itself, and it has long been associated with purification.
Unfortunately, salt can work its way into the tiny cracks and fissures of a crystal, even those that are practically invisible to the naked eye. That could damage the crystal.
If you want to soak your crystals in salt water, make sure they are solid, without any fractures or breaks that could make them vulnerable to further damage. If you want to immerse your crystals in a container of salt, consider wrapping it in cloth, first. If you want to play it completely safe, try sprinkling just a few grains of salt over or around your crystals, for the same end result.
Smudging. For centuries, people in almost every culture have burned herbs for emotional and spiritual purification. In Western cultures, for example, incense is believed to carry one’s prayers to heaven.
The Native American practice of smudging is one that seems to work especially well with crystals. You’ll need a smudge stick, which you can make yourself or find in a specialty shop. Smudge sticks are simply bundles of dried cedar, sage, and lavender, wrapped with string. They look a little like big, fat cigars.
You’ll also need a fireproof dish to hold the smudge stick. Most people use a ceramic dish, like an ashtray, or a large seashell filled with sand, which symbolizes the element of water and provides a counterbalance to the fire and smoke of the smudge stick.
Light one end of the smudge stick with a match. Gently blow out the flame, but don’t blow so hard you extinguish the smudge stick completely. You want the tip to glow red, like incense, so that it continues to smolder and smoke.
You can hold your crystals in the smoke of a smudge stick, or use a feather to gently fan the smoke over and around them.
Candle magic. You can also clear your crystals by passing them through the light, heat, and smoke of a candle. You don’t need to pass them directly through the flame—no one wants you or your crystals to undergo any sort of trial by fire. Candle clearing is a good alternative to smudging, especially if you don’t like the smell of most smudge sticks.
Try to use a candle that hasn’t been used for any other purpose. Your crystals won’t get clean if your cleansing agent is itself imbued with leftover birthday wishes, snippets of dinnertime conversation, or any reminder of its last duty station on your bedroom dresser.
For general cleansing, white candles work best because they symbolize purity and new beginnings. If you have a specific purpose in mind for the crystal you’re clearing, however, you might want to experiment with using a color that symbolizes your intention: red for love and passion, for example, or blue for tranquility. You might also want to match your candles to the colors of your crystals to refill them with energy that corresponds to their metaphysical properties.
Babbling brook. If you have access to the fresh running water of a river or a stream, or the constant movement of an ocean or a sea, take your crystals there and give them a rinse. As you hold your crystals under the water, imagine that the waves and currents are washing away any old programming or negativity within the stones. If you are pressed for time, you can accomplish the same thing by holding your crystals under running water at the kitchen sink. In that case, imagine yourself in a natural setting—the experience will calm your spirit and remind you that crystals are a gift from nature.
Standing water. You could even leave your crystals next to a dish of water for a day or two. Set the water out with the express intention that it will attract and absorb any negativity stuck in the crystals. Once you’re done, don’t give the water to pets or plants. It might still look clean, but it will be metaphorically filthy. Pour it down the drain.
Wind power. Hold your crystals in a gentle breeze, and imagine the wind blowing away any backlog of negativity.
Raindrops. A good soaking rain might be the perfect way to refresh your crystal collection. Just set your crystals outside when the skies start to cloud up, and let the raindrops dance across their surface. When the storm passes, give your crystals a quick polish with a clean dry towel, and they will be springtime fresh and clean.
Sound. Ring out the old and ring in the new by using sound waves to clear your crystals. Sound can clear a room just as effectively as light. It has the added benefit of reenergizing a space. Sound can literally work to harmonize both you and your crystals. You can play music, ring a bell, strike a gong, or try your hand at a Buddhist singing bowl.
Blessing. You may want to develop a blessing to clean and clear your crystals. Your blessing can be short and sweet, like this: “May you be filled with light and love, and open to whatever comes.” Or you could use this blessing:
Crystals red and crystals blue,
Crystals green and yellow, too
As you share your light and love,
May you share blessings from above.
David Spangler is the author of Blessing: The Art and the Practice, in which he described how he was once called upon to bless a stone.
As I held it in my hand, I took myself into my blessing place and began to love this stone. I admired it, I attuned to its hardness, its earthiness, working my way down into it through my love for it. As I did, the spirit of the stone began to open and I found myself in touch with what I could only describe as the spirit of the earth or at least of its mineral nature. It seemed I could trace a line of connection from that stone right to the earth’s molten core. At the same time, another line of connection ran out into space, into the ubiquitousness of stone throughout the universe. In short, this little stone had become a portal for me into a vast community of spiritual beings who embodied the qualities of the mineral kingdom and its molecular and atomic structures throughout creation.
Holding this stone in my hand, it felt just like a small living creature, particularly as I felt the energy coming from this larger community of “mineral beings,” and I proceeded to bless it just as I would any other living being. I attuned as best I could to the larger community from which it seemed to come, inviting its combined energy into the process, using myself as a vessel with which to receive and focus the blessing.8
Prayer. While closely related to blessing, a prayer may be the perfect way to clear your crystals. You can devise a prayer of your own, or rely on a traditional prayer like “Come, Holy Spirit.”
Come, Holy Spirit.
Fill the hearts of your faithful and make the fire
of your love burn within them.
Send forth your spirit and there shall be
another creation.
And you shall renew the face of the earth.
Chanting. You might want to clear your crystals by chanting a Buddhist mantra, such as “Om lokah samastha sukhino bhavantu,” which means “May this world be established with a sense of well-being and happiness,” or “Om mani pedme hum,” which inspires compassion.
Go green. Just as living, growing plants can help purify the air in your house, they can also help detoxify your used crystals. Simply place your crystals around the base of your houseplants—or nestle them against the flowers in your garden—and let the spirit of nature step in to spiff them up.
Crystal cluster. Most crystals grow in communities, so they are used to being together. And just as people often gather for strength and support, many crystal experts report that their stones seem to lighten and brighten when they are kept in close quarters. If you have a small crystal that needs recharging, put it on top of an amethyst cluster or larger quartz crystal for a few days.
Plants and crystal clusters have the added advantage of being a source of new energy for your stones.
Four elements. For an especially powerful cleansing and charging session, incorporate a representation of all four elements in your work: earth, air, fire, and water. Combine a sprinkling of salt, for earth; the smoke of a smudge stick or the scented perfume of incense, for air; the light of a burning candle, for fire; and a sprinkling of pure spring water.
How to Charge Your Crystals
Once you use your crystals for any length of time, you may find that they feel drained of some of their power and force, just as if you had drained their batteries.
Not to worry: just plug them back in to another source of energy and let them recharge.
Solar flair. The most obvious source of energy, for crystals or for any of us on earth, is the sun. Many crystal experts swear that a few hours of sunshine will clear away any clouds in your crystals’ cosmic complexion and refill them with pure, bright light. You must use caution, however, or you could get burned—literally. Sunlight can pass through a crystal like a magnifying glass and start a fire, so make sure you’re not focusing the sun’s rays on your favorite tablecloth or a stack of old newspapers.
Also, remember that sunlight can damage some crystals. A number of stones will fade, change color, or lose their color completely if they are exposed to direct sunlight, including amethyst, apatite, aquamarine, aventurine, beryl, celestite, citrine, fluorite, kunzite, rose quartz, sapphire, and smoky quartz.
Moonlighting. You can also enhance the glow of your crystals by bathing them in the light of the silvery moon. The light of a waxing or full moon, which symbolizes growth and fulfillment, is generally better for recharging than a waning moon, in which the orb’s strength and power is on the decrease.
Buried treasure. If your crystals seem worn out and tired, let them go home to mother for a few days. Simply take them back to their source and bury them—temporarily—safely in the arms of Mother Earth. If you don’t want your crystals to get dirty, wrap them in fabric or slip them into a paper bag before you bury them. Be sure to mark their location, too, so you can find them when it’s time for them to be reborn.
Close companions. As plants and flowers grow, they energize the atmosphere around them. Tuck your crystals inside your pots and planters, and let them soak up the companionable energy of your healthy indoor greenery.
How to Program Your Crystals
If you plan to do any metaphysical work with your crystals, you should program them with a fail-safe device—a guarantee, of sorts, that their power can only be used for good. While your intentions may always be pure, it’s not possible to recognize all of the ramifications of every action, especially when other people are involved.
When you get a new crystal, simply cleanse it, clear it, and hold it in your hands. Then say the following verse, or improvise something similar, in your own words:
Whether you help many,
Or whether you help one,
Your power will be used for good;
The process will harm none.
On a more practical level, you can also program your crystals to help you reach specific goals. Whether you want to feel healthier, be more physically active, or find more satisfaction in your relationships, you can program a crystal to remind you of the life you want to lead—and help you bring that life into being.
You will have the most success if you program your crystals in positive terms, rather than negative. Try not to think in terms of things you want to eliminate from your life; instead, focus on the ideals and goals you want to achieve. If you want to lose weight, for example, don’t program a crystal to help you eat less. Program one, instead, to help you exercise more and eat more sensibly. If you want to give up smoking, program a crystal to help you relax and spend more time in meditation, where you can experience the pleasure of simple, deep breathing. If you want to stop arguing with someone you love, program a crystal to help you find activities you can share and enjoy with friends and family members.
You can program a crystal to serve as a tangible reminder of a wish, a goal, or an intention. Programming a crystal is a lot easier than programming a computer, too. Here is a simple, step-by-step guide.
• First, make sure that the crystal you’re working with has been cleansed and cleared of any old programming that could interfere with the new schedule you have in mind.
• Hold the crystal in your hand.
• Visualize your goal or intention, clearly and in as much detail as you can muster. Picture exactly how your intention will look and feel. Imagine the sensations you will experience when it comes to fruition: sights, sounds, tastes, smells.
• As you visualize your intention, imagine it flowing from your mind into the crystal, deeper and deeper with each breath you exhale.
• At the same time, verbalize your intention. Put it in terms of an affirmation, and say it aloud. If you are programming your crystal for prosperity, for example, say, “Wealth, prosperity, and abundance are mine.”
• If you prefer, you can write your intention on a piece of paper and tuck it underneath your crystal overnight.
• Carry the crystal with you, and whenever you are tempted to head for the office vending machines, touch the crystal for a reminder of your new, healthier lifestyle.
• A programmed crystal also makes a lovely gift. You can tell the recipient that you chose the crystal for them to carry as a good luck charm, or for any purpose you have in mind.
Barriers and Shields
You might have heard that crystals can be used for protection. It’s true: you can use dark-colored stones like hematite, magnetite, and smoky quartz to absorb negative energy. You can use light-colored stones like moonstone, selenite, and quartz to deflect harmful thoughts and reflect dangerous intentions back to their source. You can even sprinkle ordinary salt crystals around perimeters and entryways to keep unwanted visitors out or bar destructive forces from entering your space.
But before you start throwing up stone walls and raising a crystal drawbridge, you might want to consider a more positive approach.
Granted, it’s natural to think in terms of what you don’t want in your life. When you feel tired, used, and run down, sometimes all you can imagine is simply eliminating the factors that are wearing you out. If you feel threatened—either physically, spiritually, emotionally, or mentally—you need to rally whatever support you can muster for your defense. You may need to program your crystals as guardians and shields, if it will make you feel more secure.
On the other hand, you might also want to consider programming your crystals in terms of feeling positive, optimistic, and loved. The affirmation “I am safe here” is simply more encouraging and affirming than “I won’t be attacked.”
Most of us aren’t trained to think in positive terms, especially when it comes to negative forces. Unfortunately, if you program your crystals against negativity, you could be setting yourself up for more of the same. In fact, when you focus on darkness, rather than light, you could be stirring up a cloud of psychic dust and debris that will swirl around you indefinitely. You could actually find that you are inadvertently broadcasting negative energy back out in the world—and your signals will almost certainly be picked up by anyone who might be tuned into that frequency. In a worst-case scenario, you could even be acting like a beacon to predators . . . the type of people who can smell blood in the water, sense your weakness, and simply add to your problems.
While it might sound like superstition, there is a valid metaphysical principle to remember: like attracts like. There’s also a psychological component to consider—if all of your attention is focused on dark issues, when will you find the time or opportunity to focus on lighter, brighter issues? If you’re thinking only of all the bad things that could happen, will you even be able to notice any good fortune and opportunity that comes your way?
Don’t cower in fear—concentrate on freedom, instead. Don’t focus on protection—concentrate on pleasure. Don’t worry about what you could lose—simply enjoy what you have. Program your crystals to help you be as positive as possible.
Envision yourself living the life you want—happy, healthy, secure, energetic, and surrounded by love and affection. Program your crystals for what you do want, and avoid imbuing them with don’ts.
You can program your crystals to help you feel safer and more secure. But if you really are in danger, call a locksmith or call the police. You need to protect yourself with more than a shiny piece of quartz or a few grains of salt.
8. David Spangler, Blessing: The Art and the Practice (New York: Riverhead Books, 2001), 298–299.