Crystals and gemstones have been used for their healing properties and decoration. It is found in numerous countries’ cultural and healing traditions.
In addition, crystals represent indigenous healing energy.
It relies on both personalized and folk-inspired knowledge, practices, and beliefs. Nevertheless, they are now considered a New Age healing activity.
Crystals need to be revitalized occasionally, or it will affect their healing properties. Some methods exist to treat and cleanse the crystals as a part of regular maintenance.
It is crucial to know which specific cleansing methods are the worst and best for your crystals.
We will look into the details of cleansing crystals’ energy and what you need to remember.
Why Should I Cleanse My Crystals?
Crystal cleansing does not only mean keeping them shiny and dust-free.
Emotional stones that have absorbed negative energy should be recharged and cleansed.
Absorption of negative energy and prolonged exposure to different vibrations causes crystals to redirect unwanted energy to you.
Cleansing and charging crystals on a regular basis will ensure their effectiveness and integrity.
It restores crystals to their natural state, keeps their healing properties intact, and unlocks a crystal’s full potential.
Crystals act as sponges for negative energy.
If you use them often, they should be cleansed longer or more frequently than other crystals that you only have on the shelf.
More importantly, you should cleanse, charge, and program your new crystals.
It usually travels long distances before receiving your crystal and is exposed to different energies. This can cause a stone to be misaligned and accumulate lingering energy.
A good rule of thumb is to cleanse crystals at least once a month. However, you don’t have to follow a scheduled routine. Your own intuition is the best basis of connection with a crystal to sense that it’s energetically and physically heavy.
How To Cleanse Crystals: 9 Crucial Things You Need To Know
There are a few different ways how to cleanse crystals.
Some factors you need to consider will include the type of stone you have, how often you use it, and the resources available.
1) Sun and Moon
Bright, radiant light from the sun can wash away trapped negative energy from your crystals.
The light of the full moon does the same by letting it bask in the gentle energy of the moon.
A lunar cycle of a full moon culminates natural energy that provides power for your crystals. A full moon can affect nature. It is one of the most potent methods of cleansing crystals.
You can cleanse and recharge your stone under the full moon by your window sill for a safer option.
Moreover, the full moon can act as a reminder to cleanse your crystals. Set your crystals in a space that sits under the sunlight or moonlight around evening time.
Put it right before darkness, and then take it back in before noon of the next day.
This way, your crystals can bathe in both moonlight and sunlight adequately.
Take precautions with leaving it out in the sun for too long since prolonged exposure to direct sunlight can damage the stone’s surface.
For added cleansing, you can place your crystals on the ground or earth below the light of the moon or sun.
Just make sure that it’s placed somewhere it cannot be disturbed by animals or passersby.
In addition to this, only use this method for tumbled stones, do not use it for fine and vibrant crystals or stones like soft stones as they would be more susceptible to weathering.
2) Water
Water is the essence of life; it cleanses and neutralizes the negative energy stored and built up in your crystals as you use it.
The best way for cleansing is using running water from a natural body of water, like a stream, waterfall, or stream.
Alternatively, you can just run your stones under a faucet.
Another way to utilize water is by creating moon water. You can lay a glass of water under a full moon, which can be used for your crystals.
3) Salt Water
Aside from regular water, you could also use salt water. Salt is a natural energy-repellent and used for protection and purifying rituals.
Ideally, you could take ocean water, but you can use regular table salt or sea salt if you cannot get this.
The process is done by adding salt to a bowl of clean water and submerging your stones. You can let it soak for a few hours to a few days.
You then soak the crystals and remove them from the water.
However, you should only cleanse hard crystals like quartz with water. A soft stone such as selenite is prone to weathering down.
Sea salt or salt water can damage these brittle and porous crystals because of the several holes and ridges on their surface.
4) Sound
Sound cleansing uses vibrations from the tones generated from several sources.
Tools like bells, singing bowls, tuning forks, even your voice through chanting are practices done using sound.
The important thing to ensure is that the sound emitted is loud enough to encapsulate the stone.
It takes only a few minutes to perform and is ideal for crystals that aren’t easily moved around.
5) Smudging
A smudge stick is made of various types of herbs. It is an ancient ritual that purifies objects and the space around you.
Smudging involves using sticks of herbs such as sage, palo santo, and lavender.
A sage is the most widely used type because it is considered a sacred medicinal herb. You can light the tip of a sage stick and wave its smoke in the air to cleanse the room.
For cleansing crystals, you can smoke them by holding your crystals above the smoke of the sage stick you light up.
Make sure to perform smudging near an open window to disperse the excess smoke and negative energy.
6) Stone
Stone cleansing also uses vibrations to cleanse the inharmonious energy out of other stones.
This works on any stone type by placing the smaller stones you want cleansing inside or on top of the larger stone.
The vibrations emitted from the large stone will ripple into the smaller stones.
Incidentally, you could also clean bigger stones with smaller stones as well. However, you need several smaller stones to have enough accumulated energy to clean a much bigger stone.
Clear quartz, carnelian, hematite, and selenite are self-regulating crystals. They do not need any manual cleansing and are used for this method.
Selenite is known for clearing out toxic vibes, while clear quartz is considered a master healer.
7) Burial
Crystals were once part of the earth and are the most grounding element.
This method involves burying your crystals a few inches deep to make sure they are covered entirely.
It allows the earth to absorb negative energy trapped in the crystals. You can bury it in soil, a potted plant, or brown rice in a deep bowl.
8) Breath
Breathing on the stone through exhalation cleanses the stone through focused intention. This quick cleanse only takes 30 seconds to a minute.
You must place your crystal in your hands and focus on it to start this process. Take a deep breath, and exhale onto the crystal through your nostrils.
This process is commonly done on smaller stones that are easily held by hand.
9) Visualisation
Visualization is a safe way to cleanse stones without worrying about damaging a crystal with the ocean, earth, or sun.
The difficulty of this process is that you should be in a good state of mind.
Hold your stone in your dominant hand and make sure you are focused on it. Once you’re mentally centered with the stone, you can redirect your own energy into it.
It is best to envision the impurities draining from the crystal using your mind and soul.
How To Use Crystals
Crystal healing properties may fade over time if they are not recharged.
A person’s life energy can empower a stone or crystal. Stones get their power once they are programmed.
After you’ve cleaned your crystals, this is the best time to program them.
You need to set your intuition for your stone.
Meditation and placing it on your third eye are a few ways to envision a connection with yourself and the crystal.
Once you’re done programming your crystals and working through your intention, you can use them for spiritual and healing rituals.
How Do Crystals Work
Crystal therapy involves channeling energy and vibrations.
When the crystal is placed within a person’s “aura,” it can influence their mental and physical outlook.
It helps absorb, diffuse, and focus energy into the body. Gemstones or crystals are believed even to benefit a number of diseases.
In addition, it is believed that a stone can also affect an individual’s fortune and finances. Other traditional and anecdotal beliefs state that crystals affect you emotionally and sexually.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of conclusive medical evidence that gemstones generate the necessary properties to impact one’s physical health positively.
Whether it’s through alternative use or therapeutics, there have been tests and studies that show that it has positively affected people on the emotional and psychological levels.
There is a sizable percentage of people who have practiced complementary and alternative medicines.
It has shown that their emotional state is positively affected through the practice of gemstone therapy and other forms of stone and crystal usage.
The Bottom Line
Crystals are usually patronized for holistic purposes rather than aesthetic decoration.
Owning crystals and using them for energy work and healing purposes means you will need to maintain them.
You should find a method that resonates with you and what works best for your stone.
The ways how to cleanse crystals are specific to particular kinds. Some may be damaging to particular crystals.
Hence, you should be cautious about the physical and spiritual influence.
Crystals are fragile both physically and on an energetic level. You will need to cleanse, charge, and program them with your energy.
This is highly dependent on personal intuition and energy.
Gems and crystals are growing in terms of practice and research. However, it should not be treated as an utterly dependable alternative to conventional medicine.
As a therapy founded on cultural and traditional beliefs, how it affects you is connected with your principles and values.