Crystal Care
Discharging
Crystals become statically charged when they come into direct contact with the body. The most extreme example is Amber, which may become quite hot in a few minutes.
- Static charge can be discharged again under running water.
- Placing the stones in the midday sun for a few hours is another way to discharge them.
- Healing stones can also be placed in a bowl of hematite. Hematite does not need any cleansing or clearing of its own.
Cleansing
Any information a crystal received will remain stored even after the stone has been discharged. In order to completely wipe stored information, a more intense action is required.
- Some crystals* can be placed in coarse sea salt. Salt needs more careful handling. Direct contact with salt may produce chemical reactions with some crystals, making the stone lose its polished finish or change colour. I recommend laying the crystal in a small glass dish that is embedded in a larger glass dish full of salt. The energy cleansing process is still maintained, but the stone itself is not affected.
- Another method is to place stones on an Amethyst druse. The high iron atoms and the energy of concentration of quarts give Amethyst a powerful, fiery radiation. Healing crystals “irradiated” in this way are stripped of information they have stored. Leave the healing stone on the druse for 24 hours or less, depending on the how long the stone was in use for. Leaving healing stones on the druse for longer will not cause any harm to the stone.
- Placing healing crystals in a bowl of uncooked brown rice is also an effective way of removing stored information from crystals.
- Healing stones can also be placed in a bowl of hematite and citrine chips. Hematite and citrine do not need any cleansing or clearing of its own. [this is my preferred method]
- Reiki practitioners can use a techniques such as Jakikiri Jôka Hô to cleanse crystals, minerals and gemstones.
Laying stones in salt water or sea water, burying healing stones in soil or cleansing it in fire are definitely to be avoided, as many crystals will be severely damaged by this: Salt water penetrate pores and cracks and make the stone cloudy, some secondary minerals will be attacked by acids in the soil and transformed and fire will obviously tend to disperse too efficiently!
Dedicating
Whenever you receive a new stone or crystal, the first thing you should do is to discharge and cleanse the gemstone's energy. After cleansing, the next step is to dedicate your stone or crystal.
I simply hold the stone in front of my heart and allow love and compassion to pour over the stone. I then thank it for choosing to be and work with me. I then state that the stone only be used for health and healing and for the highest good of all. I visualise a violet flame above my head and infuse the flame with my intention and then blow it onto the crystal.
Charging
The intensity of radiation from a crystal is connected with the absorbed energy, so its healing effect can be increased and fortified through targeted charging. The most gentle method consist of laying the stone in sunlight at sunrise and sunset. The time during which we can dare to look almost into the sun without damage to our eyes is when the sun possesses a charging quality.
Stones may be charged immediately before using it for a treatment, by holding it in your hand or near a radiator. This too will intensify the effect. In most cases charging is not necessary as the stone will be charged, warmed up and stimulated by body contact.
Care
Physical cleansing should be restricted to eliminating dust from mineral groups and mineral druses. Use a fine paintbrush for the purpose. If you are cleansing a druse with water, only use mineral-poor water. Never use abrasive household cleaning agents on crystals. Some of them are almost impervious to such substances, while others are extremely sensitive.
Storage
It is very natural to want to display beautiful stones so you can see them most of the time. However, if you do not want regular dusting to become your main hobby, I recommend keeping them in a lockable display cabinet. I would not recommend the windowsill, with exception to agate sections and other light-insensitive crystals such as rock crystal (quartz), hematite, jasper, lapis lazuli, tiger’s eye and black tourmaline. Many stones will lose their colour in direct sunlight, like amethyst, kunzite, rose quartz, etc.
WARNING: Placing certain crystals or stones in water can make the water toxic for consumption while other stones may be damaged by water. Some stones are light sensitive and it is not advisable to place them in directly sunlight. Consult with a qualified Crystal Healer if you are unsure.
Programming Crystals
When we programme a crystal or gemstone we store a specific energy pattern in the crystal. The energy pattern programmed into the crystal can be any intention, thought, colour, emotion, sound, use, or any other vibration. These vibrations can be accessed to bring those energies into use.
There are many different ways to programme crystals, so it’s important to choose a method that suit you best. I'll show you one technique here and you can research more.
You will need:
- the crystal you would like to programme
- clear intent (know what you want to programme the crystal to do)
- focused action
- Start by clearing the crystal with whatever method you prefer, then sit with your crystal at your personal altar or in a place that you're not likely to be disturbed while you work.
- Hold the crystal in your dominant hand (right hand if right handed) and clear your mind of unrelated thoughts. Start to focus on your intention for the programming of your crystal. Say descriptive words aloud. For instance, if you want to programme your crystal to help you remember your dreams, start repeating the words "vivid dreams and dream recall" over and over again.
- While holding your attention on the focused intent, visualise a violet flame above your head and allow your intention to infuse the flame.
- When the flame is completely saturated with your intention take a deep breath. As you inhale deeply, see the flame moving into your throat and lungs. Blow the flame out onto the crystal, completely infusing the crystal with the focused intention. With bigger crystals you may need to blow this flame onto each of the facets.
- Thank the crystal. The crystal is now programmed.
This method can also be used with tumbled stones, spheres, polished crystals, and natural chunks of minerals, as well as natural crystals.
It is not necessary to retrieve/activate the crystal's programme. The crystal will continue to radiate this focused message. However, if you feel that you need to "activate" the message in the crystal you can apply pressure to the stone between your index finger and thumb or you can rub the crystal with your thumb to activate/retrieve the energies.
To erase the crystal's program, visualise a white flame above your head and infuse the flame with the intent to cleanse and clear the stone of any energies or messages that are not part of its original makeup. Blow the flame onto the crystal as you did with the violet flame. Discharge, cleanse and clear the crystal with whatever method you prefer.