Cleansing and Charging Crystals

Cleansing crystals should always be carried out after use in protection, healing and empowerment. When you obtain a new crystal, cleanse it before charging it with your own personal energies. In this way you can remove all the energies, not necessarily negative, of those who have prepared, packed and sold the stone. If the stone was a gift, however, you may wish to accept the loving energies with which it was offered and rely on your innate defensive powers to filter out any unconscious negativity left from the previous owner’s life.

You will also need to wash your crystals, and your crystal pendulum, if you use one, regularly in running water to keep their energies clear. If you have been in touch with a particularly negative influence, first wash the stones, then sprinkle them with salt and pass over them an incense stick or oil burner in a fragrance such as lavender, pine or rose. Finally pass them over the flame of a purple, silver or pink candle; in this way your crystal absorbs the healing energies of all four elements.

Leave the crystals to dry in natural light, then wrap them for a few days in a dark cloth with a large piece of unpolished amethyst wrapped separately so it will not scratch the smaller crystals. Amethysts have great powers of healing for other crystals, but they need frequently to be rested and anointed very gently with diluted lavender oil or a lavender infusion.

You can also cleanse crystals by leaving them in a rainstorm or burying them in a pot of lavender, sage, Chamomile, rosemary or other herb of love and harmony. Leave them for 24 hours and, if necessary, wash off any remaining soil with running water. The result will be a new vibrancy, especially in the case of rutilated quartz, jade and moss agate (the last two are called the gardener’s crystals).

## Ways to cleanse

It is important to keep your crystals in good condition for magick practice. Here is a guide with several ways to cleanse and charge your crystals.

With Salt ~Burying a crystal in a bowl of salt, sprinkling salt around it, or sometimes soaking it in saltwater are all good ways to cleanse a crystal. Salt has natural cleansing powers and will soak up negative energy. Consider the magickal properties of salt. It’s a purifier, a cleanser, and a protector. Use it to strengthen protective, purifying, or cleansing stones. As with all methods of charging, focus on what you would like the purpose of your crystal to be. Charge your crystal with that intent.

With Water ~Be careful when it comes to cleansing crystals with water, as some cannot withstand the liquid very well, but water does have cleansing properties. Consider the element Water. It is healing, emotional, loving, and gentle, and it is traditionally used as a cleanser in religious ceremonies. By soaking a stone in a bowl of water, you are washing out any negative energies. Soaking stones in saltwater is a favourite cleansing method of mine. Now, here is a list of stones you should **NEVER** put in water: Borates, Calcite, Ivory, Gypsum, Lapis Lazuli, Pyrite, Obsidian, Selenite, and Turquoise. These stones will dissolve in water.

With Fire ~Here is a simple and fast spell I concocted that I found cleanses and charges crystals very quickly. Light a preferred candle. Hold your crystal above the flame, flip it over in your palm above the candle, and recite: “Fire, fire burning bright Charge this crystal with your light Fire, fire, burning bright Make it strong with all your might.” Leave the crystal beside the candle to charge for as long as you see fit. When you are done, snuff the candle out.

With Sunlight ~One of the most basic ways to charge your crystals is with sunlight. Sunlight is fiery, energetic, more masculine, and more yang. When a crystal is charging in the sun, it is imbued with the sun’s energy. This can come in handy for money spells, job spells, energy spells, and any type of spell that requires more yang energy. To charge a crystal with sunlight, simply lay it out on the window sill or someplace where it will get a good bit of sunlight, and allow it to bask there for the remainder of the day. When the sun goes down, it is done and ready to be used again. Now, here is a list of crystals you should **NOT** charge in the sunlight: Amber, Amethyst, Aquamarine, Aventurine, Beryl, Citrine, Fluorite, Kunzite, Opal, Rose Quartz, Sapphire, and Smokey Quartz. Sunlight can fade these crystals over time and causes opal and amber to crack and become brittle.

With Moonlight ~Another popular method of charging crystals is with moonlight. This is a good alternative for charging a crystal that can’t withstand the sun. The moon’s energy is calming, soothing, emotional, feminine, healing, and more yin. Moonlight is great for crystals that have to do with matters of the heart. Also take into consideration the phase of the moon when charging a crystal. Is it full? Is it waning? Is it new? Charging a crystal under a certain phase of the moon will imbue the crystal with that phase’s energy. To charge a crystal with moonlight, simply leave it out in the light of the moon for a night.

With Earth ~Some witches recommend burying a crystal for a day or even a week at a time. This works especially well for earth-related crystals such as garnet. Remember that it was the earth that formed and energized these crystals in the first place, so what better way to charge a crystal than to return it back to the earth from whence it came?

With a Grid ~Some stones are cleansers and chargers themselves. Selenite and obsidian are some good examples. By placing other crystals that need charging around naturally charging stones, it creates a grid. Leave these stones in place for about twenty-four hours or until the energy has returned to them. Lots of people have fun creating pretty designs with these crystal grids, so get creative and have fun with them!

With Herbs ~Adding herbs to the mix will help further strengthen and direct a crystal’s purpose. For example, placing lavender in a grid with amethyst will aid it in its purpose to calm. You can also place herbs in water if you choose to use the water method for charging crystals, or, even better, create rosewater or lavender water to use. In essence, charge whatever stone in the way you feel is best. Many witches develop a preferred method for charging their crystals, and that is fine. Find whatever method works best for you.

## Charging with Positive Power

All crystals contain power as well as protective qualities and charging crystals is itself empowering. However, if you are being subjected to stress or harassment of any kind, you might like to charge your crystal, so that when you touch or look at it, you will be enclosed in its radiance and stimulate your own innate self-protective power. Your charged crystal acts as an amplifier for your own inner radiance and self-confidence and will repel any hostility.

One favoured method is to wrap the crystals in white silk and take them to a sacred place of ancient power, such as a standing stone, an old stone circle or one of the ancient healing wells. These wells were formerly dedicated to the Mother Goddess but were Christianised and rededicated to St Bride, the Virgin Mary or other Christian, often Celtic, saint.
Go as early in the morning as possible and place the crystals on a flat surface, either on one of the stones or close to the water. Sit near to the source of power, touching it with your two hands so that you create a circuit of energy parallel to that being absorbed by the crystals and so empower your own auric field (the area of psychic energy that exists around our bodies).

Auric fields contain different colours; they can be seen spontaneously by clairvoyants but anyone can, with time and practice, interpret auras, which change according to a person’s mood and the influences on it. After about ten minutes you may detect a slight luminescence around yourself as well as the crystals. Your crystals will now be charged and can be placed in their drawstring bag.

When under stress, touch your chosen crystal for strength and protection. Keep it on your desk at work, place it between you and an adversary or next to your bed if you are troubled by bad dreams or fear psychic attack or malevolence at night. People living in areas with high rates of robbery and violence may wish to put a power crystal, such as turquoise, red jasper or carnelian, as a protective buffer near external doors and windows. In less extreme circumstances, charged rose quartz and amethyst are excellent for sleep and relaxation problems, for charging simply accentuates the innate calm energies of the crystal.

With the gentle crystals (such as amethyst, rose quartz or smoky quartz), you will experience a gentle warmth and enclosing light of pink, green or purple according to the colour of the crystal. But with the power crystals (such as clear crystal quartz, citrine or carnelian), you may see with your psychic vision sparks of gold emanating and enclosing you in a protective shell. Anyone who approaches in a confrontational way may stop and back off. The crystal is not hurting them, it is just strengthening your own boundaries against intrusion.

If you cannot visit an ancient site to charge your crystals, hold a crystal pendulum up to bright sunlight, or in front of a fibre optic lamp, and swirl it so that it catches rainbows. Hold your pendulum in your power hand. With your other hand, hold the crystal beneath the pendulum so it catches the light, and turn your pendulum over the crystal nine times deosil to absorb power.

Another method is to take your crystal out into the light of the full moon (the two or three nights leading up to the full moon are also powerful). Hold your crystal up so that the light of the Moon shines on it. Alternatively, fill a bowl with water and place it in the open air so that the Moon is reflected in it. You can then bathe your crystal in empowering moonlight and leave to dry.

You can also bathe a crystal in sunlight; I find the Moon method more gently empowering for crystals that are primarily intended to act as guardians. But experiment, as Sun water may be best for you. As these are personal crystals, ask the Moon or Sun in your own words to lend their power; alternatively, you may prefer to remain silent and let these ancient forces work in their own way. You can also use this method for empowering amulets and lucky charms or St Christopher medallions. St Christopher is patron saint and protector of all travelers.