Now that you have bought your crystals you need to cleanse them. Crystals, as well as having their own vibrations, pick up the vibrations from all those who touch them. Many, many hands may have touched your crystal before you, the people who have gathered the crystals, the wholesaler, the retailer...and of course the many, many other customers in that shop who have been there buying crystals and who have picked up various ones when buying their own…and so it will hold the vibrations of all those people.

You need to make the crystal YOURS and YOURS alone. It must hold your vibrations and nobody else’s...and cleansing will wipe away the vibrations of all those who touched the crystal before you.

Crystals record and store information so they also need to be cleansed after each healing as they absorb the negative vibrations from ailments and you could pass these on to other people. If you are using them just for yourself then you can leave them for however long you feel is right before cleansing. But if you have used a crystal for something like an emotional hurt it is a good idea to cleanse it afterwards so you don’t take on that same emotion next time you use that crystal. Crystals tend to store emotional pain far quicker than physical pain.

So how do you cleanse your crystals?

Well I’m always being asked how crystals can be cleansed, I know a few of you have asked me too, but the question is not one which can be answered easily, so you won’t be surprised to find that cleansing crystals will take up quite a lot of this weeks class.

There are many, many ways of cleansing. One of the easiest ways is to hold a crystal in the palm of your hand and visualise a white healing light of spirit going through the crystal

but that wouldn’t obviously work with someone who doesn’t believe in spirit or the white light or who has trouble in visualising. But if you do favour this method, make sure you wash the crystal first under cold running water.

Everyone cleanses crystals differently and it is what they feel happy with and what they feel works with them that is most important.

NEVER use detergents on your crystals as this will leave a film on them and they will either not heal at all or their healing properties will be compromised.

It doesn’t matter how mild the detergent is, it will still harm your crystals eventually. Organic, eco-friendly detergents are still not to be used.

Salt or salt water or indeed water with or without the sun/moon’s help can be used for cleansing crystals as well as smudging, the use of essential oils, burying in earth, and, if you are a practiser, you can Reiki your crystals clean.


These are the most common ways of cleansing:


    

Burying your crystals in the earth is an excellent cleanser, but never use this method for hematite or tiger’s eye or any of the other metal-based crystals.

This method is like ‘taking them home’ as this is where the originated from…it’s a rebirth if you like. But remember to place a marker where you buried them or you may find them hard to find again! Lol lol


    

If you live by the sea the ideal way for you to cleanse your crystals would be to put them into a pouch with a cord attached and let them dangle in the water overnight. Although they didn’t use salt water, but the pure water of a stream, this is the method which was used by Native Americans.

If you aren’t lucky enough to live by the sea then immersing your crystals overnight in salt water (using sea salt is better than ‘ordinary’ salt) will also cleanse them.

Just 2 tablespoons of salt is all you need in the water. Some people insist on using filtered water but many use just plain tap water…I do myself. The next day rinse the crystals under running cold water and put in the sun to dry.

Putting your crystal in the sun (and also in the moonlight) recharges its batteries, so to speak, but you can only do this with crystals which are not friable and which cannot start a fire…remember that the light from the sun moves in an arc as the day progresses.

Some crystals must never be placed in water and some of these are:
calcite, carnelian, halite, hematite, labradorite/spectrolite, lepidolite, lodestone (magnetite), mica, moldavite, opal, turquoise, ulexite, clusters of most stones.

Silver jewellery which has crystals in should never be put into salt water either
as salt water leaves a green oxidisation residue on the silver and it begins to corrode.


   

Cover the crystals with sea or rock salt and leave them overnight. In the morning gently brush every speck of salt off as the salt can damage the crystal, especially if the atmosphere is damp.

But you must always remember that some crystals cannot be put in water or in salt (or both) because they are ‘soft’ crystals and they can begin to break down and lose their healing vibrations. This again, is where a good book is invaluable.

 

    

When you use a smudge stick any of the following may be used:

Cedar, sage, lavender, juniper, pine

Pass the crystal through the smoke or if you have a large amount to cleanse then pass it over a group of crystals many times. As you do this ‘think’ away the negativity which the crystal may hold.


Smudging can also be done with a candle by passing the crystals through the light of the flame and visualise them being purified and energised.

     
 
Essential oils can also act as a cleanser for crystals. The most economical method of using oils is to place crystals in a container, fill it with filtered water as you would for the salt water method and put a drop or two of essential oil into the water.

The following oils can be used:

Lemon: This has a purifying effect and, on a practical level, cuts grease.

Juniper: Like juniper in a smudge stick, juniper oil has the ability to help release any negative vibrations.

Lavender: If you've been doing any kind of intense emotional work with your crystals, lavender oil has a calming and balancing effect. Put some on yourself, too.


    

Some crystals have the ability to cleanse others. For instance, a carnelian kept in a bag of tumbled crystals will cleanse them and you will never have to cleanse them again. A small crystal, placed on a clear quartz cluster and left overnight will also be cleansed.

    

The rays of the sun and moon are energetically very cleansing, as well as energizing. Placing your crystals outside where they can soak up the sunlight or moonlight for day or night, up to a week is very beneficial.

Do be careful though, as some the colours of some stones may fade in the sun. A few of the stones that will fade in the sun are amethyst, celestite, opal, and turquoise. If you have any doubts at all, be sure to use only moonlight cleansing


   

Those of you who practice Reiki healing will know that you can Reiki almost anything. It’s not only for us and our pets but we can purify our food by using Reiki, our drinks, our plants and also our crystals.

If you are Reiki Level 1 you can simply hold a crystal in your hand and Reiki it. If you are Reiki II you can also draw the mental/emotional symbol over your crystals.


   

Nowadays there are purpose-made cleansers on sale. I’ve not used any of these and I prefer to stick to the old ways so I don't know much about them, just that they exist in the form of a fine spray which you spray your crystals with.