Cleansing your crystals and stones helps release any energies that they might have accumulated, resetting them to their original charge. If you love crystals, this chart will help you know how to cleanse each type of stone:
Not only do we cleanse them to make them look and feel better, but as a devotional practice for ourselves. Taking our crystals outside and basking in Nature, whether it’s near a waterfall, a spring, river, or by the smoke of a bonfire, are all good ways to energize the crystals and our own spirit.
After cleansing our gemstones they will be more receptive and will be able to work better with them.
Physically Cleansing Sacred Crystals
Water & Soap
There are crystals that can be submerged in water to be cleansed. You can leave them in a bowl filled with water for a few minutes or under the tap until they feel they are clean. Use warm water and add a little dishwashing liquid if you’d prefer.
Steaming
Just like a skin steaming treatment, this is a non-aggressive way to cleanse a crystal or gemstone. Boil some water in a pot and hold the crystal over the bowl to receive the steam. Add your choice of fresh herbs, plants, essential oils to the water to pass their benefits onto your gemstone.
Boiling
While not many crystals are safe to boil, this is a useful method when your stone has suffered heavily and other methods won’t work. To avoid “thermal shock” (sudden and extreme temperature change) that can fracture a stone, do not drop the jewelry in water that is already boiling!
You will need a pan of room-temperature water, and a strainer that will keep the jewelry off the bottom of the pan. A screen-like strainer will work, as will a tea strainer. Use a small amount of laundry or dishwashing detergent in the water. Put the jewelry in the strainer, and suspend in the pan. Slowly bring the pot of water to a boil, and boil for 10-20 minutes.
Wiping with a damp cloth
Many crystals are soft or porous in their molecular structure and should not be in contact with water or heat. This method can be used with most crystals and gemstones. Dampen a soft flannel cloth with warm water and wipe the stone.
Energetically Charging Crystals
There are also several ways to do this, including Crystal Attunement Meditations but some of the most effective and frequently used by practitioners are:
In the Sun or Moonlight
Energizing a stone in the sunlight or moonlight is very simple. Leave your stones for a few hours absorbing the sun’s rays. The same applies if you want to energize it in the moonlight, just like when making Moon Water:
The energy of the Sun is typically considered masculine while Lunar energy is feminine.
Have caution with the crystals that you place in the sun. For example, Amethyst, Rose Quartz, and Fluorite can lose their color if left exposed to sunlight for a long time.
Burying in Earth
Most minerals are formed under the earth so burying a crystal is a symbolic way for the stone to go back home, recharge and replenish itself with the positive energies of its origin. The cleansing method consists of burying the stone in a flowerpot or container with fresh dirt for 7 days or 28 days (a lunar cycle) depending on how much energy they need to recover. Once this time has passed, dig them up and clean them with a damp cloth.
Cleansing with Incense
Pick the incense that suits best the type of energy that your crystal needs to absorb. A good idea is to pick an essence related to purification such as cinnamon or lavender. Light the incense and bathe the stone in the smoke. While the smoke purifies your crystals, you can make a small invocation or prayer asking the energies of the air to remove any negativity.
How often should I cleanse my crystals?
Cleanse and reset your stones after heavy spiritual work. Working with crystals involves a lot of intuition, so you should begin to develop a connection with your stones. You will feel when they are charged with negative energy and when they need to be cleansed. Some may have to be energized once a week, others once a month, and so on.
A lovely crystal well-suited for moon work, if you ask me!