Cleansing Crystals

When you receive your crystal for the first time it is very important that you cleanse it.

Crystals absorb energy and when you receive your crystal it will have been handled by many different people, collecting energies each and every time. Therefore, it is very important to ’cleanse’ your crystals as soon as you receive them and on a regular basis thereafter, this can be daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, depending on use. You will also need to charge and program your crystal after cleansing (see the charging and programming crystals information pages).

If you are using crystals for healing it is extremely important to cleanse them before and after every healing session. If you have a received a crystal as a gift then this might have been cleansed and programmed specifically for you. You will need to check with the person who gave you the crystal but if this is the case then the crystal will not need cleansing.

The cleansing process is not ’physical’ cleaning with soap and water. Crystals function by absorbing energy from their surroundings and then correcting imbalances.

If crystals are not cleansed they can become overloaded, their effectiveness is then reduced and negative energies can actually be released from them. The cleansing process is intended to cleanse the crystal of its stored energies and restore it back to its original state so that it can work effectively.

Cleansing methods

1) Salt water (Use this method with caution!)
Before using this method please make sure that your crystal can be left to soak in sea water or water mixed with sea salt. For example, crystals such as Selenite are water soluble so are not be suitable to be placed in water at all.

Cooking salt can also be used if sea salt/water is not available. You should fill a glass bowl (not metal) about half to one third full and place your crystals so that they are fully submerged in the salt water for anywhere between 1 to 24 hours. Many people leave them in salt water overnight but a crystal that needs a much deeper and more thorough cleansing can be left for up to 1 week. You should thoroughly rinse your crystals in cool running water after spending time in salt water to remove any remaining salt. After use, the salt water must be flushed away and never re-used because it will have absorbed negative and unwanted energies.

Salt water cleansing is considered one of the best and most thorough ways to cleanse crystals, but please be aware that this method must be avoided for certain crystals as it can have an adverse effect on them and even change their appearance and properties! Stones that should not be soaked in salt water include crystals that are porous, contain metal or have water content, for example Opal. Stones and minerals that should be kept away from salt include Pyrite, Lapis Lazuli, Opal and Haematite but this is not an exhaustive list so always check first.

2) Dry salt
Another salt method is to half-fill a glass bowl with sea salt (or cooking salt) and place your crystals directly into the salt. Either bury them into the dry salt or leave them on the surface. They should be left in the salt for several hours, overnight or for several days.

Your crystals should then be rinsed thoroughly under cool running water to remove any remaining salt. After use, the salt must be thrown away and never re-used because it will have absorbed negative and unwanted energies.

Again, take care when placing your crystals directly onto dry salt as the salt can have an adverse effect on certain crystals, as explained above.

3) Non-contact salt
This is considered the safest salt-cleansing method and should be used where the crystals may otherwise be damaged by direct contact with salt. This is also a good method if you are cleansing gem stones found in jewellery or gems surrounded by metal.

First, fill a glass bowl half to two thirds full with dry sea salt (or cooking salt). Then place a smaller glass container or shallow drinking glass and half-bury this glass into the salt. You can then place your crystals directly into the empty glass which is sitting half buried in the dry salt.

The salt will still be able to draw out the stored energies within the stones but this method will take longer to work than direct contact with salt. You may also pour just enough water (preferably pure, distilled or mineral water) into the smaller glass container, just enough to cover the crystals. This will protect them and prevent direct ’salt exposure’ or ’salty air’ from causing any corrosion or adverse effects to any metals or other fittings that may surround the gems. Also, bear in mind that certain crystals should not be left to soak in water.

Again, the used salt should be thrown away and never re-used.

4) Water
Crystals that are not fragile, jointed or water soluble can be held under running water, immersed in the sea or other water such as a river or stream. As you do this you should hold the intention that the crystal will be cleansed of any negative energies it has absorbed and be re-energised.

5) Cleansing by other crystals (crystal druse, bed, geode or cluster)
All crystals can be cleansed safely by placing them inside an Amethyst Geode Cave overnight or for 24-48 hours. An Amethyst Geode, Cluster, or Bed can also be used in the same way.

A Clear Quartz Geode, Bed or Cluster provides a faster cleansing process than Amethyst, but both methods are equally as effective. Simply place no more than a few crystals onto the crystal points and leave for anything up to 24-48 hours.

These crystal cluster formations (both Amethyst and Quartz) have the ability to absorb the energies contained within crystals, neutralise the energies and then release ’good’ energy from the cluster back into the crystals being cleansed, so they can effectively cleanse and energise at the same time.

Carnelian can also cleanse other stones. It can be helpful to keep Carnelian in a bag of tumbled stones, you will never need to cleanse the tumbled stones by any other method. However, depending on which crystal you use for cleansing you may still have to cleanse this.

A few crystals are self-cleansing so will not need cleansing at all. These crystals include Citrine, Kyanite and Azeztuilite.

6) Smudging
Another popular method of cleansing crystals is ’Smudging’. This involves burning either Smudge Sticks or Incense Sticks and holding the crystals in the smoke to cleanse the stored energies. A feather can also be used to fan the smoke across the crystals and this only needs to be done for a short amount of time, 20 to 30 seconds should be long enough (this is not essential).

Certain types of incense are specifically recommended for this because, when burned, they release certain elements into the air via the smoke which can effectively remove bad and built-up energies.

The following incense sticks are particularly effective for smudging: Sage and Sweet Grass, Sandalwood or Cedarwood.

7) Visualisation
You can also use visualisation or ’thought energy’ to cleanse crystals. Simply hold the crystal, focus on it and visualise a bright white light surrounding the crystal. Then visualise a beam of white light coming down through the crystal and passing all the way through taking away any stored energy within the crystal.

Do this until you feel happy that the light has done its job and removed the stored energies in the crystal. The ’thought energy’ generated by you will be transmitted to the crystal and this cleansing method will purify and re-energize the crystal.

8) Earth cleansing
Another natural cleansing method is burying your crystals in earth for up to 24 – 48 hrs. When you take them back out of the ground, they should be rinsed with rain water, if not cold water will be fine.