How To Use Crystals

How To Use Crystals

by Janelle Scialla

Wear or Carry the Appropriate Crystal

The simplest way of gaining benefit from crystals is to wear them for a period of time. Some crystals, such as jaspers, work slowly and continuously, and you may feel you would like their ongoing support. Others may work faster and are best used in short bursts. Remove them if you start to feel uncomfortable, and make sure they are cleansed. If you are wearing them in the form of jewellery, they are best set in pure metal such as silver or gold, not plated base metal.

Metals themselves are used in healing, and can affect the energy of the crystal. It helps to have them near or touching the area that needs healing, and they are more effective if worn in direct contact with the skin. If you are using a stone to treat a specific area, for example malachite for pain in the lower back, you can alternatively tape it on with Micropore (surgical tape). Be sure you select a relatively flat, smooth crystal, and cleanse it often.

Space Clearing and Feng Shui

Space Clearing

Crystals can be used to clear a room, create a sacred space, and to nurture and protect those within a home or building. To keep an area clear and vibrant, a clear quartz or amethyst cluster can be placed in the room. Zeolites, such as apophyllite and stilbite will work well, too.

Most black, brown or deep red crystals are good for clearing electromagnetic "smog" generated by computers, televisions and your electricity supply. Also helpful are rose quartz, rutilated quartz, or a cluster or clear quartz or amethyst. Place near the area that needs clearing, or between you and the computer. With the exception of the clusters, which are self-cleansing, be sure to cleanse these crystals often, as many of them will absorb the unwanted energy. By carrying them with you, these crystals are also useful for self-protection, if you feel you are being bombarded by negative energy.

Gridding

Gridding can be used in larger areas to protect or clarify property or help to prevent vandalism, and crystals can even be placed in the foundations of a new building

You can also grid the area by placing a small clear quartz point in each corner. If the terminations are pointing towards the corners this will protect the room; if they are pointing inwards they will charge the energy of the room. This is particularly nice if you are using the room for meditation, but be careful of the size of the crystals used, as in this case size does matter, and too much energy can make everyone feel jumpy. If in doubt, experiment. Selenite or satin spar gypsum can also be used in this way.

If you have an altar, crystals are a wonderful addition. Choose the crystals by what they symbolise to you. For example, you can use rose quartz if you want to attract or strengthen love, improve self-love, or if you wish to symbolise your love of the divine; clear quartz can indicate a spiritual connection, or symbolise purity.

Crystals with Meditation

Another aspect of gridding involves sitting in a stone circle for a period of time, preferably while meditating. This is not to suggest you plan a trip to Stonehenge, but to simply surround yourself with small crystals. Choose crystals by what you would like to bring into your meditation, and use any number from three upwards.

The effect can be amplified by "activating" the circle. If you are used to energy work, you can channel energy and visualise it joining the circle together in a clockwise direction, possibly drawing the circle of light with your hand.

Alternatively, use a wand or control crystal to do this. If you use this method, be sure to deactivate the circle at the end, using an anti-clockwise direction. All crystals can be used in this way. Rose quartz is very gentle and loving, prehnite and new jade are detoxifying, honey calcite can aid meditation, and black tourmaline can help you feel protected, and can also help you to move on when you're feeling "stuck".

These are just a few suggestions. It is useful to combine crystals as well. If you use crystals with terminations (such as clear quartz or amethyst points), the points can be aimed in different directions to varying effects. You can point them away from you, towards you, clockwise or anti-clockwise around you, or even in patterns, such as a spiral or Star of David.

Try out different stones, and see how they work in combination. Smaller crystals are preferable, but this is by no means a rule. Many small crystals can be purchased for very little, so expense shouldn't hinder you.It can also be helpful to hold a single crystal in meditation to gain self-knowledge and insight, or information about the crystal itself.

Laying on Stones

This is an effective method of treating others, and involves placing stones directly on the body. There are many, many different methods, but possibly the easiest method to try is a basic Chakra Layout. 

You can try this on yourself, but it's much more effective to treat another. Choose a crystal for each Chakra, with the right corresponding colour, such as red garnet for the Root Chakra,orange carnelian for the Sacral Chakra, etc.

Make sure the crystals are cleansed before you begin. Have the person receiving the treatment lie comfortably on their back, on a bed, the floor, or a treatment table. Place the crystals in order from the Root Chakra up, until you reach the Crown Chakra.

If you are placing a crystal in a sensitive area, you might ask the person receiving the treatment to place it (and later remove it) for you. Leave the crystals on for a period of time, say 10-20 minutes, and let them do their work. This can be further enhanced by channelling white light into each crystal, or directing a wand or control crystal in a clockwise motion around each crystal in turn.

Again, begin with the Root Chakra and work your way up. Check with the person every so often to see what they are experiencing. At first they may be aware of particular sensations around the area of certain crystals, but when the Chakras have balanced, they should be relatively unaware of the crystals on their body.

If there is a long-term energy blockage, it is not always possible to balance all the Chakras in this way. If this is the case, use your intuition and discretion to judge when to finish the treatment. When removing the crystals, start with the Crown Chakra and work your way down. Make sure the person is grounded before they get up. If in doubt, hold their ankles, and ask them to imagine their energy flowing down their bodies, into their legs, and pooling in their feet.

Gem Waters and Elixirs

The fat-free mass of our bodies is made up of approximately 70% water. This varies with age and sex. It has been long believed that water carries vibrational energy, which can be affected by the use of trees and flowers (such as the Bach Flower Remedies), as well as the area in which the water exists.

Biophysicists have recently proven this as fact (see Messages from Water, published by HADO Kyoikusha Co, Ltd, and Love Thyself, published by Hay House, Inc, both by Masaru Emoto). Gem elixirs work in a similar way to flower remedies

Using Wands, Points & Control Crystals

Wands and Points

Wands and clear quartz points are used to amplify and direct energy. Use these with care and intent. A double terminated quartz crystal (possessing a point at each end) will allow the energy to flow both ways.

Massage wands are carved so that one end comes to a point, and the other is smooth and rounded. These can be used with the rounded end as a massage tool, to break up and dissipate energy blockages. This is best done with training and experience, using a very gentle pressure.

Control Crystals

This is a method of crystal healing favoured by Dramis West and Geoffrey Keyte, who first introduced crystal healing to the UK. It involves using a large clear quartz crystal to do most of the work, and to direct other crystals to work in harmony. The Control Crystal is used more like a conductor's baton than a magic wand, and it is seen as an extension of the self.

The advantages of this system are neutrality and detachment of the healer, and the gentleness of the healing itself. Attunement to a control crystal should be learned through a teacher. It involves deep meditation techniques and a period of nightly work with the crystal.

Crystal Massage

Recently many massage therapists have started using stones in their treatments, and not only in hot stone therapies. There are a number of carved crystal shapes specifically designed for use in massage, including flat palm stones, lenses, stylus shapes, spheres, massage wands and massage tools. Tumble stones are also very effective, and even rough crystals and crystal points can be used as long as you are careful of sharp edges.

It is best to learn this through a teacher, but there are also books available on the subject (eg. "Heal yourself with Crystals" by Hazel Raven). If you have some experience with massage, you can try working intuitively. Always use a very gentle pressure, as the deep work is done by the vibration of the crystals. Because of this, many massage therapists use this method if they are experiencing RSI or arthritis in their hands and fingers.

Spend Time in the Right Place

Rocks that form through volcanic, sedimentary or metamorphic processes each have their own qualities and implications in healing. To bring about strong transformation and healing, try looking at geological survey map. Choose an area with the right type of formation, and plan a stay in that area for a few days. This method was first researched in Germany by Michael Gienger.(See Crystal Power, Crystal Healing by Michael Gienger, published by Blandford)

Igneous Rocks

Rock formation through volcanic eruption and magma; a liquid substance becomes solid. Think of this as a super-saturated sugar solution, such as when making jam. The sugar dissolves easily in the liquid when it's heated, but as the solution cools the substances within may begin to separate. If the jam cools too quickly, sugar may crystallise on top. Igneous rocks demonstrate a crystallisation process based on cooling and solidification, and represent potential and predisposition; each igneous mineral symbolises an aspect of spiritual potential, and can support and encourage their development.

Sedimentary Rocks

Rock formation caused by weathering and breaking down of already existing rocks. They are transported by wind, landslides or by water. This is followed by sedimentation. Sedimentary formation demonstrates the influences of environment, and represents the shaping of our personalities and belief systems due to experiences in our past and upbringing. Sedimentary rocks can help us to recognise and become aware of this shaping, and gradually let go of old patterns

Metamorphic Rocks

Formed in the lower part of earth's crust under extreme heat and pressure. The metamorphic process includes the formation of mountains, and metamorphosis and transformation into entirely new rocks. This demonstrates the spiritual process of transformation, and represents the burning off of anything that is not necessary. Metamorphic rocks stimulate inner transformation and encourage critical self-reflection.