What to Do With Your New Crystals

What to Do With Your New Crystals

By Debbie Elaine

Congratulations! Your beautiful, new crystals just arrived and you love them!  What next? How can you get the most from working with them? What will make them “happy” as they work with you?

There are many philosophies and schools of thought when it comes to crystal healing and energy work. And I agree with parts of almost all that I’ve come across. But one thing I have come to know is absolutely true, every time, is that it is more than a good idea to clear your crystals when they first arrive, and then regularly as you use them. I think of it as one of those basics like washing your hands before you eat and washing produce before using it.  Or, erasing a white board you want to use after someone else wrote on it. You just have no way of knowing where that crystal has been or what it has been used for before it got to you. Maybe the person carving it
had a bad day. Maybe the person driving the delivery truck had road rage. Maybe the source of the crystal was used for rituals of a currently unknown variety somewhere back in time.  It’s safer and more efficient energy-wise, to cleanse your crystals when they arrive, before mixing them with your other crystals.

Great! I’ve convinced you. Now, how do you clear them? And by the way, the words “clear” and “cleanse” are often used interchangeably. There are several methods and some are more effective than others, while some are more appropriate for fragile crystals than others.  Generally speaking, my favorite way to cleanse crystals when they first arrive is in a bath of lukewarm water with a little sea salt. Salt has the behavior of “pulling out” and “cleansing” energy. However, some crystals will rust in water, such as Hematite and Lodestone (aka Magnesite). Others can become brittle or break or even dissolve; these include: Selenite, Turquoise, Calcite, Lepidolite, Mica, Pyrite, Labradorite, Malachite and Moldavite. Pearls and Opals can also be damaged by a saltwater soak. If clearing crystal jewelry, avoid getting any dyed crystals wet. Commonly dyed beads can include: Magnesite, Howlite, Garnet and Carnelian.

To get the same results as Salt, more safely and gradually, you can place your crystals on a chunk of Selenite overnight. Selenite is very soft, and should be treated with care as it will scratch easily, but storing Selenite among your crystals can also help keep their energy pure and protected when not in use. Carnelian has the property of cleansing other crystals as well, though it seems to take longer than Selenite, in my experience. Still, I tend to mix Carnelian in with my other crystals for storage when I don’t have Selenite to use.

There is another great option for clearing crystals: Sound. Some people work with tuning forks or singing bowls for this, but our video uses a wide range of frequencies for a more comprehensive clearing. Crystal singing bowls can also be very effective, if you have one of them.  Other tried and true methods include: Reiki—though I’ve found that it’s tough to have an intention broad enough to fully cleanse some crystals, so I use this less often lately. Surrounding your crystals in dry rice for several days or burying them in soil for several days also works (Be sure to accurately mark where you buried them, or bring in a bucket of soil and bury them in the bucket). Many people find that passing their crystals through incense such as Nag Champa or Lavender or through Sage smoke can help clear crystals.  Be sure to have the crystals several inches from the source of the smoke, so they will not change temperature quickly and crack.

Finally, when you’ve cleared your crystals, it is important to dedicate or program them. A clear, but undedicated or un-programmed crystal is like an empty space, waiting to be filled. So if you don’t fill it with Pure Light and Universal love (in keeping with your spiritual practices and beliefs), or give it a job to do, your crystal can become filled with other energies and may need clearing again sooner than you would like. To dedicate your crystals, hold them in your hand, a few at a time, and picture a pure light surrounding them. Then repeat your dedication of them aloud or in your mind, 3-5 times in a row.  A sample dedication would be, “I dedicate these crystals to be used only for the Highest Good of All and to be a blessing to all who receive their healing.”  Here’s mine; it’s long and wordy, but it fits my energy and what I’ve experienced doing energy work and crystal healing. As I am Christian, so is my dedication: “I dedicate these crystals to the Glory of God and in the name of Jesus Christ. They are to be used only with, by and for energies of Unconditional Love and Pure light, and for purpose perfectly aligned with the Divine Plan, in all time frames, all dimensions and all realities.” Your dedication should embrace who you are, what you believe and the conviction that you only want to use crystals for good, so as to do no harm in your healing or other energy work. Programming crystals works the same way as a dedicating them. It’s important to state your program as clear as you can, and again, to repeat it several times in a row while holding your crystal.

Once you've cleansed and dedicated your crystals, you may want to energize them by sitting them among other crystals or placing them in moonlight. I often sit mine in front of the speakers as I play reiki music. Reiki also is a great way to energize them. Some people put their crystals in sunlight for a short time to charge them. I always forget they’re there, and it can fade some crystals. So that is one I usually skip, but it’s very effective for many crystals.

In summary: Clear. Dedicate and/or Program. Charge. Then, enjoy! Crystals enjoy having something to do, so get started! Blessings for your life, health and soul.