Seven Ways to Cleanse Your Crystals

I just want to start this article off by stating that, there isn't a specific right or wrong way to cleanse your crystals. I'm going to go over some of the most common ways and possibly a few that you may not know about. It's up to you to decide which cleansing method is best for you. It could be one of these, several of these, or something I don't even know about. If it works for you and resonates with you and your crystal practice, then keep right on doing it. And if you want to try something new, then maybe this post will give you some ideas.

First off, why do we need to cleanse our crystals? The main reason to cleanse them, is energy build up. Crystals can go through many hands and places before they get to you and once you start using them in your space or for your own crystal work. These crystals have been around lots of different energies. These energies can contaminate the crystal's natural energy. When you cleanse your crystals, you are just helping them to start over fresh with their own original vibration and frequency.

It is my personal opinion that, even without our cleansing help, the crystals would still go back to their original vibration if left alone for awhile. With their near perfect structure and steady energy flow, they are only going to get off track for so long before their natural energy pattern would take over again. The crystals weren't sitting in the ground for thousands of years waiting for humans to cleanse them to get their energy flowing properly, right? So I believe that they can regulate themselves without us, but we are just helping them along to speed up the process. We also want to make sure that we aren't getting someone else's energy mixed with the crystal when we're trying to use it's true energy for crystal therapy. Personally, I also just enjoy the ritual of cleansing them. It helps to strengthen your bond with your crystals.

The first method I want to mention is running water. Now this method would not be good for water-soluble crystals. Another method would need to be used for those. But for water-safe crystals, you can hold your crystal under running water for a few minutes. This can be done at your kitchen sink, but is also really great if you can do it in natural running water like in a stream or creek. This really connects them with the earth which is where they came from.

The next method is sunlight or moonlight. You can leave your crystals outside to soak up the beautiful life energy of the sun's rays for an hour or so depending on how heavily the crystal has been used. Just be careful with quartz crystals, as they can pose a slight fire risk if the sunlight gets focused through them just right. Also keep in mind that the colors on some crystals can fade with too much exposure so don't overdo it. The moonlight can be a safer option if you are worried about fading or fire hazards. You can leave them outside during any night, but the energy is supposedly higher on nights with a full or new moon.

The third method is smoke. This can be done by burning incense, palo santo, sage bundles (smudge sticks), and other herbs and/or essential oils. Just let the smoke drift over your crystals to cleanse the energy in and around them. You can hold each crystal over the smoke or you can use a feather or hand held fan to gently blow the smoke over your crystals. This is a great method for cleansing your sacred spaces and/or homes as well. This is a method that I like to use when preparing for a session or to cleanse crystals after they've been used in a session. It feels very calming which helps my personal energy flow as well.

Another method is the earth. You can bury your crystals in the earth and leave them for one to two weeks to absorb all the natural energy. This method takes much longer and is honestly one that I've never tried myself. If you'd like to try this one, make sure to mark where you put your crystals so that you don't lose them. Some people put the crystals into a small open dish when they bury them to keep them together and make them easier to find. Or you could bury them in a planter to keep them safer as well.

A fifth method is to cleanse your crystals and stones with other crystals. If you have a large cluster or geode made of quartz stone, like amethyst or clear quartz, you can put smaller crystals in them to cleanse them. Another cleansing crystal is Selenite. You can place a piece of selenite with your crystals to keep them cleansed or get a selenite slab or bowl to put them in.

The next cleansing method is energy. If you use energy healing, like Reiki, you can send that energy to the crystals. This is generally done by holding a crystal in your dominant hand and concentrating on sending cleansing/healing energy to the stone. You can also send energy through your breath. Inhale deeply and set your intention to cleansing energy and then breath out gently onto your stone.

The last method I want to tell you about is sound. This can be done with your voice through chanting or singing. You can also use many different instruments. Things like drums, bells, tingshas, singing bowls, steel tongue drums, tuning forks, rattles, etc. The sound carries its own vibration through sound waves. When you send out these waves, it can shake up the energy it encounters. This can help reset the crystal's vibration or get stagnant energy flowing again. This is another method that I personally like to use. It is quick, effective, and I can do lots of crystals at once without having to move them all outside or rinse each one individually. I also just enjoy the sounds. I feel like it refreshes the energy in me and the space around me as well.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about these seven different cleansing methods. I'm sure there are more out there (please share them in the comments if you have one), but these are the ones that I am familiar with. Again, there is no right or wrong way. You can choose whatever feels best for you. If you've never done any cleansing before, then try a few out and see what resonates. This is your ritual and it's for your crystals. So much of energy work is all based on your own energy and your intentions, not necessarily doing an exact activity. Just set your intentions and thoughts towards cleansing energy and do what feels right.

Love, Light, and Happiness to you all!

This post was written based on information from my Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy training and some information from the books "Crystals for Healing" by Karen Frazier and "The Modern Guide to Crystal Healing" by Philip Permutt.

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