Charging Your Crystals

How to CHARGE your crystals (after cleansing them)

Charging crystals is different to cleansing them, charging them means you are giving them an energy boost, like switching on their "on" switch.

The most common way to charge crystals is to leave them out in the moon light, full moon works best and is often regarded as the only time to charge them - this like many other things is not true, you can charge your crystals anytime ;) You can actually use the moon phases for crystal spells as well but I'll leave that one for another day (remind me!) 

If you have fragile or soluble crystals, place them inside on a window ledge rather than outside where the due and moisture in the air may damage them.

Full Moon is a perfect time for charging crystals

Earthing crystals in the ground not only cleanses them, but it also charges them as well so you could simply bury them for a day or night and do both at once if you like. This method is particularly good for crystals which have been used for healing and have used up a lot of their energy to help someone.

Crystal grids can be created to charge certain crystals, as can crystal generators. This is a very broad subject (gridding) but basically you need to listen to the crystals themselves, or your intuition in order to know how to lay them out. For a crystal charging grid generally you will place the chargers around the one you wish to charge and they would "face" it sending their energy to it. Grids can be a little tricky, you could possibly over charge a crystal or drain the chargers by accident so this is not a way I would recommend unless you are confident with grids.

One of Saige Winterbears' crystal grids

You can charge your crystals using your own positive energy. To do this you simply hold your crystal in your right hand (or left if left-handed) and focus your energy down through your arm and into the crystal. You can also use tools such as a wand or Athame to charge them the same way.

Some crystals prefer to charge in the Sun light rather than the moon, crystals such as Citrine, Shungite, Malachite and Tiger Eye like to be charged in the sun. To do this you leave them out in the sunlight for a few hours, I like to place them on a clear quartz cluster in a sunny spot <3

And some crystals can actually charge others, just like Carnelian and Kyanite cleanse them, stones and crystals such as Apophyllite, Clear Quartz, Amethyst and of course the ever helpful Carnelian. Clusters do tend to work best when using them to charge other crystals as well as Generators.

~ Lyllith Xx

Cleansing Your Crystals

How to cleanse your crystals.... (This is not the same as charging crystals, which I will post about next)

Crystals hold energies, both positive and negative and need to be cleansed - the regularity (is that a word? is now) of how often you'll need to cleanse them will vary depending on how often you use them, if they have been used to help remove negative, stale or "bad" energy or when protecting from dark spirits etc. I also find it best to cleanse them before using them if they haven't been out to play in a while.

Most crystals can be cleansed under running water or in naturally flowing water

How to cleanse them - There are several ways you can cleanse crystals, the first and easiest way is to hold them under flowing water, of course a natural creek, river or the beach is best but not necessary. The good old kitchen tap will work just as well, especially if your intentions are set.

Not all crystals can be cleansed in water, such as Selenite, which will slowly dissolve if it gets wet due to it's crystaline salt-like formation, Malachite which may release toxins into the water, Raw crystals need to be kept dry. Most tumbled stones are fine to wash in water if you're unsure please check or cleanse using a different method.

Earthing is another way to cleanse them, you can do this by either placing them on the ground in a garden or actually burying them for a while. The Earth then cleanses and also provides a little boost to your crystals.

Salt is another good way to cleanse crystals, you can do this by placing your stones on a dish or bowl filled with salt - any salt is fine, though the purer the better. I have a special Cleansing Salt Blend available in my online store, which is what we often use and is available here. Our daughter, Saige, likes to then cover her crystals with more salt, and give them a bit of a salt bath and cover them up as much as she can.

Crystals in a salt bath

The last way to cleanse crystals (there are some others like singing bowls, candlework etc. but I like to keep things simple) is to smoke them. To do this you simply use a white sage smudge stick, palo santo or herbal incense blend and pass the crystals through the smoke. The smoke cleanses them just as it does when you smudge your home or anything else. Hold them in the smoke until you feel they are done or pass them through, back & forth several times through the smoke.

Smudging with White Sage - original image source unknown

Remember though to wipe off any water, salt or dirt once you're done to make sure they are clean and dry as well as cleansed in the energetic sense of the word.

There are some crystals which never need cleansing such as Carnelian, which also cleanses it's friends when kept together in a bag or pouch!

How do you prefer to cleanse your crystals? Do you have some which prefer a different way to others?

Xx