Bethra
February 22nd, 2003, 08:48 PM
The Care and Feeding of Crystals
Selecting your Crystal
To select a Crystal is not all that much different from selecting a pet or a work of art. When you go into the store to purchase your crystal - or any other stone used in healing or Psychic work - just pick the one that "calls" to you. Handle the various stones and place them, one by one, in your receptive hand. (the one that is not your dominant hand; if you are right-handed or ambi-dexterous, your receptive hand is your left. If you are completely left-handed your receptive hand is your right.) The stone that is right FOR YOU will "pull" you to it. This may not be the stone that looks the clearest or the most impressive, either. Our societies materialistic values and our conditioning to accept them must not enter into our decision, which is very hard for most of us at first. Our first tendency is to judge the stone -as we always judge ourselves and everything else in a constant stream of thoughts- by what we have been conditioned to believe is "good" or "bad".
If the piece you are choosing is for a specific purpose; i.e. for healing, or to enhance your psychic abilities, or for meditation; it will help if you keep that purpose in mind while you are selecting the stone. An interesting phenomena often happens to people who are just going into the gem and mineral healing or psychic work. Most people start off with clear quartz, because it has the most applications. They go into a store or a gem show to purchase a clear quartz and find themselves drawn to all kinds of other "rocks" (as the collectors call them) too. Many times they bring a bag of various mineral specimens home with them. Later they look up the stones in one of the many reference books on this subject, only to find the stones they were drawn to are exactly the ones they need to deal with issues or illnesses that they need to work on.
Using your stones
Stones are tools in our psychic work and, as in any other object used, work by focusing the mind's powers. To get the best use out of them, more than just wearing them or carrying them is required. They should be used from a state of meditation, while visualizing the goals we wish to accomplish with them - such as healing, increased Psychic perception, etc. A good way to do this for to help you focus and a self-hypnosis tape that relates to your goals and use it. And if you are using the crystals in healing, be aware that they are NOT meant to replace the care of a competent health professional - but many people find them a useful adjunct to it.
Cleansing your stones
crystals need regular cleansing espechialy new ones. Cleansing is not a physical process but rather a sipitual one. In esoteric terms crystals absorb and retransmit all energies with which they come into contact. In healing crystals become receptive to emotional energies. Cleansing brings the crystals back to a neutral state so that accumulated negative energies are not passed on. This process also re energizes the crystal and ensures that it functions at its highest level. Before you settle on a method of cleansing you also need to note that some crystals are sensative to different things such as abrasive surfaces and sunlight and heat. I will give you a list of sensative stones before I give you a list of cleansing methods.
Avoid contact with water:
Halite – water soluble.
Selenite – water soluble.
Lapis Lazuli – porous, do not soak.
Malachite – cool water only.
Turquoise – do not soak.
Light Sensitive Crystals:
Amethyst – may fade
Rose quartz – made fade.
Turquoise – may dry out and fade.
Heat Sensitive Crystals:
Amethyst – made fade in gentle heat , becoming colourless in strong heat.
Quartz – may fracture with sudden temperature changes.
Lapis Lazuli – avoid high heat.
Malachite – avoid sudden temperature changes.
Tourmaline – high heat alters colours.
Turquoise – sensitive to all heat.
Crystals the are easily scratched:
Metallic crystals eg gold
Celesite
Malachite
Rhodochrosite
Fluorite
Apatite
Lapis Lazuli
Sodalite
Turquoise
Hematite
Moonstone
Cleansing methods
Running water: Cleanse your crystal by holding them under running water. As you do so think of a beautiful waterfall or imaginewaves lapping over your crystal on a tropical beach.
Resonating sound: Purify your crystal with the resonating sound of a bell you love. You can cleanse a roomfull of crystals by ringing the bell above them, but the best way is to purify one at a time and imagine the sound setting the right note for the crystal like a tuneing fork.
Smudging: You can cleanse your crystal by burning a wadge of dried herbs and wafting the smoke over them. You can also use smmudging to purify a whole room of crystals though it is better to do one at a time.
Earth burial: Crystals have come from the earth. If you feel they are safe enough you can bury them in the ground (remember to mark the spot). The earth has a natural, magnetic quality which will draw off negativity. Leave them in the ground for about 12 to 24 hrs.
Free fallen water and rock salt: Soak crystals in a non-metallic container filled with rain water or river water and some purifying rock salt. Clean sea water is another option. Leave for at least 12 hours to cleans.
Amethyst bed: A large cluster of amethyst can be used to cleanse several stones at once. Amethyst is said to transmute lower energies into higher frequencies of both spiritual and etheral worlds, thereby transforming whatever is placed on it.
Tuning your Crystal
Tuning of crystals goes by many different names some call it dedicating others refer to it as energizing or programming. Tuning your crystal prepares it to listern to the frequency you want it to work on. By tuning you are in effect "switching them on". You may wish to power the crystal up first and here are two methods of doing so.
Sunlight: Light is the essential current of crystal healing so power up the crystals by leaving them on a sunny window sill until they have had 24hrs of daylight.
Moonlight: This follows the same idear only with the moonlight. Place your crystals on a window still that sees the moon and leave them there for 24hrs of nightlight.
Tuning your crystal by thought visualization: Hold your crystal in you receptive hand (not the one you right with) and place your progetive hand over the top of it. Imagine a bright white star of pure light pouring its light through an opening in the top of your ead. Guide this light down through your body, sensing it being cleansed. Feel the negative energies draining out of your feet. Now send the white light into the crystal and visulize it growing to fill the crystal with light so that the crystal becomes the light. Now visulize the purpose of the crystal and pour the image into the heart of the stone. You may wish to say out loud what you wish the stone to do but this in not totally needed.
So now you know how to look after your crystals remember to cleanse and repower regularly. Keep the stones in soft material in a nice dark box and they should last you a long while. For stones you intend to ware you will still need to cleanse them quite often as they gather negative energy and sometimes need recharging.
I will include a link to my thread on all the crystals and their use
http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23887
Selecting your Crystal
To select a Crystal is not all that much different from selecting a pet or a work of art. When you go into the store to purchase your crystal - or any other stone used in healing or Psychic work - just pick the one that "calls" to you. Handle the various stones and place them, one by one, in your receptive hand. (the one that is not your dominant hand; if you are right-handed or ambi-dexterous, your receptive hand is your left. If you are completely left-handed your receptive hand is your right.) The stone that is right FOR YOU will "pull" you to it. This may not be the stone that looks the clearest or the most impressive, either. Our societies materialistic values and our conditioning to accept them must not enter into our decision, which is very hard for most of us at first. Our first tendency is to judge the stone -as we always judge ourselves and everything else in a constant stream of thoughts- by what we have been conditioned to believe is "good" or "bad".
If the piece you are choosing is for a specific purpose; i.e. for healing, or to enhance your psychic abilities, or for meditation; it will help if you keep that purpose in mind while you are selecting the stone. An interesting phenomena often happens to people who are just going into the gem and mineral healing or psychic work. Most people start off with clear quartz, because it has the most applications. They go into a store or a gem show to purchase a clear quartz and find themselves drawn to all kinds of other "rocks" (as the collectors call them) too. Many times they bring a bag of various mineral specimens home with them. Later they look up the stones in one of the many reference books on this subject, only to find the stones they were drawn to are exactly the ones they need to deal with issues or illnesses that they need to work on.
Using your stones
Stones are tools in our psychic work and, as in any other object used, work by focusing the mind's powers. To get the best use out of them, more than just wearing them or carrying them is required. They should be used from a state of meditation, while visualizing the goals we wish to accomplish with them - such as healing, increased Psychic perception, etc. A good way to do this for to help you focus and a self-hypnosis tape that relates to your goals and use it. And if you are using the crystals in healing, be aware that they are NOT meant to replace the care of a competent health professional - but many people find them a useful adjunct to it.
Cleansing your stones
crystals need regular cleansing espechialy new ones. Cleansing is not a physical process but rather a sipitual one. In esoteric terms crystals absorb and retransmit all energies with which they come into contact. In healing crystals become receptive to emotional energies. Cleansing brings the crystals back to a neutral state so that accumulated negative energies are not passed on. This process also re energizes the crystal and ensures that it functions at its highest level. Before you settle on a method of cleansing you also need to note that some crystals are sensative to different things such as abrasive surfaces and sunlight and heat. I will give you a list of sensative stones before I give you a list of cleansing methods.
Avoid contact with water:
Halite – water soluble.
Selenite – water soluble.
Lapis Lazuli – porous, do not soak.
Malachite – cool water only.
Turquoise – do not soak.
Light Sensitive Crystals:
Amethyst – may fade
Rose quartz – made fade.
Turquoise – may dry out and fade.
Heat Sensitive Crystals:
Amethyst – made fade in gentle heat , becoming colourless in strong heat.
Quartz – may fracture with sudden temperature changes.
Lapis Lazuli – avoid high heat.
Malachite – avoid sudden temperature changes.
Tourmaline – high heat alters colours.
Turquoise – sensitive to all heat.
Crystals the are easily scratched:
Metallic crystals eg gold
Celesite
Malachite
Rhodochrosite
Fluorite
Apatite
Lapis Lazuli
Sodalite
Turquoise
Hematite
Moonstone
Cleansing methods
Running water: Cleanse your crystal by holding them under running water. As you do so think of a beautiful waterfall or imaginewaves lapping over your crystal on a tropical beach.
Resonating sound: Purify your crystal with the resonating sound of a bell you love. You can cleanse a roomfull of crystals by ringing the bell above them, but the best way is to purify one at a time and imagine the sound setting the right note for the crystal like a tuneing fork.
Smudging: You can cleanse your crystal by burning a wadge of dried herbs and wafting the smoke over them. You can also use smmudging to purify a whole room of crystals though it is better to do one at a time.
Earth burial: Crystals have come from the earth. If you feel they are safe enough you can bury them in the ground (remember to mark the spot). The earth has a natural, magnetic quality which will draw off negativity. Leave them in the ground for about 12 to 24 hrs.
Free fallen water and rock salt: Soak crystals in a non-metallic container filled with rain water or river water and some purifying rock salt. Clean sea water is another option. Leave for at least 12 hours to cleans.
Amethyst bed: A large cluster of amethyst can be used to cleanse several stones at once. Amethyst is said to transmute lower energies into higher frequencies of both spiritual and etheral worlds, thereby transforming whatever is placed on it.
Tuning your Crystal
Tuning of crystals goes by many different names some call it dedicating others refer to it as energizing or programming. Tuning your crystal prepares it to listern to the frequency you want it to work on. By tuning you are in effect "switching them on". You may wish to power the crystal up first and here are two methods of doing so.
Sunlight: Light is the essential current of crystal healing so power up the crystals by leaving them on a sunny window sill until they have had 24hrs of daylight.
Moonlight: This follows the same idear only with the moonlight. Place your crystals on a window still that sees the moon and leave them there for 24hrs of nightlight.
Tuning your crystal by thought visualization: Hold your crystal in you receptive hand (not the one you right with) and place your progetive hand over the top of it. Imagine a bright white star of pure light pouring its light through an opening in the top of your ead. Guide this light down through your body, sensing it being cleansed. Feel the negative energies draining out of your feet. Now send the white light into the crystal and visulize it growing to fill the crystal with light so that the crystal becomes the light. Now visulize the purpose of the crystal and pour the image into the heart of the stone. You may wish to say out loud what you wish the stone to do but this in not totally needed.
So now you know how to look after your crystals remember to cleanse and repower regularly. Keep the stones in soft material in a nice dark box and they should last you a long while. For stones you intend to ware you will still need to cleanse them quite often as they gather negative energy and sometimes need recharging.
I will include a link to my thread on all the crystals and their use
http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23887