The most important thing you can do for your crystal is to clean it after you have bought it. This is commonly called cleansing your crystal. You need to clean your crystal as it will most likely have other energy attached to it and some of this may be negative.The crystal has been dug/blasted out of the ground, it may have been grown in a laboratory, it has been cut to size or shaped by someone, it may have been heat treated, and it has most likely been stored and transported before you eventually had it in your possession. It has therefore been handled by various people and been in a selection of environments. Even having your crystal just sitting around in your home for decorative purposes, the crystal is still picking up and absorbing various energies – such as your Wi-Fi.
When do I cleanse a crystal? 
- After you have just received the crystal
- Before you use it
- If someone else has handled it
- When you think it needs cleansing
- If you have had a major change/event in your life
- When it calls for it as part of a regime or ritual
- When you think it needs cleaning
- When it looks or feels dirty
How To Clean or Cleanse Crystals
There are a variety of ways to cleanse your crystals. It is your personal choice and it is choosing one which feels right for you and your crystal. Ask the crystal, it may actually guide you on how it wants to be cleansed.
- Salt – leave in a bowl of salt – difficult with a crystal bed which has lots of small crystals. Shop bought salt has added ingredients to stop it clumping and for smooth pouring.
- Using a cleansed crystal to clean another crystal by placing in it/on it. If you have an amethyst or a quartz crystal cave (geode), bed or large cluster you would just place the crystals needing to be cleaned in or on them and leave for 1 to 2 days.
- Under running tap water – you can ask the crystal to let you know when to stop and may find your hand naturally drops and draws away from the water. A pendulum similarly seems to instinctively move out of the water flow. As chemicals are often added to tap water not everyone likes this method and instead pour spring water over the crystal
- Spring water – put the crystal in a bowl of spring water so that it is submerged and leave for a few hours and then dry. You could even put the bowl outside in the sunshine. Some crystals, such as selenite, dissolve in water so you cannot use a wet cleansing method instead you can use a spray. Pyrite, lapis lazuili, opal and hematite also are not to be left in water- so research your crystal first.
- Rice – submerge your crystal in a bowl of (brown) rice and leave for a few hours. It is recommended not to eat the rice later.
- Petals – this method is loved by Hay House author and naturopath Robert Reeves. You simply leave the crystal in a bowl of petals for a few hours or even overnight. Remember some damp petals may stain.
- Leaving the crystal in a bowl of dried herbs such as sage, frankincense, myrrh or sandalwood.
- Burying in the ground with the points down and covering with soil.
- White sage – we can smudge the crystal by holding it in the smoke of white sage for a little while. Some people use a feather to fan the smoke over the crystals.
- Incense sticks – lightly fan the smoke of sage, sweetgrass, sandalwood or cedar wood over the crystal for around 30 seconds.
- Clear to Light – you can add 2-3 drops of this to a spray bottle filled with spring water. For water soluble crystals, such as shungite, you simply put one drop on the crystal and rub it in and then it should be cleaned.
- Visualisation – visualising the crystals being surrounded by white light. You may also choose to add a prayer as well
Crystals and Candles
I once went to a client’s home to conduct healing. I got drawn to ask them if they were carrying a crystal as I felt its energy was blocked. In their pocket was a crystal that to me appeared black in energy. The client did not realise that you needed to cleanse crystals and carried that crystal with them every day. The client then asked me to inspect other crystals they owned. What was astonishing is that the crystals in the lounge had also never been cleansed, however, I could not see any energy blocks within or around them. They had been permanently placed on a table next to candles that were frequently lit. At this point I realised that burning candles must help in the clearing of the energy of crystals.
Which Crystals Never Need Cleaning
Citrine, kyanite, jungite and azeztulite are among the few crystals that are said to never need cleaning. If you sense, or see it is no longer vibrant, or feel that its energy seems dull, then it most likely is. I personally would cleanse it and I also know other respected experts in the crystal field recommend this too.
