Cleansing Crystals
There are many ways of cleansing crystals and they are very similar to the ways in which one would cleanse oneself when preparing for a ritual or ceremony. They include the following: bathing the crystal in sea water and allowing it to dry in the sunlight, smudging the crystal with smoke from sage, cedar, sweetgrass, incence, dragon’s blood, or some other medicinal plant, placing the crystal in running water and leaving them overnight in the water, which gently washes away the impurities, using the element of earth to cleanse your crystal by burying it in the ground for a week or so, and then, after checking to make sure its been purified (intuitively), and if it has, wiping it off. This list provides you with a variety of options for cleansing your crystals, but there are even a couple more options that are a little more in depth. One comes from The Complete Crystal Guidebook (1986) by Uma Silbey. It is called the Breath Method (of cleansing). “Hold the crystal in your left hand with the tip pointing up. Hold the crystal with your left thumb on the bottom and your left first finger on the tip. Hold it about six inches outward from the center of your chest. Next, place your right thumb on any face of the crystal. As you do that, place your right first finger on the opposite face from the one under your thumb. Focus on the crystal, intending for it to become clear. As you do that, inhale through your nose and exhale forcefully through your mouth in the direction of the crystal. It is as if your breath carries your intention. Place your right thumb on the side next to the one which it covered before. Place your right first finger on the opposite face and inhale, forcefully exhaling into the crystal, intending it to be clear. Finally, switch your right thumb and first finger to the remaining two faces. Again, inhale and exhale into the crystal. It is now clear.”
Other methods of cleansing are as follows: place your crystal on a large crystal cluster or on another mineral for 12-24 hours, beam white light from your third-eye region and surround the crystal, sweeping any negativity to a black hole which is filled with white light (the white light in the black hole transforms the negativity to a positive light energy such that the negativity is released from existence), soak the crystal in flowers (such as rose petals, orange blossoms, honeysuckle, etc.) for 24-hours, the flower’s essence strips away negativity and cleanses the stone while the purity and energy of the flower is transmitted to the stone, soak the crystal in brown rice for 24-hours, where the rice acts to balance and center the energy, removing the negativity, while dissipating and transforming the negative to the positive, upon completion of the soak, the rice is also purified and good to eat. These cleansing ideas came from Melody’s Love Is In The Earth (1995).
Scott Cunningham, in his book Crystal, Gem And Metal Magic (1987), gives another method of cleansing, which uses an altar as the cleansing foundation. “(This rite) is best done at sunrise or during the day. Fill a basin with pure water and place this to the west on the table or altar. Next, light a red candle and set this to the south. Light some incense and place this to the east. Place a dish or flowerpot filled with freshly dug earth to the north on the altar. In between all these objects, set the stone to be purified. When all is ready, still your mind and pick up the stone in your projective hand. Turn your attention toward the bowl of earth. Place the stone on it and cover with fresh earth. Say something to the effect of: I purify you with earth! Leave the stone there for a few minutes, all the while visualizing the earth absorbing the stone’s impurities. Then remove it, dust it clean, and hold it in the incense smoke. Pass it nine times through the smoke, from the right to the left, saying words like: I purify you with air! Next, quickly pass the stone through the candle’s flame several times, saying: I purify you with fire! The fire burns away all negativity. Now place the stone in the water and say this or in your own words: I purify you with water! Visualize the water washing it clean. Leave the stone in the water for a time, then dry it with a clean cloth and hold it in your receptive hand. Is the stone ‘clean?’ If not, repeat this simple ritual as many times as necessary, until you are sure it has done its work. Afterward, store the stone in a special place. It is ready for use in magic.”