A beginner’s guide to crystal cleansing

When should you cleanse your crystal?

When it has been used by someone else:

Maybe a friend gave you one or you bought it at a thrift store. Either way, you might want to clear out all the old energy from whoever it was owned by before.

When it just doesn’t feel ‘right’:

Does your crystal seem too warm or uncomfortably cold to the touch? Does holding it put you in a bad mood instantly? There’s probably something peculiar about it. This indicates that it’s time to cleanse the stone.

You just don’t feel a connection to it:

Crystals work best when you have an emotional, energetic or personal connection to it. So if you can’t feel that spark, try cleansing your stone.

You want to use it for something else:

You don’t forget to wash a bowl of pasta before eating some ice cream out of it, do you? Similarly, if you’ve used your crystal for something else, give it a cleanse.

How to cleanse crystals

Smudging:

If you have incense (sandalwood or cedar) or a sage bundle, light it and allow it to smolder until there is enough smoke. Then, hold the crystal in the smoke for about 20-30 seconds and visualize your energy flowing into it.

Salt

This is effective but can cause damage to certain types of stones. Find out if your crystal is salt-safe. If yes, then immerse it in a bowl of salt and leave it for as long as you think it is necessary. Then, rinse the stone to remove the salt.

Light

You can use moonlight, sunlight or even a specifically chosen colored light. Leave your stone exposed to sunlight or moonlight to allow the energy of the universe to soak into the crystal. With colored lights, choose a color that matches the intention of what you want (think pink for love, green for prosperity, etc.) and allow the crystal to sit under the light for a day.

Water

Carnelian, amethyst, and quartz will work too. Some crystals dissolve if they’re left in water. For the ones that don’t, immerse them in a bowl of salt water, put them outside in the rain, run them under tap water or secure them in a pool of water. Allow them to stay in the water for as long as you think it needs.

Other crystals

Some stones absorb energy from other things around them- they tend to have a natural self-cleansing ability. You can wave a piece of selenite around a crystal you want to cleanse or sit them next to each other for almost a day.