Clearing Crystals and Stones

It has been traditional in the past to  clear your  crystals after you get  them.  This is supposedly done to remove unwanted energy and restore the crystals to their  natural innate energy state so that the stone is at its maximum effectiveness and cannot possibly pass on imbalances or energetic static.     Stones are  largely self clearing.
Most crystals are actually quite capable of clearing themselves if they need to.  I think of most of these clearing  methods as part of our process of connection and communion with the crystals.  first see if you can sense whether or not the crystal or stone  wants this clearing attention.

Crystals rarely do need clearing or cleansing. The stone and crystal Deva are among the primary forces which clear and process and transform inharmonious energies for the planet and beings.

Some people are sensitive to the imprinted energy that can be picked up by stones and by most other objects. This is called Psychometry, clearing methods can be useful for clearing away your sensitivity to these imprints if they bother you. Where people have argued or some other intense event has occurred  Everything may have picked up some  information and energy from that.  Actually everything picks up these all the time but most never comes to our attention.  People also sometime amplify and or misinterpret  the energy imprint they receive.

You may choose  clear crystals after they have been used in healing sessions,  whenever   they seem dull or lifeless or when  they have been exposed  a lot of ambient negativity  (arguments, sorrow,  etc.).  Stones  are also cleared to remove old contracts (programing) and before new contracts are made.  If the energy of the stone feels wonderful to you it does not need clearing.  You will probably  want to clear it if it feels heavy  or unpleasant in some way,  though you may choose to accept this as an indication that it is not time for you to work with a particular stone  and simply set it aside until some other time.

      Some stones are said to never need clearing   Usually authorities  list Three  or four stones that never need clearing  however the lists often differ Citrine and Kyanite are  often on lists of stones that do not need to be cleared.  I've seen  Smoky quartz, amber and jade on these lists too.  I figure if I'm going to clear  any stones I  might as well clear all of them.   While It does not  hurt to clear a stone that does not need to be cleared. The 'never need cleared " stones sometimes seem to benefit from clearing  anyway. Maybe they enjoy the attention.  Clearing, rather than being a way to remove impurities  can be seen as an offering of attention and love as an expression of regard for the Deva  spirits of the stone and their help for humanity.

   Please remember that it is common for the mind to amplify the energy received, and sometimes high  vibration positive energies can feel prickly and uncomfortable if you are not ready for them.  Some people also  tend to refuse to
 recognize that stones are clear  to the extent that they of return or add  undesirable  energies to the stone with their own mental intention.  

    During or after clearing your stones you can restore contracts  and  personalize the energies of the stones so that they are their best  energetic condition and harmonize with the work they will be doing .You can also  set an intention or contract with a stone to convert  negative energies or to  beam them away to spiritual entities or the Earth for transformation and clearing. Energy which belongs to someone can be cleansed and returned to its owner. 

    An energetically "dirty" stone will eventually clear itself but in the mean time it might be holding absorbed energies that decrease its effectiveness as a healing tool. An uncleared stone  could  transmit another person's pain to the next person who holds the stone. Very intensely used  stones may even self destruct  break or  get lost.  That's  not the only reason stones break or get lost though.

Uncleared pendulums might lose  some accuracy.

    Once you have been working with your crystals a while  you will probably keep them clear and will only encounter unclear stones from new or other people's stones. and occasionally from doing intense work on yourself or  other  people and situations you are working with.

    Some Crystal healing practitioners do not let anyone touch their crystals except during treatments.  I personally encourage people to touch and hold any crystal that interests them, provided it is not too fragile.

    Some crystal healing  teachers  do not think clearing stones is ever really  needed. That it is just a way  for the practitioner symbolically prepare for the crystal work. I find that clearing   stones can sometimes be a big help because  everything can pick up energy   impressions.  Sometimes  crystals do soak up a lot of pain energy and this can be felt or can  effect the energy of the people  in  the area and the. surrounding  environment itself.

    Below is a comprehensive list of  crystal clearing methods
There are many ways to cleanse or clear crystals and you may want  to try out several methods to find those  that feel most effective to you.  To some  extent  this is a matter of personal preference.  The best choice of method will  also have something to do with the use  or history of a particular  stone.  A rock used as a murder weapon or from a place of great tragedy / horror will most likely  need  a  serious cleansing  than a newly  mined stone  or your favorite Great Aunt's doorstop.

    Many of us find  that our needs and  preferences change over time. If a method that worked for you before seems less effective now please try some of the other options.  You can use clearing methods in combinations too as some methods have slightly different effects than others.  There are some popular methods that can  be drastic or  even physically damage some crystals.  Be careful  which stones you immerse in water.  I do not usually pass stones through fire or freeze them because the potential for damage is great. Remember that you are offering  clearing not imposing it.  The stone may or may not choose to be cleared . You can also run  clearing  shakti on your self .

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SHAKTI - ENERGY
    The  principle way I clear my crystals  on the run is with an energy shakti I most often use a specific crystal clearing shakti but also use other energies  to clear crystals .Reiki  ,Huna energies , Spiritual light energies Rainbow Light ,
and other subtle energy  shakti can be used for this  Using energy is very effective.

Most general   purpose healing energies and  universal chi etc. work quite well if you are attuned to them or have done a little practice  work with those that come in without attunements . Generally just run the energy  into the stone  until you feel that it    is cleared. This is effortless once you learn how to call in or turn on shakti  you just allow it to flow .
    While some shakti require that you be attuned to them before you can use them many other subtle energies  will  come in  by request and. intention.  

This method is  available to anyone even without specific attunement to an energy work system. It can be thought of as a way of  having a spiritual agent do the clearing  To activate a shakti  you would hold or touch the stone to be cleared and turn the shakti on .allowing it to run until  it is done.

    The specific crystal clearing shakti I work with needs only be turned on it will run to completion without further intention
or attention. People who have the ability to do remote work and  group or area work can use shakti to clear many stones at
once even from a distance. I use  shakti on a daily basis and  clear the stones I work with before and after I use them . A principle advantage of shakti clearing is that when you are doing treatments during a healing circle or demonstration.  A deep clearing can take less than a minute and  therefore you can  do treatment for large numbers of people  at a healing circle or demonstration with a relatively small number of crystals.  The shakti will not run if it is not of value.

You can clear the stones between each person treated  so that you do not run out of crystals suitable to work with.
and you always have the means of clearing  at hand.  This cuts down on or stops psychometric transfer.

I also sometimes  clear and charge my stones  in moonlight  each full moon and with  Sunlight  and frequently by smudging quite often and use more intense methods periodically.  Crystal clearing shakti if you have one, is autonomous and once you have started it running on a stone or group of stones it will work until it has done what is needed   without further attention or intention on your part. Holding the  piece  between  both hands while running energy or beaming a flood of spiritual light
into it also works.
With most intelligent energies you can add the intention that the crystal become self clearing.  The energies of the Stones can also be run as shakti and you can clear a stone by running the energy of the particular stone type.  This is  a Devic gift . This energy is also very good for charging stones to amplify their natural  abilities and our ability to perceive them.

INTENTION- Mental Focus

    Using your mental focus or the directed emotional energy of Love by  direct intention can   be very effective if you are able to focus   your intention and are not distracted  by  doubt or other side events.

    Hold the   stone in your hand or palm or place your hands on or over it and focus your   Attention on it with the   intention of clearing it,  for most stones a minute should be long enough to  clear it. If you are skilled at remote
work or  have an aptitude for it you may not need to actually touch  the stone. Some people imagine a  beam of light from their heart or third eye while they focus on the stone.   To Clear a stone with the emotional energy  of love you  simply hold the stone in your hand and beam love at it from your heart  you may visualize a beam of soft pink light glowing from your heart  but the key is to feel love and project into the stone.

    Intention is also used to place a filter or  shield  around stones that you wish not to clear but only  prevent from broadcasting generally, These may be stones with  programs for a specific person only, such as a stone programmed for sexual enhancement in a bedroom .
You would not your young children or repairmen to respond to it so you shield it from them.

The Most common use  of shield filters on a stone is usually for Teaching Stones or Witnesses.  Stones which carry an  energy or message of some importance that they  need to share But which might be too intense or painful for constant exposure.  Objects From  German Concentration camps and the site of massacres are sometimes shielded in this way.
They  can then share their witness via the painful memory and information ` and message to those who need to know and recognize a truth and/or feel compassion  but the witness stones and other  items will not  continually bombard  the people who work around them . Someone has done this with many of the objects at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles ( I think Irving Feurst, or one of the SUN teachers   but I am not positive. )

     When using energy and intention based methods to clear your stones you  can request that  the crystal  retain or  restore its ideal state and or previous contracts  and memories rather than totally erasing them. Consult  the  crystal intuitively for a sense of how much it needs and wants to be cleared .
 

  SMUDGING
    You can also smudge your crystals with sage, sweet grass, cedar, sandalwood  Epsom salts, incense or other clearing smoke or  incense ,fanning the smoke over them or holding them in the smoke make sure that all sides of the stones are  placed in the smoke.
This works well and can be used on delicate crystals that can not be placed in water or  salt without damaging them.
There is less possibility of sparks if  you have your smudge  material in a dish or shell sitting on a trivet  and use a fan to direct the smoke rather than waving a smudge stick around.

 CRYSTALS
      Small crystals can be cleared by leaving them on a large crystal cluster, either clear Quartz or amethyst or using a Selenite wand. Other crystals will work for this  too but quartz amethyst and Selinite are the most used
It is preferable that the cluster have points in many directions if possible as it is said to be the multiple steams of energy that
clear the resting stones ..

 BREATH
 Breath techniques are very effective for small pieces, hold the stone to be  cleared in your dominant hand, (the one you use to write with) take a deep  breath in through your nose and focusing your intention on clearing the stone,  expel your breath firmly onto the stone from your nose,  repeat until you have   covered all sides of the    stone either a long slow exhalation or short quick   bursts are effective choose the way you prefer.
You may  take a deep breath through your nose and holding the stone in either  hand with your mouth slightly open  expel your breath through your mouth  slowly over the stone while making the "ha" sound .
 

 LIGHT
 White light and  rainbows either from actual light or energetically is also used white ,gold, violet and blue light are  commonly   but not exclusively used . Visualizing a purple flame is more often used for self clearing  but has been used for crystals too. You can visualize the color or white light flooding the crystals or actually expose them to the light  you can use gels or colored glass as a color source Holding the crystal in the rainbows cast by  a prism is a gentle way to clear and charge a clear quartz crystal.

SOUND
Toning , bell  ringing,  drumming , chanting and other clearing with sound can also be effective   and   enjoyable Aum, AH El EE Oh, Ha ,eee- ah- O and ah- eee -Oh being only a minute fraction of sounds that  work for clearing.  Playing healing music and chants of various kinds  vowel sounds are often used . Some sources suggest that you use a pitch pipe and use the tone
that is assigned to the chakra that you would use the stone for.

  SUN AND MOON
 Placing stones in Sunlight or Moonlight is also good for clearing and   charging them .Some stones are faded    or otherwise distressed by direct    sunlight. This may include Amethyst, rose Quartz, Citrine, Celestite  (particularly blue), Aquamarine, Moonstone and Fluorite. Some turquoise may  fade. A chunk of blue calcite faded after a while I have also heard
hat  Realgar and pyrope can dissolve in air rather than  sunlight. Stones are left in bright  sunlight  usually from 3 hours to all day but strong sunlight  may take  as little a 30 minutes or even less .

EARTH
     Bury your crystals in Earth for a few days to give them a rest and clear them Stones that you feel carry  extremely  negative energy  can be  buried in earth for an entire moon cycle. or longer.  Some rocks and minerals  such as hematite and other iron rich stones can rust or fall apart  in the earth. You will need a sure way to mark the location of buried stones to make sure you can find them  again if you intend to do so.  Animals have been known to dig them up and carry them off.

  flowers, feathers and sand
 Gentler and slower methods include immersing the stones in rose petals or   lavender petals or sage, thyme or  Rosemary leaves or in feathers or charged  sand. Putting the stone on a sacred altar or in a place with  healing energies
 will also work over time.

   Angels
   There are angels and Deva and other spiritual beings who can and will  clear crystals when you ask them   learning to connect with your high self and  Companion Angel will help you learn to work with the " stone people "  in a
deeper way.

Mists
    Essential oil mists and flower essences will also work as will the aura cleansing  mists that can be bought or made .just a drop or two in an atomizer  misted  softly over your water safe stones, Sandalwood,  citrus,  Ylang Ylang,   lavender,
 Cedar are among the oils that have been used.

Pyramids and other geometric boxes
 Some people clear crystals by putting them in pyramid shaped boxes There also boxes and copper wire objects  designed in some other  geometric shapes which are said to be great for crystal clearing and charging  Tetrahedron and stellated-Octahedron and the like  but other than a few brief encounters at various expos I don't have a lot of experience  in the physical with sacred geometry .

Silk, cotton,  linen, deerskin and wool felt

Some people keep crystals in silk which they say keeps them cleared. Some of my  crystals have not wanted to be kept wrapped up so I have not done this much myself. Quite a few people always carry their crystals wrapped in silk which certainly might help keep them  from chipping.  I have also met those who wrap the stones in cotton or in linen  for clearing and protecting .Some people feel very militant about this.  I've also heard from the deerskin and wool felt people. All I can say for certain is that so far no one has specified synthetic fiber.  This can be useful when you are transporting crystals  as a protection from damage.

  DRY SALT AND VINEGAR SOAKS  ( not recommended )
      Leaving the crystals in dry sea salt overnight or longer is a  somewhat heavy duty clearing method.
Soaking the crystals in a solution of 1  quart of warm water with one tablespoon of sea salt and a quarter cup  of apple  cider
vinegar for 20 minutes to half an hour is a quick clear technique that is  not too drastic and   seems quite thorough .. A similar solution with distilled vinegar actually seemed to work  well with just a quick dip in the water .Use a glass or lead crystal bowl  for these immersion methods  and before putting the crystals in place your hands on the side of the bowl and intend that  it be empowered to cleanse  your crystals.

Salt can be harsh and many stones  are water soluble or otherwise potentially harmed by water. some of  these include Halite (salt), Sylvite, Desert Rose Selenite, all Selenite, gypsum  angelite , Azurite ,Talc.
Calcite may dissolve in water as may Alabaster ,Sulfur  dissolves in salt water.  I have  been told that any stone that has a name ending  in ite can possibly  be damaged by water though I am not sure of that..
I have one stone that fizzes and leaches a white mineral  if you touch it with vinegar .

 RUNNING WATER ( not recommended  for clearing, though with the agreement of the crystal this may be part of some rituals and prayer forms.)
      Running water works well for clearing stones that are not harmed by water.   A spring or stream or the ocean   waves is best though you must be careful  not to lose your stones to the ocean or river.  Holding crystals under  the tap
 will do in an emergency (?).  Some stones  like to be outside  out during  rainstorms too. Many  people also bathe with their waterproof  crystals which not only clears and charges the stones it is very refreshing and healing for the  bather as well.

      DRASTIC METHODS,
salt water,  fire and Ice  not recommended
Probably  the most commonly used  clearing method is soaking them in  salt water this  is not  really  recommended for  general use any more because it is rather drastic  and can harm many kinds  of crystals both physically and energetically. You can save that for really heavy duty cases and absolutely impermeable stones. The Proportion I was taught is a half cup of  sea salt to one quart of pure water soaking times vary from three minutes to overnight.
 Placing stones in  fire  may   damage or destroy many crystals and is not recommended. Some people  pass the stones  over the fire in the smoke this is certainly preferable to leaving them in a  fire over night.
Putting stones outside  in the winter or in the freezer has been suggested but there is a real possibility of having the stones crack or even shatter So that is also among my not recommend methods.

This covers a rather wide range of ways that are used to clear stones. Again for the most part the crystals won't need these . Perhaps   what determines whether these methods work for you is your  belief system and your intention .  Any of these methods will work it  is up to you to find those that feel most effective to you.   This article is about traditional methods of crystal work but for the most part clearing crystals is about you and your process of connection and awareness to the crystal energies and spirits.