All About Crystals
The more you understand about crystals, the more effective they are.
Dedicating and programming your crystals helps them to work more efficiently. It is part of the ritual of working with crystals. As crystals are powerful beings in their own right, they need to be approached with respect. If you respect them, they will be only too pleased to cooperate with you. Many people like to have a “crystal day” when they cleanse their crystals and meditate with them to attune them more strongly to their energy. Doing this regularly enables your crystals to talk to you and to show you how to use them to enhance your life and well-being. Taking the time to cleanse your crystals is extremely important. Crystals are efficient absorbers and transmitters of energy. One of their functions is to cleanse and transmute negative energies. If you leave your crystals to do this without regular cleansing, most become saturated and unable to do their work, though a few are self-cleaning.
Crystals come in all shapes and sizes, and the same crystal may occur in several forms or colours, or be known by several names. Crystals can be used for healing or environmental enhancement as well as personal adornment. Their subtle vibrations affect the physical, emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual levels of being. They bring out particular qualities, and open the gateway to spiritual understanding. Trust your intuition when picking out crystals. Remember that big or outwardly beautiful is not necessarily the most powerful. Small, rough crystals can be extremely effective.
How Are Crystals Formed?
Some crystals, such as Quartz, arise from the fiery gases and molten minerals in the earth’s center. Superheated, they rise toward the surface, propelled by stresses caused by the movement of huge plates on the Earths’ surface. As gases penetrate the crust and meet solid rock, they cool and solidify - a process that may take eons or may be fast and furious. Crystals such as Aventurine or Peridot are created at high temperatures from liquid magma. Others, such as Topaz and Tourmaline, are formed when gases penetrate adjoining rocks. Crystals like Garnet are formed deep in the earth when minerals melt and recrystallize under intense pressure and enormous heat. Calcite and other sedimentary crystals form from an erosion process.
Crystals for Healing
Crystals have been used for millennia to heal and bring balance. They work through resonance and vibration. Some crystals contain minerals known for their therapeutic properties. Copper for instance, reduces swelling and inflammation. Pain could result from an excess of energy, a blockage, or a debility. A cool and calming crystal such as Lapis Lazuli or Rose Quartz will sedate energy, whereas Carnelian will stimulate it, and Cathedral Quartz is excellent for pain relief no matter what the cause. Lapis Lazuli will quickly draw off a migraine headache. If it is caused by stress, Amethyst, Amber, or Turquoise placed on the brow will relieve it.
Crystals heal holistically. That is to say, they work on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels of being. They realign subtle energies and dissolve dis-ease, getting to the root cause. Crystals work through vibration, re-balancing the biomagnetic sheath that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body and activating linkage points to the chakras that regulate the body’s vibrational stasis. By bringing the chakras back into balance, many states of physical states and psychological dis-ease can be ameliorated. Most illnesses result from a combination of factors. There will be dis-ease at subtle levels. This dis-ease may be emotional or mental, or a sign of spiritual unease or disconnection. Other energetic disturbances may be caused by environmental factors such as electromagnetic smog or geopathic stress. Simply placing a particular crystal between you and the source of geopathic or electromagnetic stress can magically transform you life. You can lay crystals on or around your body for ten to thirty minutes or use them like a reflexology tool to stimulate points on your feet. Crystal eggs can also be used on the feet. Crystal wands are helpful if you need to stimulate a point on the body.
Crystals have been connected with particular parts of the body and its organs for thousands of years. Many of the connections come from traditional astrology, both Western and Eastern. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Indian Ayurveda, both over 5,000 years old, still use in modern medical prescriptions crystals that appear in formulas in ancient texts.
To choose a crystal, or crystals, for healing, you can work from symptoms to deeper cause (preferably with advice from a qualified crystal healer). As some crystals support each other and others cancel each other out, care should be taken when using crystals for healing.
Programming Your Crystal
Crystals need to be dedicated to the purpose for which you use them. Dedicate a new crystal as soon as you have cleansed it. This focuses the energy. Hold the crystal in your hands. Picture light surrounding it. Say out loud: “I dedicate this crystal to the highest good of all. May it be used in love and light.” To program your crystal, hold it. Let yourself be open to higher guidance. Consider the purpose for which you wish to use it. Be specific. If you want to attract love, describe exactly what kind of love you are looking for. If you are seeking healing, say precisely for which condition and what you want to happen. When you have formulated your program, attune to the crystal. Ensure that this is exactly the right crystal for the purpose. When you are totally in tune, say out loud: “I program this crystal for [your purpose].” Then put the crystal in a place where you will see it frequently or keep it in your pocket. It can be helpful to hold it two or three times a day , or more. You may need to repeat the programming several times.
Crystal Cleansing
The most important thing about cleansing your crystals is your intention. Hold the intention that all negativity will be washed away and the crystal re-energized.
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Hold crystals that are not friable or jointed under running water, immersed in the sea or in salt water.
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Place your crystals in the light of the sun or the moon for a few hours. Be mindful of stones that can fade in the sun, and of crystals that can focus the rays and start a fire.
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Friable crystals or clusters can be left in sea or rock salt overnight. Gently brush every speck of salt off afterward as they could damage the crystal especially in damp environments.
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Certain crystals can cleanse other crystals. Clear Quartz Clusters and Selenite are particularly effective at this.
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Smudging crystals using Sage, Sweetgrass or Palo Santo.
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Visualizing them surrounded by light that purifies and re-energizes them.
Crystal Meditation
Meditating with a crystal is one of the easiest ways to attune to its energy. Cleanse your crystal before beginning so that its energies will be pure. Meditation is a way of shutting of mind chatter. It has many benefits - alleviating stress, lowering blood pressure, etc. - but it also allows you to get to know your crystals. In the stillness of meditation, the crystals talk to you. Meditation is like opening a door to another world, especially if you choose a crystal that has fault lines and occlusions within it. You lose yourself within the crystal. In the peace that follows, solutions and insights rise up into awareness. It is beneficial to meditate with each of your crystals in turn, taking a few days to tune into each one and come to know it fully. Earthing, or grounding, your energies after meditation is important.