How to Clear your Crystals

Most crystals and gemstones, rough or cut, on their own or in jewellery, will pick up negative or unwanted energies over time. They are a bit like sponges absorbing and reacting to the environment’s energies. Some that don’t absorb energies and thus do not need clearing are Citrine, Kyanite, Azeztulite, and Melody’s Stone aka Super Seven.

Crystals and stones that are used for crystal healing or energy work should be cleared and cleansed of negative energy prior to any the work. You will also find that clearing stones makes them more cheerful and positive to have around.

Here are a number of methods that are commonly used to clear crystals and stones to restore their bright, happy, vibrant energy. Use whichever suits you and your crystals best.

Whichever method you choose, focus on using it with intention of clearing negative and unwanted energies from the crystal.

Sunlight or Moonlight: The rays of the sun and moon are energetically very clearing and energetically cleansing, as well as energizing. Placing your stones outside preferably or in a window where they can soak up the sunlight or moonlight for a day/night to a week is very beneficial. Do be careful though, as some the colors of some stones may fade in the sun. A few of the stones that will fade in the sun are amethyst, celestite, opal, and turquoise. If you have any doubts at all, be sure to use only moonlight cleansing.

Earth or Sand Burial: As creepy as it may sound to those of us who grew up watching horror movies, burying crystals and stones is very cleansing and healing for them. You can bury them in the Earth for 3 days to a week, either in your yard or in a flower pot. Be sure that if you bury your crystals in the yard that you mark the spot. You don’t want to have to dig up half the yard to find your stones again

Salt Water: While this is a popular way to clear crystals, I recommend using salt water very carefully, if at all. You need to know about your crystals to be sure that they are not porous or soft, so they won’t be damaged by water. Salt water can get into the structure of some crystals and stones and cause them to break. That breakage sometimes doesn’t happen immediately, but the weakened structure may break later. Some stones that don’t do well in salt water are calcite, carnelian, halite, hematite, labradorite/spectrolite, lepidolite, lodestone (magnetite), mica, moldavite, opal, turquoise, ulexite, clusters of most stones, and there are surely more. When you do use salt water, do so cautiously and don’t leave your crystals in it longer than absolutely necessary.

Crystal Sea Salt: Crystals can be placed in dry, coarse sea salt for up to 24 hours to clear them. They can also be stored in sea salt to keep them from picking up energies from their surroundings. In humid areas, using sea salt can sometimes cause the same problems as salt water. It can also get stuck in the crevices of clusters and eventually combine with water in the air and split the cluster.

Smudging: Smudging is one of my favorite methods of clearing crystals and stones of unwanted energy. It’s also a much quicker way to clear crystals than any of the above methods. To smudge them, pass you stone several times through the smoke of burning cedar, sage, sweetgrass, or incense.   You can also use a mist spray of essential oil of white sage if you are sensitive to burning smudge materials. Just keep in mind that much water is bad for some crystals, though a fine mist is much less water than most water methods.

Fresh Water: COOL rainwater, filtered or in great need even tap water: For a quick clearing, you can run your stones under cool water. Hot, very cold, or warm water can fracture some crystals and stones. You can also use any water filtered with Shungite to clear other crystals, as an energetically positive way to filter water. Again, as with salt water, be sure that your crystals are not prone to water damage, before putting them in water.

Reiki/Seichim: Reiki, Seichim, or other healing energy work is another of my favorite methods of cleansing crystals. In a sense, it’s channeling the universal life force energy to heal the crystal of negativity and unwanted energies. As a Reiki or Seichim practitioner, just treat the stone as you would any other being that needs healing, and set your intent to heal the stone of any negativity or unwanted energies.

Stone Clearing: Some stones will clear the negative or unwanted energies from other stones. Some stones that work well for this are quartz crystal clusters, amethyst clusters, carnelian, kyanite, and selenite. Place the stone to be cleared on a the “clearing” stone, and leave for 24-48 hours.

Flower Water: You can also clear crystals and stones in flower water. Soak the stone or crystal in water with the petals of rose, honey suckle, orange blossoms, jasmine or others for 24 hours. You can also use prepared flower water such as pure rosewater. Again, the same cautions apply regarding stones that don’t do well in water.

Ask the Divine or Pray: This a simple  ritual, but it can work wonderfully. Simply ask the Divine (God/Goddess/Universe/etc.) to clear and energetically cleanse your crystal for you. Form your request with specific intent and ask in a meditative or prayerful frame of mind. Something like “O Great Divine, please clear all unwanted or negative energies from this crystal for the best and highest good of all concerned. Thank you. Amen.” would be a good specific request. The details should be changed to fit your own beliefs and needs.

Demagnetizing Devices: I’ve not tried this one, but I’ve heard that using a bulk eraser (like the kind used for videos, etc.) is a good method for clearing crystals. You can run the crystal over or depending on the type of device, though it, until its energy is cleared.

Third Eye Breathing: In a quiet, private place, ground yourself and start breathing slowly. Visualize yourself breathing white light in through your Third Eye chakra and back out. Hold the crystal in your hand at Third Eye level and breathe white light from your Third Eye to the crystal with the intention of clearing unwanted and negative energies. Repeat at least 3 times, more if the crystal does not feel cleared after the third time.

Sound: Use a melodic gong, Tibetan prayer bells, a bell, chanting OM to clear unwanted energies from your crystal. Hold the crystal and sound the gong, etc next to it, passing the crystal through the sound waves to clear it. Kyanite is good for clearing other stones.

Candle Flame: While focusing your intention and verbally praying or asking for the clearing of your crystal, pass it quickly through the flame of a white candle. Be sure to move it quickly enough to prevent overheating or damage to the crystal. Repeat until the energy of the crystal feels clear.

Four Elements: In a ritual, use symbols/representatives of the Four elements and call on them to clear your crystal one at a time while passing the crystal over or through the symbolic representation of each element. For the Five Element system, do the same but with Five Elements.

Whichever method you choose, the exact length of time needed for clearing varies according to personal intuition and the state of the crystal. Trust your intuition and higher self to lead you to the best methods and lengths of time for you and the stone.