Taking care of your crystals is important, especially if you're putting them to work! The phrase cleanse and charge crystals gets thrown around a lot but what exactly does that mean? Cleansing and clearing are two terms that mean the same thing. Simply put, removing negativity. Crystals pick up energy around them. If you get into a heated argument in your home that is full of crystals, those crystals pick up on that frustrated, tense energy. The same is true for your physical body. Our aura's act like a sponge, picking up energy around us. That lady in a bad mood at the grocery store that bumped into you, left a bit of that bad juju behind. Now you're bringing that energy into your home when you get back to unload your groceries. So it is important to cleanse and clear that energy. Charging is completely different. Charging refers to building up energy or "programing" a crystal with your intention.

Cleansing crystals, yourself, and your space is extremely easy to do and there are numerous ways. Water is a great cleansing method! When you shower or take a relaxing salt bath, you're cleansing your aura. You can do the same for your crystals and run them under water in your sink or dip them in a nearby stream. There are some crystals that do not tolerate water, sun, or salt well. I will leave a list of crystals and what they don't tolerate at the end.  Salt is also extremely cleansing. You can make a little bowl of salt and place your crystals in over night to clear them. If you are obtaining a new crystal or a crystal that you feel has a lot of negative energy attached, you can let it sit in the salt bowl longer. I alway say to trust your intuition and let them sit as long as you feel they need to. Three and nine are both very spiritual numbers, so three days or nine days are good options. There are also a variety of herbs with cleansing qualities. You can place your crystals in a bowl of herbs or mix herbs in with your salt. You can also bury crystals in dirt to cleanse them. Allowing Mother Earth to absorb the negativity and transmute it for the highest and greatest good. Burning sage, herbs, or incense is another great clearing method. Just as you would smudge your home, you can pass your crystals through the smoke and smudge them as well. Sound is extremely effective at clearing energy. Using singing bowls, bells, and high frequency music work to break up and dispel negative energy. 

Charging your crystals should be done after you cleanse them. If you are using particular crystals for manifesting an intention, you are going to want to "program" that intention into the crystal. Each crystal does have its own unique vibration and energy. That energy can be harnessed in a variety of ways. For example, Bronzite is a root chakra crystal. It carries energies of grounding, protection, and releasing what no longer serves our greatest good. It's great for children who are bullied, people suffering from grief, weight loss, and letting go of attachments. That is a lot of different situations that this stone could be used for. Let's say you want to use it specifically to ease grief. You can "program" that intention into your bronzite to help hold that energy for you. To do this, simple hold your crystal and envision your intention. Our words have incredible power so speaking that intention out loud helps. You could also meditate on that intention while holding your crystal or laying it onto your body. When you activate a crystal grid you are essentially programing, or charging, each crystal in that grid to work together to hold that energy or intention. If you aren't actively using your crystal for a specific intention you could still charge them with celestial energies to help bring that energy into your home. This would be placing your crystals under the full moon to charge them with the moons energy. You can also place your crystals in the sun to charge them with Pthe suns energy. Charging your crystals with other crystals is yet another possibility! I love quartz clusters and crystal slabs for this purpose. Quartz is an amplifier of energy. If you have crystal jewelry, you can place it on a quartz cluster to charge, or amplify the energy of your jewelry. With crystal slabs, or as I like to call them, charging plates, you can place crystals on top to charge. 

As you can see there are numerous ways to cleanse and charge your crystals. Always do what works best for you! 

Below is a guide of crystals to avoid using water, sunlight and salt for cleansing and charging. It is not a definitive guide. It's just a few of the most common crystals. 

Crystals that don't like water-

*Usually a little water is not detrimental- crystals will not immediately deteriorate*

• Selenite
• Angelite
• Malachite
• Hematite (may rust)
• Pyrite (may rust)
• Azurite
• Turquoise

Crystals that fade in sunlight

• Amethyst
• Rose Quartz
• Fluorite
• Kunzite
• Aquamarine
• Praziolite

Crystals that don't like salt

• Amber
• Turquoise
• Topaz
• Opal
• Kunzite