Crystals have captivated us for thousands of years. Their allure comes in the form of beauty, as well as vast energetic benefits. They are a desirable possession, and a resounding phenomenon in today’s times.
Crystals are used for health and wellbeing, in jewelry, facials and massages, as well as modern-day technology. You can find them in computers, LCDs, cars, aircraft, sonar, ultrasound, and watches to name a few. They have become an integral part of our contemporary lifestyle and are making their way into the collective consciousness.
Crystals' protective properties and healing abilities have been harnessed throughout time. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Native Americans were among some of the first to utilize these natural healing tools. Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine have also integrated crystals into their customs since inception.
Demystifying the Power of Crystals
Crystals: Healing, Manifestation, & Alchemy, an informative series found on Gaia, explains that crystals are made up of a geometric molecular pattern unique in its energetic frequency. This sacred geometry, the ordering of atoms, is what determines its beneficial attributes. Each stone’s unique vibrational frequency remains stable in its vibration. These are the contributing factors in a crystal's healing abilities, in addition to its color. (Liggett, 2023).
Our energetic frequencies, in contrast to those of crystals, are continuously in flux. Our thoughts, emotions, and lifestyles can benefit our energetic frequency, or cause harm and create illness. When we are out of alignment, the stable structure of crystals can be used to help rebalance us, improving physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
Crystals' function by transforming or amplifying the energetic fields they interact with, (Liggett, 2023). They can benefit us directly, as well as the state of the environment they are in. Thus, they are also useful in the home, workspace, and garden for this reason.
Why use Crystals?
Crystals can be used to help transform dis ease in our lives, at every level of our being. They can help us to attract what we want in our lives (healing, abundance, healthy relationships, etc.) and to release what we do not want in our lives, all that is no longer serving us. Crystals can help to ground us, absorb negative energy, and bring us into congruence with the lives we most desire.
Crystals placed on the body can positively impact our electromagnetic field, activate our chakras, the nervous system, and the associated endocrine glands. They can help us to become self-empowered, to live our truths, and reevaluate our thoughts, belief systems, and behavioral patterns, realigning them if needed. Crystals also have the capacity to help us transmute suppressed emotions that are ready to be released. (Liggett, 2023).
In order to heal on all levels, we must become aware of any resistance we hold. Resistance is sometimes hidden, buried at our greatest depths. Once we become aware of our limitations and their root cause, we can allow the associated emotions to emerge, and then release the resistance in its totality. Crystals can help us to recognize these limiting blocks and work through this process.
When we are already in a balanced state, crystals can benefit us by:
deepening our meditations
helping to raise our vibrational frequency
expanding our consciousness
improving spiritual development
enhancing our dream states
strengthening our psychic abilities
Crystals are subtle, slow energy. It is important to work with them over time and with consistency in order to receive their benefits. When dealing with physical illness and mental health diagnoses, they are best used as an adjunct.
How to Use Crystals
Place directly on the body at the chakra energy centers
Hold while meditating
Place under the pillow while sleeping
Carry in a pocket
Wear as jewelry
Consume as an elixir (some stones are toxic, do your research)
Use in a bath
Place in a room to promote healthy energetic flow, and to help keep us focused on our goals
Stones may be enjoyed in the home as single specimens, as altars, or crystal grids. What you choose to evoke in your space is personal. Some common examples include bringing love, healing, and harmony into the home, helping with creativity and focus in a workspace, bringing abundance of all kinds into your life, or for spiritual growth.
Variations of Crystals
How you would use a crystal and how you may choose a crystal will depend on a few factors: color, shape, and how the stone was created. Your intuition can also help decide the perfect stone for you.
Color
The color of the crystal is an indicator of its healing properties, and the attributes of the stone typically correspond with the color of the associated chakra. For more information on how you might use and choose a crystal in correspondence to the chakras and their mind, body, spirit interconnections, go to: An Introduction to Our Energetic Body & Energy Medicine’s Healing Abilities (ShellyHoekstra.com)
Shape
Crystals come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. From raw stones to carved pieces, their boundless diversification offers great appeal to the masses. Whether it is a pocket stone or a specimen piece, it will have the same attributes.
Palm Stones – work well for holding while meditating and for being placed on the body during energy healing. The flat sides help to keep them in place.
Single Terminated Stones – also called points, towers, and generators, project energy out at their apex. They work very well as altar stones and for being held during meditation.
Double Terminated Stones & Wands – allow energy to run through them in both directions. They can be used to open blocked energy, enabling it to flow. They can help to release negative, repressed energy and interchange it with positive energy. When placed on the third eye, they can help develop telepathy.
Clusters – single termination stones working together collectively. They bounce energy out into a room so work well in large spaces. They can be effective in sending out positive, harmonious energies of a higher vibration and just as effective in absorbing and clearing negative energy in a space.
Spheres, or Orbs – radiate energy out in all directions. They can be used similarly to clusters for their benefits in bringing positivity or transforming negativity in an environment. They can be held while meditating, used in massage by rolling them on the body, and they are often used for scrying.
Eggs – similar to the sphere but more concentrated in their energy at the tapered end.
Hearts – focus on loving and compassionate energy.
Pyramids – the energy is intensified at its apex. It is a strong grounding stone with its sturdy base. This can be a great piece for the center of a crystal grid.
Formation
In the Gaia crystal series, how and where a crystal is formed is highlighted as a means of determining how to best use it. Crystals form in many ways, from the waters of a river, dripping in caves, to the depths of the mountains. They may be formed from a combination of heat and pressure.
Obsidian is an ideal example provided in the series. It starts as magma deep within the Earth. The immense heat and pressure intensify over time, and ultimately, the magma erupts through a weakness in the Earth’s crust. As the molten lava flows out into the atmosphere, it is shocked by the cold contrasting temperatures. These cold temperatures transform the liquid flowing lava into natural glass.
Obsidian holds this energetic history, and when used as a healing tool, conveys this to the body. It is a beneficial stone for those who have lived through a traumatic experience. Trauma, an acute shock, can create energetic blocks in physical form as well as emotional. Obsidian can warm the body and move the energy to the surface, allowing the release, and enabling healing to occur. (Liggett, 2023).
Inclusions of rainbows within crystals are another example. The crystals were damaged in some way during their formation for this to occur. These beautiful rainbows are symbolic and can help to bring our awareness to the gifts we have received from our own traumas. The rainbows may represent life lessons learned or other miraculous self-discoveries such as awakening, strength, transformational development, or opening to our truths.
Caring for Crystals
Crystals need some maintenance in order to work to the best of their ability. Clearing and charging them routinely will benefit the stones and what you are able to receive from them.
Clearing
When you first bring a crystal home it is important to clear it. Crystals absorb energy from their environments, so you want to purify them and begin with a clean slate. There are a variety of clearing options. Some are safe for all forms of crystals, others come with warnings depending on their make-up. Some stones are softer than others and more vulnerable.
Place on a piece of Selenite larger than the crystal (Selenite stones now come in flat slabs and dishes for this purpose)
Smudge with Palo Santo or Sage
Moonlight
Bury in the Earth
Sound energy - tuning fork, singing bowl, drumming, rattles, bells
Sunlight (can discolor or harm some stones)
Place under cold running water for 1-minute (not for use with Selenite, Celestite, and others, please do your research)
Place in sea salt water or ocean water (will harm some stones)
Charging
Hold the crystal in your hand or cup with both hands and set your intention
Hold the crystal to your heart and set your intention
Programming
If you plan to use your stone for a specific reason for the duration of its lifetime with you, spend some time with it initially. Always start by clearing your crystal, then meditate with the stone and set your intention for its purpose in your life. This will program your crystal.
References
Liggett, J. (Producer), Braden, G., et al. (Performers) (2023). Crystals: Healing, Manifestation, & Alchemy. [Documentary] Gaia Television.
