So if my last post didn’t make you want to go out and buy some crystals, then I’m so sad! But maybe this post will! Today I wanna chat a little about how to look after your crystals, the do’s and don’ts if you will. Now of course, every crystal is different, so it is important to make sure that you do your research on the individual crystal that you have!
Firstly, upon getting a new crystal you may want to cleanse it. That is, to banish away any previous energies that the previous owner may have given it, and to give it a clean slate, ready for you to work with. There are many methods of cleansing crystals so here are a few of my suggestions:
1. Use sage. Burning sage not only helps make your room smell great, but it is also great for removing any unwanted energies. To do this, set a sage smudge safely alight and allow the smoke to tumble over the crystal. Either out-loud or in your mind say ‘With the element of fire, I cleanse this crystal from all that was previously possessing it’. If the crystal is too large or heavy to pick up, then simply use your hands to waft the smoke over it.
2. Light. Using either sunlight or moonlight to cleanse your crystals can also be very effective. However, it is important to look at the properties of your crystal, as some of the colours can be damaged by sunlight, therefore moonlight may be a better option. Leave your crystals in the light with the intent of cleansing them, and when you feel they are ready, you can return to them.
3. Soil/Water. Many believe that returning crystals to the Earth restores them to their original self, and some may even bury their crystal for ~24 hours. It is also known to use stream water or moon water to cleanse the crystals by washing them, however some salt based crystals may dissolve when soaked, so again, DO YOUR RESEARCH!
4. Other crystals. Selenite and clear quartz have the ability to cleanse other crystals without damaging their own properties. Do to so either place your crystals on or around the cleaning crystals and when you feel their are cleansed, use them. I personally have a selenite wand, which I like to point at a crystal that I feel needs cleansing.
IMPORTANT: Once your crystal is cleansed, you must charge it with positive energies, or your own vibrations. Never leave a crystal blank as it is highly likely that another energy will be absorbed into it. Again, there are a few ways to charge your crystals, and here are some of the popular methods:
1. Moonlight. This seems relevant, considering we have just had influence from a full moon and a blood moon! Charging your crystals with the energy of the moon is extremely effective and helps with positive outlooks, and new beginnings.
2. Meditation. The easiest way to connect with a crystal. Simply hold the crystal in your hands whilst meditating, take a few deep breaths. Clear your mind of what is going on around you, and simply concentrate on yourself, who you are, your faith, your belief and transfer these vibrations into the stone. It is important to give your intent to the crystal, either in your minds eye or aloud say ‘I call upon the vibrations of the God and the Goddess, to fill this crystal with the intent of…’, give thanks, give three deep breaths and relax, coming back to terms with your surroundings.
So thats generally how you would prepare your crystals, just to finish, here are just some of the crystals you shouldn’t use water or sunlight on:
- Damaged by sunlight: Aventurine, Amethyst, Citrine, Calcite, Sapphire, Rose Quartz.
- Damaged by water:
Calcite, Labradoite, Opals, Selenite, Obsidian.
Hi! Some easy things to start out with are either sigils or jar/sachet spells(saying a small chants also works as a easy thing to start with). Sigils are the easier of the two as you just have to charge em and activate em, but if you want to do something more ritual like, then either cleansing and/or spell jars/bags are a good way to go. Here are some pretty general spell jars:
These are just some general ones that anyone might need. If you don’t have jars you can easily make any of the spell jars into spell sachets, as its basically the same concept. And if you don’t have the ingredients for something you can find a substitute. If you have trouble figuring out what to substitute, this is a good website: https://witchesofthecraft.com/magickal-substitutions/
A sigil is a symbol. All symbols have a meaning, and it’s that which gives sigils their power. A sigil works like this. You never actually forget anything, but most things are buried in your mind where you can’t get them. Your conscious mind intercepts and interprets input first. So if you’re given a picture of an apple, it’s an apple, case closed, no need to go deeper. If you’re given a completely abstract symbol your consciousness won’t know what to do with it and will hand it off to other parts of your mind(subconscious, super-conscious, higher self, soul, whatever you call it, the part that you do magick with!). If you at one point knew the meaning of this symbol, your subconscious will know what you want.
TLDR: A symbol that you can use to talk to other parts of your mind so they can get stuff done.
This is why you should forget what a sigil means. If you remember it, your mind will treat it just like any other input, and not hand it off.
This is also why the most effective sigils are made by you, the user! Making the sigil cements what you want in your subconscious.
Here is a fun way to make a sigil!
Get a phrase! “Remember My Dreams”. Make sure it’s simple. Remember, your mind that understands long-winded monologues isn’t the one we need right now.
Get rid of all vowels. Why? You don’t actually have to do this. As far as I can tell this is just a style to simplify things.
Next, get rid of all repeating letters!
This actually does have a point! You don’t need to represent something more than once. When you do it just starts to become a mess. You’ll see.
You should be left with something like this.
The fun/tedious part! Mash all those remaining letters into 1 symbol. This is why we eliminated so many. Keep at it until you have something you like. This could be your second, or your 30th try.
I like this one. So I’m going to use this one.
Be fun! Add stuff to it! I don’t like corners, so I got rid of a lot of them. This also makes them more distinctive.
Congrats! You now have a sigil! Now write it down in your grimoire in a spell and give no explanation for it(or at least not there, I would suggest having an appendix of sigils so you can understand when looking back months or years later).
How do I charge sigils? I do it in a way that maybe isn’t the best, but works well. What is this way you ask? Well, you have to send the subconscious a signal that means your sigil is important. The easiest way to do this is pain.
No! Put that knife down! Go get help! That is way too far! I mean wrapping your knuckles on the wall a little too hard, or gentle biting your tongue. Don’t hurt yourself. If it hurts for more than 1 second it’s overkill!
Now that that’s out of the way. Wrap your knuckles while picturing the sigil. This will send up a red flag to your subconscious “Important!”, it will then take the sigil from there to manifest what you want.
