Caring for our crystals

There is a lot of information on the internet about how to care for crystals.  I wanted to add my slant to the archive.

Personally I recoil from many of the instructions for a number of reasons.

Here are some of what you will find, below I will explain why you should not do this on a purely practical level:

Wash your crystals under running water when you first buy them and after every use.  If necessary use a scrubbing brush.  
Some crystals are water soluble; this would mean washing them could literally make them disappear before you eyes. 
 

Bury your crystals in sea salt to cleanse them.

Salt is a strong alkaline and is also abrasive.  This can damage the surface of delicate crystals or those that have a low ph.

Place your crystals in sunlight to charge them

Crystals are formed in deep and utter darkness.  They are not naturally exposed to sunlight.  Crystals such as fluorite will lose their colour if stood in sunlight for long periods of time.

Rub oils onto your crystals to anoint them

Many crystals are porous, rubbing oil on them could allow the oil to seep into the stone.

People will argue that it is important to learn which crystals can be treated in which manner.  Personally I would suggest that there are so many new crystals appearing all the time that it would be hard to learn this for every one.  I would hate for someone to come home with a new stone to damage it by running it under a tap.  As such I suggest that if you feel you must cleanse and charge your crystals you do it in a way that does not risk the structure of the crystal.

Methods you can use are:

Cleansing breath 
This is the simplest method of cleansing a crystal.  Simply take a deep breath in and with the intention of blowing away negative energies breath out over the stones.  Know that it is done.

Smudging Using either frankincense or white sage waft the smoke over your crystals knowing that they will be refreshed.

Moonlight
On the night of the full moon place your crystals in a window facing the moon or place them outside if you have a safe dry place.  Remember though to bring them in before sunrise.


Flowers, feathers or smooth washed beach gravel
You can lay crystals on a bed of dried flowers, feathers or smooth washed beach gravel.

Singing bowls or toning
There is no reason why you couldn’t sing to your crystals or use a singing bowl to create a cleansing sound


 

Of course, for me none of this is necessary as I believe that stones don’t need cleansing.  You will find a couple of bowls, one containing dried lavender flowers and frankincense granules and the other containing tiny sea rounded gravel.  I also have a wall sconce that I burn frankincense above my stone friends. However, I do not do this to cleanse them, rather to give thanks and treat them to beautiful energies.

This may seem like semantics, one says cleansing the other says pampering but there is a very important but subtle difference.  Cleansing a stone says to it “this is a tool and it isn’t capable of looking after itself”.  Whereas, pampering my stones says “I honour you for the work that you do and I would like to show my gratitude by taking the time to treat you well”. 

Whilst we are on the subject of the practicalities of caring for your crystals it is also important to remember that many are fragile.  If they are stones that you won’t be working with I suggest keeping them in a dust free cabinet.  I have a glass cabinet that is purposely placed out of direct sunlight where I put all my fragile stone friends.

If you are dusting them ensure that you do so gently.  Some stones will take a gentle washing to remove dust but please be absolutely sure that you have read up about it before you put it in water.  Also ensure that the water isn’t hot or cold but at room temperature as you may cause the crystal to fracture.

These stones have taken thousands of years to form and have sat underground waiting to work with us, are they not worth caring for with love and respect?

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/

Is it possible we need evil?

Last winter when I was in the throes of my SAD I decided to incorporate prayer into my life.  I had remembered being told about The Great Invocation so I hunted it down so I could learn it and work with it.  I didn’t realise how much I would learn from it.

For the most part I don’t have any issues with it. The first 3 verses resonate well with me;  I like the idea of light streaming down to me and humanity, I would love for my personal concept of Christ to return to earth and I do believe that there is a greater purpose that we serve, that we may not be aware of.

It is the last line of the 4^th verse that I struggle with; “And may it seal the door where evil dwells”.

So, what is wrong with this line?  Surely we want rid of evil don’t we?

Firstly we have to consider what evil is. This sounds easy until you look into it deeper.  For some evil is the devil’s work, it is external to us and is here to lead us astray.  To others evil is the human ego when it has become out of control.  The difference between the two is free will and personal choice.  An external source of evil implies we are being controlled whereas we have choice when it comes to our ego.  So where do we stand on this?

After we have answered the question of what evil is, we have to look at its context in life.

On a small scale there have been people in my life that could have been considered more on the side of evil than of good.  My first boyfriend treated me very badly and I was in a place where I could not stand up for myself.  The abuse was mostly very subtle but at other times not so much.  I came out of that relationship quite damaged and spent a fair amount of time a victim of that damage, allowing it to rule my life. 

However, after a few years I was spurred to start dealing with the scars left by his treatment.  I can now say that my crusade to heal myself has led to enormous healing and some of the most profound experiences in my life.  Being with that person was the first step on my spiritual path.

Look at this on a greater scale.  As controversial as it may be there are many people who believed that the US president George W Bush was evil.  Some of the choices he made caused the death or suffering of thousands of people.  Many people railed against him and his policies.  However one thing he did was cause people to think about the end results of his policies.  It is possible that the “Occupy” movements of 2012 stemmed from these protests.  He shone a light on what a number of American politicians believed and brought it to the attention of the world.

Again, can we consider him evil if he is the catalyst for great change?

Looking at these 2 examples, both big and small, we can start to question whether evil is so bad after all.  Would I have strove to learn so much about myself and healing methods if I had not been through those experiences?  Would the world now be looking at politicians with a wary eye if Bush had not been president?

One thing evil does is force us to react.  We can curl up in a ball full of self pity and been beaten, we can return with greater evil, or we can pull together and grow. 

Going back to the line in the prayer; “And may it seal the door where evil dwells”.  Are we ready to not have evil in the world? 

Maybe in time humanity will see that it is to our benefit to learn the necessary lessons without the hand of evil in our backs pushing us forward... until that time I think evil will be around for a little longer yet.

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/

The light at the end of the tunnel

A few years ago I was in a very dark place.  I had split up with my long term partner, left the village I grew up in and living on my own for the first time.  Although I love solitude it has to be my choice and I was terrified of being on my own forever.

Very often when I was in a dark place I would find myself sitting at the base of a special willow tree back in the village I grew up in.  I had climbed this tree as a child and found a counsellor in it as an adult.  So many times I would sit leaning against its trunk sobbing not knowing how to go on, only to find answers, love and encouragement coming to my mind.

One of the pieces of wisdom that tree gifted me with was the metaphor of the light at the end of the tunnel.

So often we say that the light at the end of the tunnel has gone out, we have lost hope and cannot see how to continue... the willow tree explained the full metaphor to me so well.

The tunnel is part of our path in life.  We walk our path and when dark times come we enter the tunnel.  If things aren't too dark the tunnel is straight and we can see the light ahead of us.  However, if things get really bad and we can't see the light we find that there is a bend in the tunnel.  The light is still there, we just can't see it.

This means, all we have to do in those times is to just keep on walking.  Nothing more.  Put one foot in front of the other, day by day, and soon we turn the corner and the light comes back into view.

The willow made it very clear that it was not an "uphill struggle"... the light hadn't gone out because we had to climb a hill, the path was flat and we just had to keep on walking.

Or, as Dory puts it... just keep swimming

Visit my website to learn about my healing practice  

http://www.crystaloak.moonfruit.co.uk/