Crystals are commonly used by many people for their healing energy but when you first get your crystals, it is important that you activate and program them. Your crystals will also need to undergo regular crystal cleansing if you want to keep their energy vibrant and their healing properties powerful.
The Difference Between Activation, Cleansing And Programming
There is more than one process for using crystals and each of them is slightly different, although they all have the intentions of rejuvenating the life force energy of the stones.
Activating
It sounds crazy but you will form a relationship with your stones and part of this is knowing when the stone is losing its energy. At times like this, it is important to activate the crystal; take some time away from the world and interact with your crystal.
You might simply hold the stone in your hands and speak to it, sing to it or even breathe on it. Working with crystals and the breath is a great way to transfer energy to them and is useful for clearing any negativity.
Another of the most popular methods of clearing your crystal is to take it out into nature. Stones come from this environment so it is important to take advantage of it when you want to cleanse or renew the gemstones. Activation can take place in a field, the park or by spending some time at the beach.
You might also create an activation grid to benefit from the vibrations of other crystals. You can use selenite, quartz, ruby and many other minerals to improve the wellness of your stones and balance their vibrations. If you choose this method, make sure to fully surround the stone.
Programming
You will often hear mention of programming your crystals as well as activating each stone. When you program a crystal, you will need to connect with its energy and this can help you to realise your own sense of purpose. Stones can be programmed with you simply setting an intention. This intention should be unique to the stone.
For example, you might choose the intention for a piece of clear quartz to balance all of the chakras. Whereas a piece of pink rose quartz would have the intention of working with the heart chakra. You should take the time to connect to these intentions and spend time with your stones. This can be done in many ways.
You might place the crystal in your hands and meditate or position it on the third eye. Alternatively, hold the stone in your hand and quietly speak to it. You can also do this in your mind if this feels more natural. You might tell the stone about a problem and this could be a great way to find stress relief or thank it for allowing you to use its energy as you navigate the world.
During the duration of this practice, if it is important to imagine all of your energy merging with that of the stone.
Cleansing
You must also charge your healing crystals and depending on the stone, will depend on the methods you use. For more delicate stones like selenite and kyanite, you would use different methods for crystal cleansing than hard stones like quartz.
Cleansing which is sometimes called charging helps to remove negative energies from the crystal, returning it to its natural state and is usually done using a natural method. Let’s take a look at some of these.
- Cleanse your crystal in the light of a full moon. Find a safe site for the stones that is in line with the moon. You can then leave it sitting in the full moon overnight.
- If you do not want to use the moon, you can also get effective healing for your crystals by placing them in light from the sun.
- Water is ideal for healing crystals. Running water can be used to cleanse them. Hold the stone under running water for a few minutes.
- Salt water is very effective for cleansing stones. The duration for salt water cleansing is much longer and can be done for up to 48 hours. You can use ocean water or make your own using a mix of water and sea salt.
- You can place the stone into brown rice which will absorb any bad energy. This is good for healing stones like black tourmaline and others that offer protection.
- Sage smudging is great and has the purpose of removing all bad energy from the crystal. You would need to set intentions for the stone and then light the sage and smudge the healing crystal.
- A sound bath is a good option and will line up the vibrations of the stone with the sound vibration.
- While water is a great choice, earth is also perfect for healing crystals. You can either bury the stone in the ground or simply place it on top and mother earth will fill it with healing life energy.
Why Do You Need To Activate Your Crystals?
Crystals have natural energy that a person can use for healing in many different ways. But as you use your crystals, you will notice that these energies can be depleted over time. Furthermore, a lot of people report that their healing crystal appears to lose its shine or feels heavier than usual.
Most of the time this is because the crystal needs to be reactivated and this is something that you can do with any stone using a variety of methods. Doing this will activate the energy and is very cleansing for the crystal.
It is important to do this when you first get your stone as it will have gone through a lot of energies, sometimes negative ones on its way to you, especially if you purchased it online and it has to go through a shipping process.
Do's And Don't's Of Crystal Activating
If you are planning to activate, program or cleanse your crystals, there are some things that you should keep in mind so that the method you are using does not affect the crystal negatively.
- Don’t submerge soft stones in water as this will cause them to deteriorate.
- Do wipe them over with a soft cloth to remove grime that comes from handling the stone.
- Don’t use direct sunlight for delicate or soft stones.
- Do spend time interacting with your healing stone.
- When charging, make sure you leave them overnight for a better healing result.
- Do use a non-contact salt method for delicate crystals which involves filling a bowl with salt and placing the crystal inside a glass container.
- Don’t store certain crystals together as this can affect them.
- Use chakra crystals in the corresponding color to each chakra.
Conclusion
Throughout history, humans have used stones for healing and health and there is no denying the effects that they can have on the body. There is no magic to this, it is all about the vibration from the stones and how they interact with our own vibration from our body.
It is important to activate your crystals and more and more people are seeing the benefits of doing this. You can simply hold the crystal in your hand and interact with it or go deeper and perform a ritual such as smudging.
It is important to remember that when you activate, program or cleanse your stones, these are slightly different processes but all have the same purpose; to renew the crystals energy.
