How to Charge Crystals and Why People Do

Whether we have one or a collection of crystals, we are told that they regularly need to be cleansed and charged. You may have wondered why do we need to do this? Or how often should we cleanse our crystals? And what is the best way to cleanse them? 

Whilst there is no scientific proof that crystals help in healing, with many many in the scientific community stating that any benefits may be purely from the placebo effect, many people still love and get great pleasure and support from their collection of crystals. Those that do, want to look after them and get the best from them if possible.

In this article we hope to answer all the questions you may have about the intended reasons we cleanse and charge our crystals.

Why Cleanse Crystals?

Crystals are said to conduct energy, so we want to ensure that the energy that is stored and transmitted from your crystals is high-level, clear and unhampered.

For millennia, humans have devised rituals where we cleanse ourselves and objects of the old and invite in the new. From religious rituals such as baptism and communion, to cleansing before a meal or occasion, there are obvious practical and hygenic reasons we do this as well as strong psychological beliefs associated with cleansing ourselves of the old, ready for the new.

In the same way that we feel so much better after cleansing our bodies, how we feel relief from “cleansing” our minds and dealing with problems and issues by letting them go, we also feel re-energised after cleaning our homes and the spaces we live in, as well as the objects we have around us.  

Many of us love having crystals around us, we love their natural beauty and any inherent energy they may possess. We want to ensure they aren't “dulled” in any way by holding onto stale and negative energy they may have absorbed. So we have devised rituals to cleanse and re-charge our crystals.

What’s the Difference Between Cleansing and Charging Crystals?

Cleansing a crystal is intended to clear it of any absorbed negative or stale energy, to take it back to its inherent potential and enable the crystal to be cleansed and ready for recharging. Cleansing a crystal is a way of  “washing away”, if you like, of the old ready to be replaced with the new.

Charging a crystal is where we hope to re-energise a crystal so that it may emit, if it does, its inherent vibration, unhindered. We can set intentions, say a prayer or visualise the crystal to help us in the way we intend and “reactivate” the crystal. 

Methods for Cleansing Crystals

There are many ways we can cleanse and recharge a crystal and some methods do both, cleanse and recharge. Here we’ve listed them, in no particular order.

Probably the most well-known method for cleansing your crystals, moonlight - particularly a full moon is believed to “bathe” the crystal with feminine, healing energy. 

Moonlight is associated with a calming withdrawal into emotional healing, recuperation and introspection. The moon has, for centuries, been linked to feminine intuition and mysticism. For this reason, moonlight is the best way to cleanse and reenergise those crystals that are associated with emotional support and intuition. It is perfect for crystals used in meditation. 

During the full moon the moon energetic effect of the moon is at its strongest and this is an ideal time to cleanse and recharge your crystals. 

Method for Cleansing Crystals in the Moonlight

Place your crystals ideally outside where they will be in direct moonlight for several hours, or overnight. Ideally place them on a rock, grass or soil (a natural surface so that they can be grounded). 

Failing that, you can place your crystals inside on a window ledge - the intention is still there. 

Will Crystals still be charged on a cloudy night?

Direct moonlight is the best, but a cloudy night is also fine - in much the same way that the moons effect on the earth doesn't stop in those places where it’s cloudy!

2.The Earth/Soil

The earth is very energising - there are many who now promote walking barefoot on the earth to ground and re-energise our body. In the same way, placing crystals in the earth are said to cleanse and re-energise them. 

We offer a word of warning … mark the spot where you have placed your crystals or place them in a container with soil inside and cover them over with soil, allowing the top of the container to protrude. I have lost a couple of crystals (years ago!)  from placing them in soil in the garden to cleanse overnight, convinced (incorrectly, as it turns out) that I’d remember where I put them! 

3. Running Water

Natural running water, like a stream would be perfect. Many times I have cleansed my crystals under a running tap. Whilst some will say that our tap water is full of chemicals, I consider it pretty pure and I “intend” the crystal cleansed as I hold it under the water.

This method is not good for those crystals that are better kept dry, like selenite, kyanite or halite.

4. Salt Water

Salt water has been used for centuries to “draw out” unwanted energy. If you live near the ocean, grab an empty bottle and collect some seawater and soak your crystals in this. Otherwise add some sea salt to fresh water. Allow your crystals to be submerged in the salty water for at least 12 hours and up to 48 hours. Rinse well and dry afterwards.

Again, avoid this method with soft crystals. 

5. Salt

For the same reason that salt water works well, sea salt is wonderful for cleansing crystals. Making a lovely display in pretty coloured sea salt is not only a great way to cleanse your crystals but looks fabulous.

6. Brown Rice

Brown rice is believed to absorb negative energies and is good for those crystals that offer protection and nurturing. Place the crystal within the rice, so it is submerged, leave for 12-48 hours and dispose of the rice afterwards.

7. Sunlight

Sunlight is more energising, vibrant and high-energy than moonlight and so suits the energising, uplifting crystals, those that promote growth, resilience and strength.

Place your crystals again on a natural surface, when the sun is at its highest between the hours of 11 am and 3 pm. 

8. Sage

Just as you can smudge your home or any space with sage to cleanse it, so you can too with your crystals. 

Simply light your sage and hold in one hand whilst passing the crystal through the smoke from the sage. This is quite an intuitive method for cleansing your crystal and you may need to repeat the process until it “feels” right. 

Have a heat-resistant bowl nearby to place the smudging stick of sage in as you work between crystals.

9. Other Crystals

Certain crystals, like selenite, clear quartz, citrine and hematite don’t need cleansing and can be used to cleanse your other crystals. Selenite bowls like this one are perfect for this and many people hold their tumblestones in a selenite bowl to keep them cleansed. 

It is believed that larger stones, like amethyst geodes, also can absorb the energy of smaller crystals and work well to cleanse them. 

10. Breath Work

This method is based around “intention”. Breathing in through the nose and breathing out in short bursts towards the crystal whilst intending the crystal cleansed and re-energised. 

11. Visualisation

Again this method is for those who are more confident in their own intuition. Imagine protecting yourself and your crystals by bringing down pure, white light, grounding yourself by imaging roots coming out of your feet deep into Mother Earth. Visualise the two energies meeting and dispersing throughout your body and out through your heart centre towards the crystals, bathing them in clear, pure energy, clearing them and cleansing them, removing any old, stale energies and replacing it with pure, white, source energy through the crystals natural energy

12. Sound

Sound has been used for centuries to help and assist heal and balance us. From Gregorian chants to Native Americans, the vibration of sound is used in many rituals even today. The Solfeggio frequencies have long been associated with healing us on many levels.

Crystals placed in or around a tuning fork or a singing bowl are thought to absorb the energy of the sound waves and re-attune. Again, visualising the crystal being cleansed and re-aligned helps this process. 

How often should you charge crystals?

A regular routine is a good idea as it can be surprising how many months can go by before we may think to repeat the process. A full moon is a great visual reminder that most of us notice. Every month at full moon you can quickly gather your crystals and choose the method that works best for you, it doesn’t necessarily have to be moonlight. 

To Sum Up ...

We'd encourage you to cleanse your crystals regularly. Not only with they look better but you'll probably feel better for doing so - it's surprising was a mini spring-clean of any area of our home or belongings is very therapeutic.

And it may just have the added benefit of removing negative energy from the crystal itself. 

How to Charge Crystals and Why People Do

Whether we have one or a collection of crystals, we are told that they regularly need to be cleansed and charged. You may have wondered why do we need to do this? Or how often should we cleanse our crystals? And what is the best way to cleanse them? 

Whilst there is no scientific proof that crystals help in healing, with many many in the scientific community stating that any benefits may be purely from the placebo effect, many people still love and get great pleasure and support from their collection of crystals. Those that do, want to look after them and get the best from them if possible.

In this article we hope to answer all the questions you may have about the intended reasons we cleanse and charge our crystals.

Why Cleanse Crystals?

Crystals are said to conduct energy, so we want to ensure that the energy that is stored and transmitted from your crystals is high-level, clear and unhampered.

For millennia, humans have devised rituals where we cleanse ourselves and objects of the old and invite in the new. From religious rituals such as baptism and communion, to cleansing before a meal or occasion, there are obvious practical and hygenic reasons we do this as well as strong psychological beliefs associated with cleansing ourselves of the old, ready for the new.

In the same way that we feel so much better after cleansing our bodies, how we feel relief from “cleansing” our minds and dealing with problems and issues by letting them go, we also feel re-energised after cleaning our homes and the spaces we live in, as well as the objects we have around us.  

Many of us love having crystals around us, we love their natural beauty and any inherent energy they may possess. We want to ensure they aren't “dulled” in any way by holding onto stale and negative energy they may have absorbed. So we have devised rituals to cleanse and re-charge our crystals.

What’s the Difference Between Cleansing and Charging Crystals?

Cleansing a crystal is intended to clear it of any absorbed negative or stale energy, to take it back to its inherent potential and enable the crystal to be cleansed and ready for recharging. Cleansing a crystal is a way of  “washing away”, if you like, of the old ready to be replaced with the new.

Charging a crystal is where we hope to re-energise a crystal so that it may emit, if it does, its inherent vibration, unhindered. We can set intentions, say a prayer or visualise the crystal to help us in the way we intend and “reactivate” the crystal. 

Methods for Cleansing Crystals

There are many ways we can cleanse and recharge a crystal and some methods do both, cleanse and recharge. Here we’ve listed them, in no particular order.

Probably the most well-known method for cleansing your crystals, moonlight - particularly a full moon is believed to “bathe” the crystal with feminine, healing energy. 

Moonlight is associated with a calming withdrawal into emotional healing, recuperation and introspection. The moon has, for centuries, been linked to feminine intuition and mysticism. For this reason, moonlight is the best way to cleanse and reenergise those crystals that are associated with emotional support and intuition. It is perfect for crystals used in meditation. 

During the full moon the moon energetic effect of the moon is at its strongest and this is an ideal time to cleanse and recharge your crystals. 

Method for Cleansing Crystals in the Moonlight

Place your crystals ideally outside where they will be in direct moonlight for several hours, or overnight. Ideally place them on a rock, grass or soil (a natural surface so that they can be grounded). 

Failing that, you can place your crystals inside on a window ledge - the intention is still there. 

Will Crystals still be charged on a cloudy night?

Direct moonlight is the best, but a cloudy night is also fine - in much the same way that the moons effect on the earth doesn't stop in those places where it’s cloudy!

2.The Earth/Soil

The earth is very energising - there are many who now promote walking barefoot on the earth to ground and re-energise our body. In the same way, placing crystals in the earth are said to cleanse and re-energise them. 

We offer a word of warning … mark the spot where you have placed your crystals or place them in a container with soil inside and cover them over with soil, allowing the top of the container to protrude. I have lost a couple of crystals (years ago!)  from placing them in soil in the garden to cleanse overnight, convinced (incorrectly, as it turns out) that I’d remember where I put them! 

3. Running Water

Natural running water, like a stream would be perfect. Many times I have cleansed my crystals under a running tap. Whilst some will say that our tap water is full of chemicals, I consider it pretty pure and I “intend” the crystal cleansed as I hold it under the water.

This method is not good for those crystals that are better kept dry, like selenite, kyanite or halite.

4. Salt Water

Salt water has been used for centuries to “draw out” unwanted energy. If you live near the ocean, grab an empty bottle and collect some seawater and soak your crystals in this. Otherwise add some sea salt to fresh water. Allow your crystals to be submerged in the salty water for at least 12 hours and up to 48 hours. Rinse well and dry afterwards.

Again, avoid this method with soft crystals. 

5. Salt

For the same reason that salt water works well, sea salt is wonderful for cleansing crystals. Making a lovely display in pretty coloured sea salt is not only a great way to cleanse your crystals but looks fabulous.

6. Brown Rice

Brown rice is believed to absorb negative energies and is good for those crystals that offer protection and nurturing. Place the crystal within the rice, so it is submerged, leave for 12-48 hours and dispose of the rice afterwards.

7. Sunlight

Sunlight is more energising, vibrant and high-energy than moonlight and so suits the energising, uplifting crystals, those that promote growth, resilience and strength.

Place your crystals again on a natural surface, when the sun is at its highest between the hours of 11 am and 3 pm. 

8. Sage

Just as you can smudge your home or any space with sage to cleanse it, so you can too with your crystals. 

Simply light your sage and hold in one hand whilst passing the crystal through the smoke from the sage. This is quite an intuitive method for cleansing your crystal and you may need to repeat the process until it “feels” right. 

Have a heat-resistant bowl nearby to place the smudging stick of sage in as you work between crystals.

9. Other Crystals

Certain crystals, like selenite, clear quartz, citrine and hematite don’t need cleansing and can be used to cleanse your other crystals. Selenite bowls like this one are perfect for this and many people hold their tumblestones in a selenite bowl to keep them cleansed. 

It is believed that larger stones, like amethyst geodes, also can absorb the energy of smaller crystals and work well to cleanse them. 

10. Breath Work

This method is based around “intention”. Breathing in through the nose and breathing out in short bursts towards the crystal whilst intending the crystal cleansed and re-energised. 

11. Visualisation

Again this method is for those who are more confident in their own intuition. Imagine protecting yourself and your crystals by bringing down pure, white light, grounding yourself by imaging roots coming out of your feet deep into Mother Earth. Visualise the two energies meeting and dispersing throughout your body and out through your heart centre towards the crystals, bathing them in clear, pure energy, clearing them and cleansing them, removing any old, stale energies and replacing it with pure, white, source energy through the crystals natural energy

12. Sound

Sound has been used for centuries to help and assist heal and balance us. From Gregorian chants to Native Americans, the vibration of sound is used in many rituals even today. The Solfeggio frequencies have long been associated with healing us on many levels.

Crystals placed in or around a tuning fork or a singing bowl are thought to absorb the energy of the sound waves and re-attune. Again, visualising the crystal being cleansed and re-aligned helps this process. 

How often should you charge crystals?

A regular routine is a good idea as it can be surprising how many months can go by before we may think to repeat the process. A full moon is a great visual reminder that most of us notice. Every month at full moon you can quickly gather your crystals and choose the method that works best for you, it doesn’t necessarily have to be moonlight. 

To Sum Up ...

We'd encourage you to cleanse your crystals regularly. Not only with they look better but you'll probably feel better for doing so - it's surprising was a mini spring-clean of any area of our home or belongings is very therapeutic.

And it may just have the added benefit of removing negative energy from the crystal itself.