Updated July 16, 2023 by Alexandre Baillairge

Crystals and stones need to be cleansed and charged before and after use. This prevents the growth of negative energies that may influence you and the people around your crystals.

Healing crystals and stones have been used for millennia for their healing properties. Believed to be healing stones, they can be very beneficial in improving and enhancing different aspects of one's life. However, when you use crystal healing methods, you must remember that the energies of the crystals and gemstones can be drained. And when the crystals energy is depleted, negative and unwanted energies can replace them.

First of all, we need to clarify something. When it comes to crystal care, cleansing (or clearing) and charging of crystals are two different things.

Cleansing your crystals is about removing the unwanted energy gathered within your stone from usage, replacing it with clean energy. Charging a crystal is about replenishing its healing energy after it has been depleted. Crystals should always be cleansed before they are charged, otherwise you'll simply remove the clean energy. There are some methods that charge and cleanse crystals at the same time.

Being crystal experts, we've put together a guide for cleansing and charging your healing crystals.

How Do I Cleanse and Charge My Healing Crystals?

Cleanse and recharge crystals:

• After you purchase them
• Before and after you have used them for healing
• When other people have handled them
• After they have been around negative energies (heavy emotions, chaos, arguments, etc.)
• Regular maintenance

There are several effective ways of charging your crystals. Which one you should use will depend on the natural energy and healing properties of the crystal.

Charge Crystals with Sunlight

To cleanse and charge your crystals with solar power, leave your crystals in direct sunlight for a maximum of seven hours. Abundance, love, and vitality are the qualities that resonate from charging stones and crystals with sunlight. The color of the Sun's energy is yellow, and so it resonates well with yellow crystals.

Certain crystals cannot be exposed to sunlight for long. This includes Smoky Quartz, Rose Quartz, Aquamarine, Amethyst, Aventurine, Sapphires, Kunzite, Citrine, Fluorite, and Beryl.

Make sure that your crystals are only exposed to sunlight. Moonlight will cleanse and charge them differently than they would under the Sun, which will change their energy. That energy will also affect you the next time you use them.

Charge Crystals with Moonlight

You can choose to charge your crystals during different moon phases. Which one you use depends on the crystal's purpose.

A full moon is related to abundance and love. The energy of an ascending moon is related to optimism, hope, and new beginnings. And a descending moon is related to things you wish to abolish, such as illnesses, negativities, and reducing debts.

For the best results, it's essential to understand the moon's energy and phase of ascending and descending moonlight.

Even the solstice holds specific energies for crystal charging. The winter solstice works toward expanding meditative space during the dark months. While the spring equinox energies help with intensified growth in all areas of your life.

Charge Crystals with the Help of the Universe

To charge crystals with the energy of the Universe, take a piece of gold-colored cloth. Place all your crystals on the cloth and focus on connecting with the powerful and positive energies of the Universe. Visualize how vibrating universal energies are cleansing and charging them with clean and potent energies immediately after.

Charge Crystals with the Help of Earth

Burying your crystals is a method of cleansing and charging that can bring potent healing energies to your and your crystals. Place your stones and crystals in a glass jar and bury it in the ground for seven hours. The glass container should be buried deep enough to keep the crystals covered.

After seven hours, your crystals should be charge. Uncover them, and they are now ready for use. Charging with earth energy works for Citrine, Mahogany Obsidian, Agate, Petrified Wood, Tiger's Eye, Calcite, Jasper, Boji Stone, and Carnelian.

Charge Crystals with Water

Put your crystals in natural running water or a fresh body of water. This lets them access the positive energy of water. Certain crystals have a particular affinity to water. These include Agate, Aqua Aura, Azurite, Amazonite, Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate, Blue Quartz, Turquoise, Clear Quartz, Iolite, and Sodalite.

Put your crystals inside a glass bottle and leave them in a fresh body of water. A good example is a stream, lake, or the sea.

You can also charge your crystals in salt water to mimic the healing properties of the ocean. Add some salt like Himalayan salt or sea salt to make a salt-water solution if ocean water is unavailable. With your hands hovering over the bowl of salted water, close your eyes and set the intention for the solution to remove unwanted energies from your crystals.

Be careful when charging softer stones this way because salt is abrasive and can damage them.

Charging Crystals with Fire

The fire also plays a role in cleansing and charging healing crystals and stones. Fire has nurturing, inspiring, and energizing properties that are easy to overlook because of its evident destructive force. However, fire plays a key role in our evolution and advancement over the ages.

Fire can cleanse and charge crystals with the fire association or element, such as Bloodstone, Boji Stone, Tiger's Eye, Agate, Jasper, Rutilated Quartz, and Mahogany Obsidian. Take the crystal and pass it over a candle flame, allowing the direct fire to destroy negative energies.

Smudging with Sage

Smudging with Sage cannot charge any crystals or stones. However, smudging with Sage is a popular and common cleansing method and easy cleansing ritual to perform.

Light a stick of sage and blow it out, so it starts producing a steady stream of smoke. Hold your crystal in the plume of smoke, letting the smoke rise around it. Keep it there for about 5 minutes or until you get the sense that the crystal has been cleansed.

You can also use other crystals and stones to cleanse and charge your crystals. For example, Crab Fire Agate, Quartz, and Amethyst can absorb and regenerate the energies of other crystals. One of the most popular cleansing and charging crystals is Selenite. To use Selenite for cleansing and recharging your crystals, place the crystal you want to cleanse and charge it on top of the Selenite crystal for at least seven hours.

After using any of these methods for cleansing and recharging your crystals, programming your crystal is the next step. To restore their healing properties, you must clearly state your thoughts, emotions, vibrations, and intentions to the Universe. You need to state your intentions to program your crystals because crystals are merely conductors, magnifiers, and directors that work with your energy. Ask yourself what you want to release or manifest, state your intention, and thank your healing stones for being your companion and for its energy healing properties.