Carla Harren

Cleansing of a Stone or Crystal

About cleansing the stones that you work with therapeutically, opinions differ sometimes. Of course it is important to be hygienic with your stones, after all in a therapeutically layout  you place them indeed on the body of your client. Nevertheless, it is absolutely unnecessary to clean the stones “energetically” after each therapeutic session.

A stone has – unlike humans – no duality. In other words, people know certain things concepts as good and bad sick and better. A stone does not simply have these concepts. Also a stone does not take “negative energy” upon itself and does not therefore need to be cleaned.

There are all kind of ideas being shared about cleansing. Here are some:

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU OR DO NOT when you Bury your stones in the ground.

A stone is build up of various elements. Some elements are very sensitive for the acids which occur in the soil. Calcite is becomes under the influence of various types of soil not only colorless and dull, it even partially dissolves.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU OR DO NOT when you Cleanse your stones with Salt.

Many stones have in their composition a portion of water. For example Opal shines so beautifully by the presence of water in the tiny cracks of the opal.

When you put an opal in salt, this salt draws the water from the stone. What remains is a completely colorless opal, which no longer looks like an opal, but no longer works as an opal.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU OR DO NOT when you lay the stones for a longer time in (mineral)-water

Some elements from which a stone exists are water-soluble. When you put these stones a long time in water, these ingredients dissolve. The composition of the stone changes thereby, so that the stone therapeutically no longer has the effect that can be expected.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU OR DO NOT when your cleanse and upload your stones in the Sun

Many of the stone that are used in a gemstone practice are “light sensitive”. For example under the influence of sunlight Amethyst loses its beautiful (deep) purple color. The same is true of rose quartz.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU OR DO NOT when you cleanse your stones above candlelight

Besides the fact that you can burn your fingers a number of stones are quite heat sensitive. Amber will scorch, pearls and opals will burst and with topaz you run the risk that the stone breaks in two.

BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU OR DO NOT with using Reiki for cleansing

You can consider a stone as a pure product of life energy. The human being who applies Reiki to the stone is relative to this an “impure” Oneness. This is why the life energy that a person wishes to transfer to a stone does not add to the energetic purity to the stone which it already naturally possess.

The above “cleansing methods” are more likely to lead to disappointment or disturbed and broken stones than to energetically “cleansed” stones.

CLEANSING OF YOURSELF

Not only the use of wrong cleansing methods affects whether or not an energetic session with precious stones is successful, the psychological “condition” of the therapist plays a role in this.

Suppose you’ve used some stone during a layout and a second client comes in a short time later. The same stones you just used for your first client can consciously or unconsciously evoke the memory of this client. This can lead to an unintended side effect: your own energetic field is filled with this reminder and beams it “unintentionally” off to your new client.

This is not for the enjoyment: looking at this energetically it can happen that you are namely projecting some imbalances of your first client on your second client.

So be aware of the impeding potential role of human memory that plays during the therapeutic session.

How can you fore come such a psychological effect? A good method for this is to rinse with Luke warm water the stones after every layout.

You can try to imagine that all the energy from your previous client, whilst rinsing the stones in Luke water goes down the drain and disappears. This does not only give a positive psychological effect (the energy of the client disappears), but also constitutes a hygienic aspect.

Try to imagine by yourself also that the client takes everything with him or her when leaving your space (including also energy) that belongs to him or her. If this is not enough for you then feel if you can try using a self-invented “ritual” so that the stones get rid of (your own) memory. For example, placing some cleansing incense on a wood coal and let the stones go through the smoke or by playing some singing bowls, chimes or Tsingha’s.

You also hear that a stone or stones previously before a session need to be “uploaded” and after the session need to be “unloaded”. For the “uploading” of stones clear quartz or a group of clear quartz stones is advised and for “unloading” a black tourmaline or a group of hematite. Here also, this is not principally necessary, since the action or working of a stone is always the same as long as the stone is a homogeneous unit (not damaged).

But as a helping hand, loading and unloading stones, can be a natural peaceful way or use to cleanse yourself psychologically and as a preparation to treat the possible next client.