I’ve been meaning to do a post like this for quite some time b/c I, myself, love to read about about other people’s ‘mistakes’ when learning something new. This way I can learn more from a different perspective while also avoiding those common pitfalls. I’m always a champion for efficiency…why reinvent the wheel? That’s always extremely valuable for me so I hope this blog post of my personal crystal experiences does the same for you.

Since I’ve already written or chattered on about several of these topics in the past I’ll put lots of reference links here if you’d like to dig deeper on that specific topic. OK? 🙂

And lastly, let me preface this post by stating (as I always do) that this is what I’ve found to be true & what has worked for me. I don’t claim anything to be “right” or “wrong”. If you’re doing something that contradicts what I say & its been working for you then KEEP ON TRUCKIN’, Lima Bean!

7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Working with Crystals

1. How to Cleanse

When I first began getting into the metaphysical side of crystals, most of the info I scoured said I needed to cleanse my crystals of “their former absorbed energy” in some way. There are many proposed methods on how to do this. And for a long while,  my favorite method was a 7 Day Salt Water Cleanse. Then I discovered sound acoustics & I’ve never turned back. Its so much easier & practical while being physically safe for all stones, no matter their hardness. Here’s a vid I did explaining more on that:

Crystal Energy Cleansing using Sound: How To Cleanse Your Crystals

2. Cleansing is not necessary as often as some may think but is required for ALL crystals

The books I read in the beginning & the crystal-chats I’d have with others lead me to some dogma that had me thinking the crystals needed to be “cleansed” at every turn; every full moon, every time I used them for anything, if someone else touched them or even looked at them the wrong way. After working with crystals & stones extensively I don’t feel this to be true at all. It doesn’t have to be a BIG production. Sure, I do agree that at times it is very necessary to re-tune your crystals but much of this is what I call the “Sparkly Pomp & Circumstance”. 😉  C’mon…you know we totally get off on all the formal ceremony schist that can surround working with crystals.

This also ties into the idea that there’s also some very stubborn glittery dogma that says certain special crystals NEVER need re-tuning (cleansing) no matter what. I don’t feel that’s the case either:

Do All Crystals Need to Be Cleansed?

So my stance on this 1 is that our crystals & stones don’t need to be re-tuned as often as some would lead you to believe, but I do feel they all need it at some point. None are exempt.

3. There may be several names for the SAME stones

Sometimes a stone has a formal geological mineral name while also having a more well-known name. For instance, spodumene is AKA kunzite. Or ruby, sapphire & corundum are all the same thing. There are many others which time & experience will expose you to more & you’ll just start to absorb this stuffs. Some good crystal reference books will help with this as well. (I’ll reference a couple that I always recommend below.)

But to make matters even more confusing, we now have some people choosing to actually trademark already known minerals (or special sub-varieties of that mineral) with a more metaphysically-pleasing name. Here are just a few examples of that:

• Azeztulite™ = quartz masses w/ various inclusions
• Zultanite™ = diaspore
• Sacred Seven Stone™ = Cacoxenite Amethyst
• Infinite™ = greenish grey serpentine

Now we all know that trademarked names are used all over the place like so much toilet paper but no one is FORCED to use them if they choose not to. Like, I call my toilet paper just that or I can call it “Charmin”. Totally up to me, right? I personally see no reason for these names to have been glammed up & trademarked. Since it just makes matters confusing for us all, I refuse to use the trademarked names to refer to minerals that already have a proper name.

Yep, I chose to ignore & KISS: keep it simple, Sweetie!

4. Most commercially available citrine on the market is heated amethyst

Yes, that pretty orange glittery stone is usually not the REAL DEAL. But I don’t feel that it cannot be used as citrine, so please don’t toss it out! I recently did an extensive blog post all about this here.

5. When shopping at a gem/mineral show no woo-woo talk!

So, I’d get to the gem show with my shopping list & reference book in hand (The Crystal Healer) & could be heard across the entire row of seller’s calling out to my hubs:

“Look for one with a record keeper on it. I need it for my third eye!”

Yeah….not a good idea.

Some of these mineral dealers have finely tuned woo-woo sensing radar & when they spot 1 of us in the crowd their eyes glaze over. You’re there trying to make deals & its just not working out. Now you know a possible reason why.

Be sensible & don’t gave yourself away. Just for today, take off your Stevie Nicks shawl, put away your fairy necklace or your Namaste T-shirt (*hey! I love that stuffs too…but sometimes it benefits us to keep our super-hero uniforms under wraps*) . You know… make yourself blend in with the other Regular-Joe mineral collectors. And “Hush!” with all the woo-woo speak. The whole point of going to these shows is to hunt for the stones with the cool metaphysical bells & whistles without making it obvious that you know about that side of it so you can get them at a good price. So don’t blow it! I recently did a blog post with other shopping tips here.

6. Most crystal healing books say the same thing over and over

Yes, I do have more crystal books than I care to admit. That’s b/c in the beginning I was ravenous for the info (as I’m sure you were or are too)…until I began to realize that much of the info is repetitive (& then some of it conflicts) Now, I’m very selective with the crystal books I buy. I feel its good to have a couple highly recommended crystal reference books on hand & then get in there & work with your stones & find out what they really do for you personally. No book can ever tell you that.

I do have two books that I highly recommend to all my students if you don’t already have one that you really love:

And…in this video I go over my personal book recommendations in detail:

Crystal Healing Book Recommendations

7. You don’t have to memorize every crystal & what it does before you start working with them

At first, I thought:

“Oh, I’m not ready yet”. I need to learn more & see if there’s a perfect crystal for this or that before I actually do anything.”

Eventually, I got tired of waiting & began meditating & using my crystals. Doing that made me wish that I had started the whole process sooner.

Listen Crystal Hottie, there is no perfect method, stone or time to begin your crystal practice. you don’t have to wait to take a course or be certified or read all the books on the subject. My best advice here is to just dive in & start working with them. Just get to it! 🙂

Sparkly Blessings!

 

 

P.S. Do you have any tips to share with us? Please post them in the comments below.You know we love talking crystal-shop ’round here.