Taking advantage of a bright & beautiful day at the amazing Alila Uluwatu in Bali last summer to set out some of my personal collection of SunMoonRain crystal bracelets for cleansing in the sun rays. #cleansingcrystals #sunrays #alilauluwatu #747 #magic 

When I started SunMoonRain, it was really a process of education for me for all aspects of this new path of mine, and still continues to be one. I have always believed in the power of healing through crystals from a very young age but never really knew much more about what it entailed to bring its positivity into my life. 

One of the first important things I learnt in working with crystals is the whole idea of cleansing them. The majority who work with crystals believe that crystals have travelled far in time (the oldest crystal found is said to be 4.4 billion years old!) and as such been handled by many people in many lifetimes, contributing their vibrations to it. Because of this, these vibrations need to be neutralised, restoring the crystal to its original clarity, hence the necessity of cleansing. Saying that, there is another school of thought that believes that since crystals are created by and are a part of Gaia earth energy, there are self attuning and don’t need cleansing since they naturally do that to the vibrations of the Sun, Moon & Earth. Whatever your beliefs are, it is a fact that crystals do absorb energy around them, be it positive or negative, therefore the process of cleansing crystals is something not to ignore. 

There are many “procedures” out there and at the end of the day, it comes down to personal choice. For SunMoonRain and for myself,  I like to harness the natural powerful energies of the Universe, such as using sun rays and moonlight (especially powerful to do so when its a full moon) to reset and/or add to the energetic vibration’s of the stones we use. Both the sun and the moon are wonderful purifiers in this cleansing process.

I put the bracelets in a bowl (like in the picture above), and set them out in the sun or the moon, leaving it not for too long in the sun, (especially if its a strong sun I leave it out for no longer than 30 mins) as the stones colours can fade. In the moonlight, I often leave them overnight as that is safe to do with regards to maintaining their colour. For my own personal bracelets and stones, before I leave them out to be cleansed,  I also say a positive personal intention and motivation as well. This can be as simple a statement as "May the negativity be removed and replaced with all the positive white light vibrations of the Universe for the purpose of higher good for myself and all others. "

Some of the other more popular methods used include:

~ Holding your crystals under running water not more than a few minute to remove their negative energies, imagining the moving water washing your crystals clean of any unfavourable vibrations . 

~ Filling a bowl of dry salt or salt water and putting your crystals in that. Salt is considered a very cleansing mineral so is often used in the cleansing process. However, if you chose this method, please do not keep them in either for long (I recommend five minutes) as both the salt and water can damage the crystals if kept in there too long. Another version to this is to rinse your crystals in the ocean quickly as the salt water will also clear the crystals of its negativity. 

~ Use white light, or Universal light. Simply close your eyes and visualise the universe creating a body of white in front of you, then open your eyes and use your hands to direct that positive energy towards the crystals, asking the universe to transform any negative energy within the crystals to positive energy.


~ Smudging is a Native American tradition where herbs such as white sage or lavender are burnt and the crystals are held within the stream of smoke to remove any negativity they may carry. Do keep a window open if you are doing this in an enclosed space to allow the negativity to flow out of your space.

There are many more ways to cleanse (singing bowls, tuning forks etc) & I am not here to judge which is the best method or the right method or even that there needs to be a method, but rather, the one thing I do feel is that at the end of the day, its best to go with your own personal view of what you believe in & what works for you.

If you are comfortable with the idea of cleansing, what I would say is try a few of the techniques I have mentioned & you will know in time which works best for you. It could be one method or a combination of a few. Just be open to see what feels natural to you in your exploration and finally when it is right, you will just know it and then you can then make that your personal ritual in the care & handling of your crystals.

Shabnam _/|\_  March 23, 2015