Crystal Cleansing (Purification)
I personally didn't think crystals needed cleansing, but my perspectives have changed since reading "First Nations Crystal Healing: Working with the Teachers of the Mineral Kingdom" by Luke Blue Eagle. Perhaps a better word than "cleansing" is "purifying".
Crystals are thought to hold information in their crystalline structure. I actually don't understand how they do this (physics is HARD), but it is thought their repeated, uniform geometric molecular structure allows them to hold information and memory. There is actually scientific data that proves they can, as per this article https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/crystal-memory-allows-efficient-storage-of-quantum-information-in-light/.
According to Luke Blue Eagle, amorphous crystals are thought not have to this ability, such as Malachite, Obsidian, and Turquoise. This website is pretty good to get a basic understanding between a crystalline structure and an amorphous structure. http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/grocha/mineral/mineral.html . You can't really programme or set intentions with such amorphous crystals (according the Luke Blue Eagle), so they need very minimal cleansing such as momentarily swishing them through sea salt water.
So for those crystals with highly organised crystalline structures, if they can hold information, they can hold negative information and memory from whatever they were subjected to before coming to you.
My personal opinion derived from my experience and intuition is that, the vibration of the negative memory/information within the crystal can dull the crystal's true vibrations. Thus, the crystal needs to be purified back to its original vibratory pattern, which I personally do by high frequency sound, but I have written other methods suggested by Luke Blue Eagle.
Purification Method by Luke Blue Eagle
- Running Water: Luke Blue Eagle suggests that to truly purify a crystal it needs to be under running natural water. Um.... I cannot find this near my house other than a polluted little stream (and I ain't dunking my crystal babies in that!) But if you are lucky enough to live near a clean river or stream or beach, have a go and see how your crystals feel afterwards.
- Salt Water: Another method Luke Blue Eagle suggests is to leave your crystals in pure (spring) water with sea salt over SEVEN days in a clear glass container/bowl. I personally haven't tried this and some minerals shouldn't be soaked in water, so it isn't the most practical method. But if you have an energetically dull crystal that you can't seem to raise the vibration of, have a go!
Purification Method by Crystal Meditation (ME!)
Tingsha (high frequency sound): It is my personal opinion that I believe the high frequency sound of Tingshas can release "negative" information/memory held within the crystal and transmute them.
I read about this method from the website I purchased my crystal skulls, which are infused with truly ancient crystal skull energies. They use a tingsha (Tibetan cymbals) to purify their crystal skulls, which produces a pleasing bell sound of high frequency (around 2000-2500 hertz).
I personally found this to be quite effective and I can feel the effects of the high frequency sound from my chakra points. I chime the tingsha above the crystal about 5-12 times, waiting for the sound to die out before I re-chime it. For some reason it works better if I hold the crystal in my hand, focusing on it via breathing & meditating, then re-chime the tingsha, repeating this process about 3 times. During this process, I set an intention for the crystal to be purified and reverted back to its true vibrations. My crystals always feel energetically stronger after this exercise.
If you don’t have a tingsha, you can Youtube for recordings of tingsha sound and play it loudly for about 5 mins and set an intention for this sound to purify your crystals.
Ascended Masters Spray: I also use a spray infused with the energies of Ascended Masters to purify and re-energize my crystals. At first I honestly thought this was complete bollocks but I am a curious person so I bought some and tried it. It really does makes a difference in your crystal energies. You can purchase it here https://alphaimaging.co.nz/violet-flame-spray-water-based/. I am not associated at all with this company to promote this. It is kind of expensive, so I use it sparingly.
Deep Intention Prayer: I have recently been able to feel so much energy emanate from my own hands! I can feel this energy channelled down from my crown. I have decided to use this divine channelled energy (of which I am so grateful to access) to purify, cleanse, and energize each crystal through intense focus and intention.
Last Advice - Sea Salt, Sage, and Palo Santo
Salt: Do not place your crystals on top of sea salt. I don't find this works at all, and it can really damage certain crystals (Luke Blue Eagle also agrees).
Sage & Palo Santo
Burning of sacred herbs and woods such as Sage and Palo Santo is meant to release chemicals that carry away positive ions (which are vehicles of pollution) and make space for negative ions (more beneficial for our well being).
Choose sustainably harvested/grown Sage and Palo Santo for your spiritual practices.
Also have the window open to release the positive ions out and for ventilation.
Sage: I think you should read the book written by Luke Blue Eagle to learn more about the smudging process. I personally only use it to purify the energies of my environment occasionally as I am not fond of the smell!
Palo Santo: I do use Palo Santo for the areas my crystals are kept, since I find the smell pleasing and it is a really nice little ritual. However burning Palo Santo is difficult, so I use incense sticks made from ground Palo Santo. You can purchase them here: https://halkab.com.au/products/palo-santo-natural-incense-sticks (I am not associated with this company for promotion). My favourite is their frankincense incense sticks! Smells soooo good!
Crystal Charging
Because I feel that once I purify my crystals and revert them back to their original vibrations with the methods above, they are energetically stronger, thus don't particularly feel a need for "charging" my crystals. But if you want to intensify your crystal energies with a certain vibration, you can charge them with the energies of the sun or the moon.
Sun or the Moon?
I do think sunlight and moonlight charge crystals (not via a window, as glass can block some light frequencies/radiation which is what is required for the charging process). I also think the charging process requires only 30 minutes or an hour. Luke Blue Eagle states that you need to know if your crystal requires sun energies or moon energies for the purpose you are using it for. For example if you are intending to use your crystal for healing menstruation pain, you probably want to charge the crystal under moonlight, rather than sunlight.
Selenite (Update)
I have experimented using window selenite to see if it can charge my crystals and to my surprise it actually worked! You can find out more on this in a separate blog I have written.