Understanding Negative Energy

Negative energy is the energy that powers destruction, sickness, worry, guilt, depression, ill will, impolite behavior, antisocial behavior, fear, anger, ridicule, hurt, feeling of loss, injury, pain, and any other negative elements of spiritual and physical life.

Negative energy is a natural part of life, but misuse and overabundance of this energy can be harmful and is unhealthy for positive manifestations.

You have probably experienced negative energy. A room just after a violent argument seems electric with swirling anger and unease. Watch a child that observes another child being yelled at or screamed at. They will often retreat that same energy and become out of balance and hurt.

A Return to Balance

Crystals can be charged and absorb positive energy – cosmic Life Force, and channel it for our uses. But we know that they can also become unbalanced by absorbing negative energy from their handling and from negative environments. New crystals may have picked up negative energy in their travels to you, and because of this possibility, should be cleansed and returned to their natural balance before use. All crystals carry both positive and negative energy. They are part of the naturally balanced order of the world, and like us, when out of balance they become less effective and “out of sorts”.

Spiritual cleansing is a “return to balance”. For example, healing crystals may absorb significant negative energy when used to rebalance someone’s energy. This will result in the crystal becoming out of balance after use. Also as previously mentioned, a crystal can pick up the energy, worries, and negative thoughts of people with which it has come in contact.

Spiritual cleansing returns the crystal to its balanced state by using the fundamental elements of fire, water, air, and earth. This process is one of returning a crystal to nature’s balance by immersion in the natural world once again.

Which ever method you choose, you may want to say out loud or within your mind a prayer to Gaia (Mother Earth), a deity, God, the Universe, the Divine source or whom ever it is that you connect with, to aide in the cleansing and restoration of balance to the crystal.

NOTE: Selenite and Kyanite do not need to be cleansed – ever. They are self cleansing and can be used to help keep your crystals clear of negative energy. I often store a piece of selenite in a bowl full of crystals that I use in my healing practice so that between clients any energy that may have attached itself to a crystal is cleansed away.

Using The Four Elements Air, Fire, Earth, and Water

Air and Fire

By lighting some incense, sage or palo santo and passing your crystal(s) through the smoke is one way to use both air and fire to cleanse the energy of your crystals.  To gauge how long that you should process each crystal, use your intuition.  When you sense or feel that the crystal has been cleared, stop.  Trust yourself.

Hold the crystal in your hand or fingers and allow the smoke of the incense to swirl around the crystal(s).  Focus on your intention and then visualize the cleansing away of the negative energy. 

Water

Water energy resembles emotions, the consistent flow of feelings, mysterious depths, and divine intuition. The beauty of water energy is in its ability to ebb and flow with the different currents of life. Water cascades down the rocks of waterfalls, ripples smoothly through abundant rivers, and crashes upon the shore. Water cleanses, rinses, purifies, and cures, and is the elixir of human life as we are composed mainly of water. Water is the ancient and the modern cleansing agent for unbalanced crystals.

Place your crystal(s) in a colander or strainer and allow the water to run over the crystal(s). Run through the water as many times as your intution tells you is ncessary. Focus on your intention and then visualize the cleansing away of the negative energy.

This is providing that the crystal you are wanting to cleanse is water safe.  A list (not exhaustive) below will give you an idea of which crystals can be cleansed using water.

• Moon or Sun Water
• Running Water
• Rainwater
• Salt Water
• Sacred Water

Hard Crystals that are Safe in Water:

Clear Quartz, Amethyst, Smoky Quartz, Rose Quartz, Citrine, Snow Quartz, Agate, Aventurine, Jasper, Tiger’s Eye

Stones that cannot/should not be cleansed with water due to erosion of the crystal:

Amazonite, Amber, Angelite, Aquamarine, Azurite, Calcite, Celestine, Chrysocolla, Desert Rose, Fire Opal, Fluorite, Gypsum, Hematite, Jasper, Kunzite, Labradorite, Lapis Lazuli, Lepidolite, Malachite, Moonstone, Opal, Pyrite, Red Coral, Ruby, Topaz, Tourmaline (any color), Turquoise

 Earth

Have you ever had a crystal break?  I mean without dropping it.  Or maybe you have had a crystal shatter.  This could mean that the energy within the crystal itself is no longer there. It has given all that it could, or maybe you just sense that the energy within your crystal is gone, that its energy has been depleted. This could be for several reasons, such as overuse, an environment that the crystal has just absorbed as much as it can, or you no longer feel the vibrational energy that was originally stored within the crystal.

The best thing you can do at this point is to bury your crystal in the earth.  Yes, return it to its home base.  Allow the energy of Gaia to restore its energy, its power. Thank the crystal for the energy that it has given to you and then ask Gaia to take it back into her arms and thank her. Then leave it there.  Give it time to have the loving energy of Gaia restore it. In time you may chose to dig it back up and reuse its energy if your intuition has told you that it has been restored.  Otherwise, it can be left indefinitely back where it belongs.