The first task was to rid the crystal of any negative energies stored in it. For those who do not know, crystals are natural batteries and can carry charges. My acupuncturist uses pizo-electric (sp?) current (crystal generated) for some treatments (ouch!) Some folks chose to bury their crystal in salt for a month (moon to moon). You can do this if you chose, but I think that takes too long. Other folks will leave it for a time in a running brook or some other moving water source. Call me wary, but I always worried it would wash away or someone would come along and say, "Oooo! Great stone!" (grin) So for me the cleansing of choice is generally something under my control. DW places crystals in strong sunlight for a day. I prefer hand stripping energies. If you are not sure you can hand strip, you might want to consider the sunlight or bury the crystal in a bowl of salt for a day or two. Me, I'm an impatient Leo - so I hold the crystal in my left hand and use my right to "strip" the energies out of it.
Depending on the size of the crystal I can use anything from a finger or two to an entire hand to do the stripping. In essence what I do is start at the top of the crystal and feel for the energy presently in it. If there is none detectable then I can stop there. If there's positive energy I can decide to leave it in or not. If there's a resonance I'm not happy with or if the crystal is negatively charged, then I will "hook" my energy field into that of the crystal and drag it with me as I move my hand down. Once I've stripped off part of the energy I shake or throw it onto the floor, grounding it out. I do this as many times as necessary until the crystal reaches neutral. I have had crystals that were so upset over being removed from the Earth that I buried them in order to return them to their home.
Sometimes I've "rescued" them from rock shops in order to do this. Like DW, I understand that everything has a consciousness and not all rocks want to be admired or worked with - some of them very much want to be a part of Mother Earth. I won't work with a sobbing, grieving, angry crystal, rock, shell, etc.. It wouldn't be fair to either of us. Not to mention the fact it wouldn't show a great deal of respect for the mineral or shell in question. There are plenty of minerals or shells out there who enjoy magickal work. Find one of them.
Anyway, when you've cleaned your crystal (in whatever manner) place it on a neutral surface (such as a wooden table) and then place your hand several feet above it. With eyes closed (at first) lower your hand until you can feel the energy of the crystal. What you want is to be able to strip it or cleanse it to the point that there is virtually no energy field left. Once the crystal is prepared you can charge it in a variety of ways. At first I believe the easiest thing to do is to hold it in one hand, cup the other over it, and "press" energy into the crystal. You can do this by doing a grounding and centering, drawing up the energy from the Earth and infusing the crystal with it. Some people find it easier to do this by placing the crystal in one palm with a bit of oil and stroking the crystal with a finger, hand, etc. feeling the energy enter the crystal through the oil interface. Some folks prefer to have the crystal on a table or other neutral surface, hold their hands over it and direct the energy into it. Perhaps you might want to try each of these methods to find what works best for you.
When you're done charging the crystal, put in on a neutral surface, shake your hands free of energy (clapping will often help dispel excess energy as will grounding them on the floor), then hold your most receptive hand over the crystal at several feet above it, bringing it slowly down until you feel that "push" associated with aura/energy. At first the push might be an inch above the crystal. Or more. Later you will learn to have the energy extend as far as you want it to. When I'm charging something to be used for the wearer I don't have the energy extend very far out. When I charge something as a protective amulet the energy extendes out several feet. You can push energy that is protruding out further than you desire in a bit further. I've never been able to pull it out, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. I usually add more to create a larger area of coverage. I began with Earth energy. This seems to be to be the easiest to obtain and is the longest lasting to work with.
Yet, Saono was always more attuned to Air energy. In time, you will want to establish a method for charging using more than one type of energy. Each of us will develop our own mental construct for harvesting this energy. For instance, when I am pulling fire energy from the universe, I visualize the roiling surface of the sun. This is reflected in that nature of the fire energy I work with. Before I go any further into energy work I'd be interested in hearing how many people are actually working with the grounding, centering, meditation, or energy creation methods I've mentioned. If it is simply interesting information then I'll probably leave off here simply because it takes a lot of time to create these posts and I've got limited resources to spread around. (smile)
Bright Blessings, Sierra SilverOwl
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