Cleaning Stones

It is important to clean any new gemstones that come your way to clear them of any energy they may have picked up during their previous journeys. Also, if you use any of your stones as healing tools they should be cleaned before and after each healing session.  There are many different ways to clean your gemstones.  Choosing the best cleaning method depends on the type of stone you want to clean and what feels best to YOU.

An hour in direct sunlight is more than enough to clean most stones.  Some stones (especially stones that have been  enhanced  for better colour)will fade if left out in the sunlight.  Some Amethyst can fade, as well as dyed Agate.  Moonlight cleansing can take several hours or days.  To expose a stone to all the moon phases (full moon to new moon) place the stone outside each evening at dusk (retrieving it before sunrise) for 28 consecutive days (a cycle of the moon).

Some stones will dissolve or become fractured  in water(selenite and softer minerals), whereas others love to be soaked in fresh water.  I actually clean most of my stones under a running tap of cold water while focusing my intent of the water washing away all energies that are not natural to the stone. 

Another favourite method of mine is Smudging.  If you are not familiar with smudging, the quick version is this process is; burning a sacred plant (sage, sweet grass, cedar, lavender etc) and waving your stone through the smoke and asking the Spirits/Universal energies/Creator or whatever feels best to you to describe this higher power to cleanse the stone of whatever energies are not natural to the stone.   Smudging is quite sacred to many traditions and if you resonate with this method, I encourage you to spend a little time learning more about it and the different traditions behind it.

There are other methods for cleansing stones such as burying them, infusing them with Reiki energy, sea salt and symbols or visualizing beams of white light around them.  If any of these sound interesting to you, I encourage you to look them up to better understand these methods.