New to Crystals and Not Sure Where to Start?

When you are new to crystal healing and the world of crystals it can be overwhelming. One of the biggest things I notice is people are wanting to make sure they are doing things the "right" way. I'll admit, I can be one of those people too. Here is the first rule for crystals and crystal healing...

The way that works best for you is the right way!

If something feels right to you and it is working for you, don't change it just because someone comes along and says that you're doing it wrong or they have a better way. This includes authors too. Always trust your intuition! It will let you know what is right for you.

Table of Contents

The following is a list of the sections that you can find in this article. 

• How does crystal healing work?
• Why are there so many properties for crystals? Each book/source says something different. Which is the best information?
• Which books do you recommend for beginners?
• Do you recommend any websites for learning about crystals?
• What crystals should I get first? What crystals should I have in my collection?
• How do I choose the right crystals for me?
• How do I store my crystals?
• Can I carry multiple crystals? Do crystals cancel each other out? Or are there any that shouldn’t be together?
• How do I cleanse my crystals? What about charging and programming?
• How do I work with my crystals?
• Can I find you anywhere else on the web?

How does crystal healing work?

Everything has a vibrational frequency. I mean everything! Our bodies, our emotions, crystals, absolutely everything in the Universe. A crystal’s structure is repeating all throughout the crystal. Due to this perfect geometric pattern it creates a more stable energetic frequency. Their vibrations typically do not vary too much. Our bodies, on the other hand, are not as stable. Our energies can be thrown out easily by things such as stress. When a crystal enters into our energy field its vibration works with our energy back into balance. Think of it this way… Someone really loud and obnoxious walks into a quiet, peaceful room. Typically that loud person will quiet down at least a little bit to match the rest of the room. This is called entrainment. It is when 2 different frequencies meet up, the one with the higher energy pulls the other frequency up to meet it. Stress and illness have very low energetic frequencies. The crystal’s high energy helps to entrain our own energy, raising our energetic frequency to help match the crystal’s.

This works especially well with our chakras; the energy centers in our bodies that help govern different aspect of your body physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. When they are in balance is when you are in optimal health. Chakras can become imbalanced, closed, or blocked easily. This happens due to stress, emotional upsets, negative thought patterns, childhood experiences, and simply living life and all that goes with it. Crystals can help us to bring our chakras back into balance. Please keep in mind, a crystal can only help you with what your body can achieve naturally! However, it can help you get to that point faster. For example, you can get over a cold on your own. However, Fluorite can help you body to overcome the cold faster than you would have without it. My Chakras article contains more information on the chakras and their corresponding crystal.

My teacher, Ashley from Love & Light has a brief video to also help explain how crystals entrain with our own energies to help us heal ourselves.

Why are there so many properties for crystals? Each book/source says something different. Which is the best information?

The information for how to work with crystals comes to us from a few different ways. First off, we’re not the first to have worked with crystals for healing. Historical records have shown that crystals have been used for over 5,000 years. These records have helps to clue us in on how crystals were used thousands of years ago.

Crystal properties and how to work with them also comes from a combination of channeled information and what the author intuitively feels from that particular crystal. Here is the reason why you will find the information varies from person to person. Every person has a unique energy frequency. How a person’s energy reacts with the energy of a crystal is how they perceive that crystal. Imagine it like taste buds. Everyone’s are different. Something might taste a little salty to you, but to your friend it might be a little more on the sweet side. For one person’s energy a crystal might feel one way, but it may be totally different for you. Let me give you the example of Moldavite. When my oldest son held a Moldavite he became spaced out, energized, and just plain goofy. However when my youngest son held the Moldavite he said it calmed him down. It relaxed him and made him feel more at home. So just because someone says, “This crystal is the best for this. It works for me!” That does not mean it is necessarily the best crystal for you. Trust your intuition and go with the crystal that you are guided to. See what works best for YOU.

Finding the best resources for learning more about crystals will be similar to finding the right crystals for you. It is a matter of seeing which books/authors you resonate with the most. Who’s information do you agree with and who’s do you think, “No that doesn’t seem right.” For me personally, I resonate best with Judy Hall and Melody.

Which books do you recommend for beginners?

With hundreds of books to choose from, it might be hard to decide which one(s) to start with. My personal favorite and the one that I recommend is The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall. I resonate with most of her information, the photos are pretty good representations, and it has a lot of information without being overwhelming. There are actually 3 volumes in the Crystal Bible series. Start out with book 1 as the other 2 volumes contain harder to find or relatively new crystals. This is my #1 recommended crystal book. 

I also love Judy Hall’s book Crystal Prescriptions which simply lists various ailments and suggests multiple crystals to help, much like my own crystal tips and prescriptions, only her prescription book does not contain any photos. Crystal Prescriptions will be for someone who wants access to quickly look up crystals for ailments. It does not contain any metaphysical properties or information on specific crystals. **Update March 2021: There are now 8 volumes for Crystal Prescriptions series. I recommend Volume 1, especially for beginners. It contains the more common crystals.

One other book that I really like for beginners is The Crystal Healer: Crystal prescriptions that will change your life forever by Philip Permutt. This book lists the crystals by color instead of alphabetically. This is handy if you have a crystal and you’re not sure what it might be. This book also has a crystal prescriptions section in the back of the book. The book does not contain much metaphysical information for each crystal, though. It is generally just a very brief entry. **Update September 2018: There is a The Crystal Healer: Volume 2 which contains 250 new crystals. I still recommend the first volume for beginners. If you are looking to expand and like the first volume, then this is a nice addition. **Update February 2021: Philip Permutt has released The Modern Guide to Crystal Healing which combines both of his previous Crystal Healer books. Below is a quick video review.

Do you recommend any websites for learning about crystals?

Previously I would have mentioned my own website, Crystal Guidance. Unfortunately my website was deleted July 2022 due to hackers. I am slowly rebuilding the most important aspects of my website here on Patreon before rebuilding the website itself. You can also still download ALL of my crystal tip and prescription photos. As always, you can find me across all social media platforms as Crystal Guidance (@crystalguidance).

One of my favorite resource websites is Healing Crystals. I will warn you, it can be a little difficult to navigate their site. I recommend bookmarking your favorite links. Check out their Metaphysical Crystal Directory for info on various crystals. Also their Crystal Recommendations section is updated with a new question almost daily. There are almost 3500 articles as of November 2022, so just do a search for what you are looking for.

Healing Crystals for You is another wonderful resource. You can find metaphysical properties here as well as crystal suggestions for different things such as psychic gifts.

A few YouTube channels I recommend for crystal related videos include:
★Ashley’s Love & Light, ★Healing Crystals, ★Hibiscus Moon.

The following video is 34 minutes long, but it has a lot of wonderful information on the Science-y side of crystal healing.

What crystal should I get first? What crystals should I have in my collection?

These are the ones I would suggest as great starters. They are ones that I actually carry with me at all times in my purse and ones I consider as my top 5 beginner crystals. I will give you a little reason why I suggest these crystals, although they have MANY properties. These are simply my top reasons.

• Clear Quartz point – Quartz is great to use for just about anything due to its high receptivity to programming. The reason I say a point instead of a tumbled is because a point can direct energy. So if you are wanting to send energy, you would have the point away from you. If you want to bring in energy, you have it facing you. This would be your power crystal. It is a good amplifier of energies. — Chakra: This crystal can be used for any chakra.

• Amethyst – This one, like Clear Quartz, is a great master healer crystal. It enhances intuition and psychic abilities. I personally keep this one nearby for helping headaches. You had mentioned a crystal for well being. That would be both Amethyst and Clear Quartz. — Chakra: This crystal works best at the Third Eye or Crown chakras.

• Rose Quartz – This is usually the crystal I give as gifts to family members and friends. Rose Quartz is all about love on all levels. It is calming and a great emotional healer. When my kids have owies, I use Rose Quartz on or near it (depending on what was wrong) and it helps them to calm down and feel better. — Chakra: Heart or Higher Heart.

• Citrine – Yes, another crystal in the Quartz family! Citrine is known as the “Merchant’s Stone”. It attracts abundance and prosperity. It is a very happy and uplifting crystal. This would be your crystal to bring in good energy. Citrine is an energy booster too. — Charka: Solar Plexus.

• Black Tourmaline – This one is probably the hardest to get than the others. The other 4 are very common and inexpensive. Black Tourmaline is well worth it. It is very grounding and protective. It is protective of any kind of negative energy, including EMF from computers and other electronics. — Chakra: Root or Earth Star chakras.

If you are looking for a starter kit for chakras I personally like the following crystals, which are all inexpensive. Root: Red Jasper — Sacral: Carnelian — Solar Plexus: Citrine — Heart: Green Aventurine — Throat: Blue Lace Agate — Third Eye: Sodalite — Crown: Amethyst.

You can find more information about the different chakras and their related crystals in my Chakras article.

How do I choose the right crystals for me?

Truly the best way for you to choose the right crystal for you is by listening to your own intuition. You will be drawn to the crystals that resonate with you and that you need in your life. Go to a crystal shop and see what catches your eye. If you don’t have a local shop then even browse through a website (like my crystal Etsy shop or my official shop Stitches and Stones KC) and see what jumps out at you. Listen to your body. Feel for those subtle changes. Does the crystal give you a good kind of goosebumps? Does it makes you feel happy, loved, or something else. Do you feel a buzzing energy? If I am choosing a crystal in person I hold it in my hand. For me the left hand works better, but I recommend you see which hand you feel energy from more. I place the crystal in the palm of my hand and can feel its subtle vibration. Some I don’t feel anything and some have quite a vibration! I pick the one that I can feel the strongest as I take that as a sign that the crystal is talking to me. Sometimes you pick up a crystal and simply can’t put it back down. Perhaps you look at a crystal and just know that it’s the one. Trust in what you feel and trust that you are being guided to the perfect crystals for you at this time. I say “at this time” because we all change and what we need changes with us. So you might need Amethyst around you right now but a few months down the road Moonstone might be calling your name.

You can also look up information on crystals to see which one(s) fit your needs. For example, you might be having trouble sleeping, so you look up which crystals can help you with insomnia so you can get a good night’s sleep. This is a way to help you find what you need. However, again you need to use your intuition to see which crystal is right for you. In my crystal tips I always offer multiple crystal recommendations so that you can choose the one that you feel resonates best with your energy. Remember, crystals will not work the same for everyone, so it is all about finding the one that works best for you.

How do I store my crystals?

One of the easiest ways that I have found to store crystal is using crafting boxes. You can easily organize and label your crystals so that you know which ones you have. Some people prefer to store them by color. I personally have mine listed alphabetically since I find it easier. After all, when you have crystals that look similar, like the black stones, it can be hard to remember which is which. With these storage boxes you can make them padded if you choose, but it is not necessary. I bought batting (thin cotton sheets you’d use in making a quilt blanket) and then simply hot glued it into one of the boxes. You can wrap delicate crystals in a natural cloth like cotton or silk.

I know others who have their crystals in individual baggies with the name of the crystal either inside the bag or marked somehow on the outside. This works too. However, I feel it kind of suffocates the poor crystals and it doesn’t make it very easy to quickly grab the crystal you are looking for.

You can have your tumbled crystals in a bowl in a room or perhaps crystals on shelves. That is all fine too! I highly recommend you first know what the crystals are before doing this, though. You wouldn’t want to mix a bunch of crystals together and then later forget which crystals you have in the bowl. You can put a little piece of paper underneath crystals you might not remember their names. Believe it or not, even I still do this from time to time. It help! 🙂

I’m often asked if you can store your crystals together. Yes, absolutely! As I mentioned, I keep mine together. The only time you really need to be careful is if you have raw/rough crystals, especially around softer ones like Selenite which can easily be scratched. Crystals that can be easily scratched or pieces can be broken off should be kept separately for their safety. The Healing Crystals Metaphysical Crystal Directory lists the MOH’s hardness level for different crystals. Geology.com has an excellent page to give you more information on the MOH’s hardness scale. It includes the hardness levels of many common crystals.

Can I carry multiple crystals? Do crystals cancel each other out? Or are there any that shouldn't be together?

You will find varying answers on this. In some sources I have read that you can carry multiple crystals and the crystals you need at that time are the ones that will work with you. The others will simply be there until you need their help. On the flip side, one of my teachers recommends that you work with no more than 3 crystals at a time or it could cause “crystal chaos”. Each crystal has their own energetic properties and working with too many crystals can cause them to lose focus on what you are working on. It would be like if 1 person talks, you can understand them clearly. If 3 people talk at once you can still somewhat understand them, but it’s not as clear. If multiple people start talking at once, you can no longer understand what everyone is saying. This would be the idea of “crystal chaos”. When it comes down to it, follow your intuition as to what you feel works best for you and your friend.

I personally in the middle of these 2 beliefs. I like to combine multiple crystals for a common purpose. For example, when I am doing a distance healing session I wear Healer’s Gold bracelets (for amplifying the healing and protection), Black Tourmaline (protection), Labradorite (protection, strengthening my aura, and psychic abilities), and Amethyst (protection and psychic abilities). When working on specific ailments or problems I try to focus on only 1 problem at a time, but no more than 3 at one time. I feel if you are trying to work on too much at one it can makes it hard to focus those different energies and intentions. Remember that intention plays a big part of crystal healing. You do not want to have too many things going at once or you lose that focus. I feel it is best to work on 1 or 2 problems and then move on to the next. Although remember to come back and give that first problem a little touch up every now and then as you feel it is needed.

I do not feel that crystals lose their effectiveness, especially if you are working with ones that have a common goal. However, there are exceptions to this. An example would be carrying Blue Lace Agate to help you calm down and carrying the very active Carnelian. Their energies would cancel each other out. They have opposite energies. Sometimes these opposite energies can work to your advantage, though. Moldavite is a very high vibrational crystal that can leave you flying in the ethers. Working with the grounding energies of Black Tourmaline will help you to stay grounded while working with those high vibrations of Moldavite. The key is to choose crystals that will resonate well together and work with each other for a common goal.

My teacher Hibiscus Moon has a brief video answering the question: “Are there any crystals and stones that should not be put together or in the same room because they negate each other or it’s too much power in one room?“

How do I cleanse my crystals? What about charging and programming?

I have an entire article dedicated to cleansing, programming, and charging crystals. I will briefly go over the points here, but I highly recommend you check out the full article for more in depth information.

When you first bring a crystal home it is a good idea to give it an energetic cleansing. You have no idea what that crystal has been through and what energies it might have picked up along the way. Think of it this way… you are helping your crystal to feel its best and be ready to work with you. It is not required, but it is recommended. Your crystal will still work with you regardless if you cleanse it or not.

There are many methods to energetically cleansing crystals. I am often asked what is the best way to cleanse a specific crystal. My #1 top recommended method for ALL crystals is sound. This method is the easiest, quickest, safe for all crystals, and you can do it literally any time. This includes tuning forks, singing bowls, tingshas, etc. My second top recommendation is putting them out in the Full Moon light. Again, there always seems to pop up a bunch of questions like, “What it it’s cloudy?” or “Can I put them on my window ledge?” I answer these questions and many more in my article, Cleansing Crystals with the Full Moon.

Running your crystals under water, leaving them in salt water, or putting them in the sunlight are methods that are often suggested. I personally shy away from these methods. These methods can damage certain crystals (see the cleansing article). Some crystals, like Amethyst, will fade if left in sunlight. A little sun (hour or so) is ok, but over time it can fade your crystal. Water can damage the shine on crystals like Malachite and Selenite.

Naisha Ahsian (co-author of The Book of Stones) has a very interesting article about cleansing/clearing crystals and why she no longer feels charging crystals in necessary. I personally agree with her information and highly recommend checking it out. https://crystalfaqs.com/2015/05/11/stop-charging-your-crystals-clear-them-instead

How do I work with my crystals?

There are many ways that you can work with crystals. The most beneficial when you are working with crystals for healing purposes is to have them within your energy field (aura). You can carry them in your pocket or, ladies, you can even put them in your bra. They can be worn as jewelry. You can place them in your environment to promote the desired energy in that particular room.

When you are working on a specific chakra, try to have the crystal as close to that chakra as possible. For example, pendants work well for the Throat or Heart chakras. Put it in your pocket for the Sacral or Root chakras. Hold the crystal to the site of pain as needed. You can even sleep with them under your pillow. (Caution: Some crystals can make it hard for you to fall asleep such as crystals to increase your energy.) Meditate with your crystals by holding them in your hand or placing them on your Third Eye or Heart chakras. You can even make gem elixirs with your crystals. How you work with the crystal will depend upon your needs. As always… follow your intuition and you’ll find what is right for you!

Can I find you anywhere else on the web?

Yes! I am on most social media networks.

MAIN SHOP: Stitches and Stones KC
ETSY SHOP: Etsy (Crystal Guidance)

• Patreon (Includes free articles and healing sessions.)
• Facebook page Crystal Guidance
• Facebook group Crystal Guidance Updates
• Facebook group Crystal Guidance and Healing Tribe (private subscription group)
• Facebook group Crystal Knowledge (I’m an admin for this group.)
• Facebook page Stitches and Stones KC (my shop’s official FB page)
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My Mentoring and Healing Group: I have a private Facebook group, Crystal Guidance and Healing Tribe, that offers a full chakra healing session every month and weekly readings for all members. For those who want to connect more with me and my knowledge, this group is for you.

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