Ultimate guide to crystals and stones - Uma Silbey 2016
Sending and Receiving Energy
Basics of Quartz Crystal Energy Work
Once we can feel and/or intuitively sense energy or vibration, we can use our focused intention—amplified by the quartz crystal—coupled with one of the techniques to actually send this energy outward for healing or other purposes. Likewise, we can use our quartz crystals to help receive energy in much the same way, using them to help us increase our sensitivity in any way we need in order to receive. This is one of the fundamentals of crystal and stone work. There is no limit to where energy can be sent and from where it can be received. We can send energy to a person or an area in their body that we are helping to heal. Energy can be sent to influence thoughts or emotions. We can send to an individual, a group of people, to a town, a country, and even to the entire planet. We can send energy to plants, animals, and even to other rocks.
Sending Energy
Energy is sent as vibration. Since everything is essentially vibratory in nature, it means that we can send energy as sound, light, color, imagery, sight, or feeling. We can also send energy through pure intention. No matter in which form we send it, the most important thing is that we use one-pointed, focused, attention. The more focused we can be, the more successful we will be at sending energy. It is much like water flowing from a hose. To get water to spray with precision and strength for a long distance, we have to restrict its flow with our thumb. The scattered mind is like the water that just flows out from the hose normally, most of the time landing in the general area that we want it to. In contrast, with the focused mind, it’s like holding our thumb over the end of the hose so the water flow has strength and direction, landing in only one spot.
For most of us, the resting mind is filled with endless thoughts. Unfocused, the thoughts seamlessly follow one after another, jumping from one topic to another, unorganized and restless. There is no particular intention that underlies this flow of thoughts, rather, they are allowed to flow unimpeded. A focused mind, in contrast, holds only one thought or train of thought at a time and is supported by strong, unwavering intention. Holding one thought, no other thoughts are allowed to interrupt. The more focus we are able to achieve, the stronger the energy projection will be.
As explained earlier, the flow of energy from a quartz crystal is in through its base and out through its tip. When we are sending energy, it feels like the energy flow is a straight beam, but reflecting the internal atomic structure and growth of the quartz crystal, the outward energy actually flows in a spiral motion. Generally speaking, the narrower and more wand-like the crystal, the more precise the energy flow will be. The wider or larger diameter the crystal is, the wider the energy flow will be. If a crystal tip is rounded, the energy flow outward will also be wider. When working with a group of people, or over a large area of the body, a wider tip is most useful. When we are sending energy to one precise spot on the body or anyplace else, it is best for us to use a skinny, narrow-tipped crystal. If sending an entire image or several thoughts, we should use a larger crystal. Sending just one thought might require that we use a very narrow wand crystal. Of course, as with all crystal and stone work, these are generalities. With enough focus we can still send a laser beam of energy; it is just easier with a wand crystal.
The flow of energy from a quartz crystal is in through its base and out through its tip. In general, the narrower and more wand-like the crystal, the more precise the energy flow will be. Wand crystals are used for sending out energy to a specific location that is especially useful in healing work and thought projection.
There are several methods to send energy out from a quartz crystal. The hands-on method is to first pick up a quartz crystal with our right hand with the point facing outward from our body. (The right hand is generally the sending hand, while the left hand is the energizer or receiving hand.) To both amplify the sending crystal and help focus our thoughts, it is helpful to hold another quartz crystal in our left hand with the point facing towards our body. The crystal in our left hand can be used to empower our focus or energize our sending, or we can use it to pull in energy that we will then send out.
If I am working to heal someone, for example, I might visualize the crystal in my left hand pulling in violet light from the higher planes, which I then send out through my right hand crystal into a specific area in the person’s body. I might use the crystal in my left hand to energize my body while I do the work with my right hand and crystal. Whether a thought, image, or anything else needed, there is no limit to what can be pulled in with the left-handed crystal.
Once we have the crystals in our hands, we need to center ourselves in the present, and then envision what we want to send. Again, it may be an image, a feeling, or anything else that we choose. While retaining our focus on what we’re sending, we first take a long, deep inhale, and then as we exhale, imagine our breath flowing through the right-handed crystal, carrying what we are sending outward, and seeing it reach our goal. In other words, it is best to not only see the energy going out, but also to see it reaching its mark.
There is no particular length of time that is more effective than another. Very often, the longer we keep sending energy, the more effective it will be. However, the clarity of our focus is more important than the length of our focus. If we hold our attention so that it doesn’t wander to any other competing thoughts or images while we are sending energy, our results will be better, even if our working time is much shorter. With enough focus, we can send only once and have it be successful.
When it is time to stop, put both crystals down and clear them. Rewrap the crystals that were wrapped prior to this. Put both palms on the ground and imagine any negative energy flowing out from them into the earth where it is positively transmuted.
If we are doing multiple sendings, we don’t necessarily need to put our crystals down between each one. However, it is necessary that we clear our crystals between each sending. I generally have some form of smoke continually going while I do multiple sendings, usually from burning sage in an abalone shell. Then when I am done, I clear myself, my client, the room or immediate environment, and the crystals.
Here are two practices that can be done to learn about and improve our sending techniques.
SENDING A THOUGHT WITH A QUARTZ CRYSTAL
1. Choose two quartz crystals that are more or less the same size and clarity. Pick up one in your right hand with the tip pointing out away from your body. Pick up the other in your left hand and hold it so the tip points in towards your body.
2. Shift your awareness to the crystals and become aware of how they feel in your hands.
3. Now, think of a thought that you would like to send to someone. Continue to focus on this thought until it is the only thing in your mind. (The more you do this technique, the more your ability to focus your mind will increase.)
4. While retaining the focus on the thought, breathe in gently, and then with your exhale, visualize your thought traveling with the breath through the crystal, where it is amplified, and then to the person that you are sending it to. Visualize the person in your mind’s eye and see the thought arriving to their mind.
5. When you feel like you have done this enough, take another deep breath, exhale to relax, and at the same time imagine any negativity you may have picked up in this process leaving with your breath to flow into the earth, where it becomes its positive opposite.
6. Clear yourself, your crystals, and your environment.
A variation of this practice is to do it with two people who take turns sending a thought to each other. While one sends the thought, the other opens to receive it, and vice versa. Once a thought is sent to the other person, see if they can tell you what the thought is. (If they say the opposite of the thought, rather than being wrong, it shows that the message has been successfully sent, though interpreted incorrectly.) In this way each person can improve both their sending and receiving techniques.
Receiving Energy
In order to receive energy, we must be open and receptive, for any resistance will build a wall that holds us apart from what we are trying to receive. To be open, we need to let go of any expectancies, hopes, or fears and just allow for whatever may come. (Sometimes it works well to also surround ourselves in a golden aura of protection, envisioning that any negativity is turned away to flow into the earth, where it is transformed to positivity.) It is especially important to keep an open mind, or a mind of not knowing, at least at the time that energy of any form is being sent to us.
When we are receiving, our arms and legs shouldn’t be crossed, and we should sit or stand upright with our spines straight. Our head should be facing straight ahead while our chin remains level. We can hold a quartz crystal in our left hand, palm upward, with the point facing our body, or a crystal in each hand, palms up, both points facing our body. If we are receiving energy in our hands, it is especially good to first sensitize our hands using the breath method described earlier. It is important to envision that the crystals are receiving whatever is being sent to us, then amplifying the reception, helping to make it even more clear to us what is being sent.
When receiving, it is important to pay attention to whatever seems to change within us, for messages can come in many forms. For example, we may feel a change in temperature, see a vision in our mind’s eye, or hear sounds within. All of these signify something. Sometimes what we receive may need meditation or contemplation in order to be interpreted. Other times it is obvious.
Since crystals naturally attract and store energy from what is around them, they are all receptors. Sometimes we may designate one or more of our crystals to be used only as receptors and charge them energetically to be more highly attuned to receive one or more types of information, yet they all can both passively and actively receive, store, and project energy. If we have designated special receptor crystals, it is a good idea to keep them cleared and covered between receiving sessions.
Vibrational Volleyball
A South American shaman used to play a game of “vibrational volleyball” with a group of about a dozen of us circled around the outer edges of a room. We could clearly feel the vibrational “ball” that we tossed through the air from one person to another, even though it was traveling from about twelve or fifteen feet away from us. At first we had to toss the energy ball very slowly and with great concentration. After doing this for some time, we were tossing the very obvious energy ball around very quickly because the sensation was so strong. Not only is it fun to pass energy around like this, it also helps build our sensitivity.
The following practice will help us be able to pass vibration, or energy, from person to person. Before starting this practice, both people should have two clear quartz crystals in a nearby place where they can be set down during this practice without damaging them and with minimal disruption to the practice. This practice can be done with more than just two people, as long as there is an even numbers of people so everyone has a partner. Try doing this with lots of people and playing vibrational volleyball. Not only does this develop sensitivity, it’s also fun.
VIBRATIONAL ENERGY PRACTICE FOR PARTNERS
1. First, face your partner, standing close enough so that your palms can touch. While looking into each other’s eyes, with each inhale feel as if you are receiving your partner’s breath enter through your heart center in the middle of your chest. Then, with each exhale feel as though your breath flows out through your heart center and into your partner’s heart center. Continue this breathing pattern while looking into each other’s eyes for at least a minute or until you feel connected.
2. Now, both partners will shift their focus to begin the crystal and breath sensitization practice on one hand, and then the other. When sensitized, pick up both crystals, one in each hand, without dropping your focus.
3. Still holding your crystals, hold your palms about three inches away from your partner’s until you feel or sense the energy between them. You may feel this as buoyancy, a slight pressure, a breeze, or a buzzing between your two palms.
4. Once you feel the energetic connection between your palms, slowly move them apart from each other without losing the energy connection. See how far you can move apart and still feel the connection.
5. Once you have experimented with this distance apart, slowly return to your starting positions without losing your concentration. Put the crystals down so they’re back in their original position.
6. Now, hold your palms facing each other again, this time without holding any crystals, and repeat the above steps. See if you can feel the vibratory connection between each other’s palms. Once you do, slowly move apart while still trying to sense the connection between you two.
7. If you like, you can repeat this process, both with and without your crystals, each time strengthening your connection.
8. When you are through, be sure to clear yourself, the environment, and your crystals.