Crystals: How to Use Crystals and Their Energy to Enhance Your Life (Hay House Basics) - Judy Hall 2015

First find your crystals
Crystal Foundations

Let’s start our exploration by taking a brief look at the structure of crystals. A crystal is basically a package of energy and minerals in an orderly three-dimensional lattice. Each type of crystal has a unique geometric pattern, with symmetrically arranged plane-faces and a specific chemical composition.

Although crystals might look solid, like everything else in the universe they are actually a few particles vibrating in a great deal of seemingly empty space. The ancients, and most crystal workers today, would argue that this space is filled with divine energy or consciousness, and we’ll be exploring this idea later. For now, let’s look at how modern crystal practitioners understand crystals:

’Crystals remind us of the structures upon which our universe is built. All matter, everything that is physical and solid, owes its existence to the organizing properties of crystals.’

SUE AND SIMON LILLY, HEALING WITH CRYSTALS AND CHAKRA ENERGIES

’Stones emit radiation and, being extremely durable and very permanent… they emit the same information in a very constant way. They could be compared to radio transmitters that constantly broadcast the same programme. Every stone or crystal has its own specific light, or to put it another way, its specific radiation that naturally influences our organisms. If contact is made between a crystal and our bodies, the absorbed light will inevitably be an influence on the ’light concentration’ between the cells and cause certain reactions.’

MICHAEL GIENGER, CRYSTAL POWER, CRYSTAL HEALING

’Are stones alive? Of course we know that, in terms of biology’s definition of life, they are not. Yet crystals grow, they sometimes decay, and, perhaps most importantly, they seem to communicate with us.’

ROBERT SIMMONS, THE BOOK OF STONES

Robert Simmons gives us a glimpse of the mysteries to come. He is reiterating a very old belief that crystals are living beings.

To get the most out of crystals, you need to find those that are truly yours. Each person has a unique energy frequency and the secret to effective crystal working is to find the crystals that respond to you.

Which is the crystal for you?

Everyone who is interested in crystals has had the experience of a crystal ’winking’ at them. You go into a shop or trawl the internet and a crystal catches your eye. This is the one for you. It is not necessarily the biggest, prettiest or priciest. It may be a raw lump, tumbled or faceted. But it is the most potent for you personally.

So, go into a shop and see what calls to you. These eager beings have been longing to work with you. Now is the time. You can also use my Crystal Wisdom Oracle cards, which allow you to feel the energies from a photograph, or the photographs in 101 Power Crystals, or look at the pictures on www.angeladditions.co.uk or any of the other crystal suppliers in the Resources section and see which crystals call to you. You can also dowse (see Exercise: Let your eyes do the choosing), or look at what you already have in your collection. But whatever you do, first open the chakras in your palms and set your root in place.

The palm chakras

There is one simple thing that enables the maximum contact with crystals, and that is opening the energy-sensitive chakras in the centre of your palms. Although these chakras are little known, they are what make healing and feeling crystal energies so potent.

Exercise: Opening the palm chakras

✵ Open and close your hands, forming fists, several times.

✵ Bring your hands together with straight fingers so that the palms touch.

✵ Flex your fingers down and open your hands slightly, then bring them back together again.

✵ Repeat several times. Your palms may start to tingle and it will feel as though a ball of energy is building up between them. This indicates that your palm chakras are opening.

✵ Always open these chakras before choosing or working with a crystal.

Growing your root (shamanic anchor)

The second thing that makes working with crystal energies easier — and helps you to feel secure — is to open the Earth Star chakra, or energy centre, beneath your feet. This chakra helps you to grow a ’root’ that goes deep down into the Earth and grounds your energies. Earth energy travels up this root and healing energy goes down through it, setting up a circuit that helps you channel subtle crystal energy into the physical dimension and makes your crystal work more power-full.

Exercise: Opening the Earth Star chakra

✵ Stand for a few moments with your feet slightly apart, your knees relaxed and somewhat bent and your hands loosely clasped beneath your navel over your sacral chakra.

✵ Picture a dinner-plate-sized vortex of energy spinning beneath your feet.

✵ Consciously make a connection through your hands, across to your hips, down each leg and out through your feet to the vortex below.

✵ Picture the Earth Star vortex opening like a flower to receive the two strands of energy.

✵ As you make the connection, bounce a little to strengthen it.

✵ Visualize the energy cords twining together to make a root that goes deep down into the Earth and anchors itself to the huge iron crystal at the core. This cord is your shamanic anchor. It holds you lightly on the Earth.

✵ Open the Earth Star chakra whenever you work with crystal energies.

What do you want your crystal to do?

One way to start out is to think about what you want your crystal to do for you. Do you want it to enhance your environment? Heal you? Show you the future? These are some of the things you might want from your crystal:

✵ ’To help me to feel safe.’

✵ ’To make me feel good.’

✵ ’To protect me from electromagnetic emanations.’

✵ ’To protect me from geopathic stress.’

If any of the above statements describes what you want your crystal to do, read Part I and then go to Chapter 13 to learn about personal protection and find recommended crystals.

✵ ’To look pretty.’

✵ ’To decorate my room.’

✵ ’To make me and my space feel good.’

If the above statements apply to you, read Part I and then go to chapters 14 and 15 to learn about space clearing and environmental enhancement.

✵ ’To help me relax.’

✵ ’To switch off my mind.’

If the above apply to you, read Part I and then go to Chapter 16.

✵ ’To change how I think and feel.’

✵ ’To enable me to meditate more deeply.’

✵ ’To help me journey into other worlds or dimensions.’

✵ ’To connect to my guardian angels or crystal mentor.’

If any of the above statements describes what you want your crystal to do, read Part I and then go to chapters 12 and 19.

✵ ’To give me guidance.’

✵ ’To enable me to explore my options.’

✵ ’To help me make decisions.’

✵ ’To allow me to contemplate my future.’

If the above apply to you, read Part I and then go to chapters 17, 19 and 20.

✵ ’To help me connect to the mysterious power of crystals.’

✵ ’To show me how to talk to the crystal oversouls.’

✵ ’To allow me to discover more about the magical history of crystals.’

If the above statements apply to you, read Part I and then go to chapters 12, 13, 16, 17, 19 and 20 to explore the legendary properties of crystals and how they can help you to foresee the future, and connect to the mysterious crystal skulls that are said to communicate with humankind.

Letting a crystal find you

Now you’ve identified what you want your crystal to do, try the following exercises to help you choose the right crystal.

Exercise: Exercising your intuition

✵ Walk into a crystal shop and let yourself be pulled in a particular direction rather than thinking about where to go.

✵ See which crystal catches your eye. You will need to take it home and purify it (see Exercise: Cleansing a crystal) before working with it, as crystals pick up the energy of everyone who has handled them.

If you have a crystal collection already, you have exercised your intuition in picking them — or they have selected you. You can exercise your intuition further by choosing which crystal to work with now.

✵ Simply look at your collection with softly focused eyes and see which crystal winks at you.

✵ Alternatively, open your palm chakras and let your fingers intuitively pick a crystal up. Hold it gently to connect to its energies. (It may need purifying and activating, in which case move on to Chapter 2.)

Exercise: The power of touch

✵ Open your palm chakras.

✵ If you already have a selection of crystals, place them on a table. If you are in a shop, stand by the crystal display.

✵ Close your eyes and, if working with your own crystals and they aren’t too delicate, gently move them around.

✵ With your eyes still closed, move your hand over the crystals in a circular motion until one pulls your hand towards it or you feel a tingle in your palm. If nothing happens, try your other hand or purify your crystals (see Exercise: Cleansing a crystal) and then try again.

✵ If you’re in a shop and nothing immediately jumps out at you, open your palm chakras and run your fingers through the tubs of crystals. One will stick to your fingers or feel particularly good. This is your crystal.

✵ If you find you can’t put a crystal down, that’s the one for you.

✵ Keep a note of the crystals that choose you and your immediate insights into how they want to work with you. Other insights will develop later. Write those down too.

Exercise: Choosing in the comfort of your home

The internet is a great tool for crystal selection from the comfort of your home — once your sensitivity is turned on.

✵ Log on to one of the sites in the Resources section or to your favourite crystal site, preferably one that shows you several photographs of the same type of crystal.

✵ Look at the screen with half-closed eyes and run through the pictures until one catches your eye.

✵ Once a crystal has called to you, purchase it.

Exercise: Let your eyes do the choosing

✵ If you have crystal books such as 101 Power Crystals or the Crystal Wisdom Oracle card pack (see Resources), flick through the pictures or let the pages fall open at a particular entry or let a card call to you out of the pack. The illustrations in my 101 Power Crystals and Crystal Wisdom Oracle are particularly useful for this, as the remarkable photographs really capture the energy of the crystals, as do those posted on www.angeladditions.co.uk which were taken by my daughter, Jeni Campbell, of crystals that have been specially attuned by me.

✵ While your eyes are softly focused, ask the crystal to connect more strongly with you so that you sense its energy. Let it speak to you (see chapters 2 and 19).

✵ When you have found your crystal, buy it!

Dowsing

Dowsing is an excellent way to choose crystals. There are two methods, one using a pendulum and the other using your fingers.

Exercise: Finding your pendulum

Pendulums are crafted from a variety of crystals or woods in different sizes and weights. Choose one that interacts well with your energy to make dowsing more productive. Good crystal shops never mind if you try out several before buying.

✵ Put a variety of pendulums on the table in front of you.

✵ Open your palm chakras (see Exercise: Opening the palm chakras).

✵ Let your eyes go loosely out of focus and move from pendulum to pendulum.

✵ When one particularly catches your eye, pick it up and hold it.

✵ Sense how it feels in your hand. Take a moment to attune to it.

✵ Try dowsing with it (see below).

✵ You may like to compare and contrast several pendulums before making your final selection.

Using your pendulum

To use a pendulum you need to establish your ’yes’, ’no’ and ’maybe’. Once you know your ’yes’ and ’no’ indications, hold the pendulum over a crystal and ask, ’Is this the right crystal for me?’ If the answer is a rather half-hearted ’yes’ or ’maybe’, ask, ’Is there a better one?’ If the answer is ’yes’, check out whether it’s another crystal of the same type or whether a different type would be better.

Exercise: Pendulum dowsing — establishing ’yes’ and ’no’

✵ The easiest method is to hold the pendulum loosely with the chain wrapped around your fingers and anchored lightly with your thumb. Leave about a hand’s breadth of chain hanging down. Experiment with what works best for you. Some people simply hold a pendulum between their thumb and forefinger.

✵ Hold the pendulum over your knee and ask, ’Is my name [give your real name]?’ The pendulum will move of its own volition, either circling or swinging from side to side. Note which way it circles or swings, as this is your ’yes’ answer.

✵ Then ask the same question but give a false name. This gives your ’no’ answer — the pendulum will circle or swing in another direction.

✵ If you mix your first name with a false surname, you will get a ’don’t know/maybe’ — which is often a kind of shimmy of the pendulum without much movement.

Finger dowsing

Finger dowsing is a quick and easy alternative to pendulum dowsing. It gives you an instant, strong ’yes’ or ’no’ answer.

Exercise: Finger dowsing

✵ To finger dowse, simply press the forefinger and thumb of one hand together in a loop.

✵ Through the loop, link the forefinger and thumb of the other hand.

✵ As you ask your question, pull gently. If the answer is ’yes’, the loop will hold. If ’no’, your hands will pull apart easily.

How many crystals do I need?

Each crystal has its own unique vibration — its frequency or wavelength. These frequencies range from earthy to extremely high, and some crystals combine both, grounding the energies. A high-vibration crystal isn’t better than an earthy one, it’s simply different. Each type of crystal has a specific task to do.

Finding the appropriate vibration for the work you need a crystal to do helps the crystal to work at optimum efficiency. So, a crystal toolkit of about seven or eight basic crystals with an additional few high-vibration ones will be just right. You might like to purchase The Crystal Healing Pack, which has crystals for each of the chakras (see Chapter 9), and add one or two high-vibration stones of your choice.

SUMMARY

✵ A crystal is a package of energy and minerals in an orderly three-dimensional lattice.

✵ Each type of crystal has a unique geometric pattern.

✵ Each person has a unique energy frequency. To get the most out of crystals you need to find ones that resonate with your energy field.

✵ The best way to choose a crystal is with your intuition or by dowsing.

✵ Look at what you already have in your collection.

✵ First open the chakras in your palms and set your root in place.