One of the most common questions I am asked by my clients, students and followers is “how can I work with crystals?”. Often people are attracted by their beauty but are a little overwhelmed about how to work with them and confused about what they actually do. For this reason I am delighted in this second edition of my Soul Lover Interview Series to get down to crystal 101 basics and cover all the common questions that will empower you to start working with these powerful treasures.

I was blessed along my awakening journey to have the wonderful Diane Collett from Angelic Presence as one of my first teachers and guides. Before meeting Diane I was in a dark place in my life, struggling with depression & anxiety and overall feeling very lost. The universe lead me to her weekly meditation classes and thus my journey began. Diane opened up the door to the sacred and provided answers to so many questions I had been seeking for many years. I learnt how to meditate by attending Diane’s classes for over five years. With her gentle, nurturing and wise support I healed & began to blossom. It was Diane who highly encouraged me to become a meditation teacher myself, and I was her inaugural student through her Meditation Teacher Training Certificate (highly recommended!!).

It was during the weekly meditation classes that Diane introduced me to the world of crystals. I was fascinated and adored learning all about them and building my own personal collection. Diane was a wealth of information on how I could work with crystals and how they could support my life. I was delighted when Diane agreed to be interviewed for this series. I feel deeply grateful and blessed to have this beautiful soul in my life as an amazing friend and I am so thrilled to share her wisdom with you all below.

How would you explain to someone who was a total newbie to crystals what they are & why you would want to use them? 

I try to explain in a very simple way that crystals are built out of atoms and form in the earth where they are found and brought to the surface by mining. There are many colours, shapes, sizes and categories of crystals. I tend to encourage each person to explore the history and how they are formed. There is a huge amount of information available about the science of crystals which can be found in many books and on various websites and this is an area that you can delve right into if you choose.

There are so many reasons to start using crystals in your life from being a simple decoration sitting on your hall table to creating an elixir to drink. We are working with the vibration of the crystals and each crystal vibrates to a certain number and has different healing properties to be used for different physical ailments & emotions. A lot of the time we don’t even know why we are attracted to a certain crystal, it seems to be speaking to us from a soul level and this is where I encourage my clients to start, just pick up a crystal and hold it, you may not know why but deep down you will have the answers. So by learning to communicate with your crystals and using them in your daily life they will become so much a part of you. Using crystals is about experiencing the vibrations and how you feel with each crystal you have. Even if you don’t fully believe in crystals the vibrations will be working on a deeper level. Crystals Transforms, transmit, amplifies, focuses and stores energy there are just so many ways to use crystals and children love learning about them too. So start small and choose a crystal like a rose quartz which represents love (we can use a little more love in our lives) and pop it beside your bed, in your water bottle or into your bra and soak in the vibration of love that it shares.

Uses for crystals in your life: Decoration, healing, wearing, balancing, meditation, healing on animals, manifesting, grounding, in the car, elixirs, gaining insight, clearing, protection

How do you use crystals in your daily life?

Crystals are weaved  all through my life, I have them scattered around in my garden, so whenever I sit outside I can see them and the plants love having the crystal energies amongst them. They love being back in nature and the earth and I have a ceramic bird bath in which a beautiful big quartz crystal sits in the centre of the water, the birds love to come to the bath   for drinking, bathing and playing in the water. Crystals are found  in nearly every room in my house and especially in my back room and where I run my workshops and sessions, I wear crystal bracelets & necklaces, I usually have them in my handbag and often drop one in my water bottle to take the vibrational benefits internally. Often you will find one in my bra and I conduct all my healing incorporating crystals into the sessions. I create crystal grids for myself and others and crystals are always a beautiful to give loving friends.

How do you choose what crystals you work with and what is the best way for people to choose a crystal? 

Choosing a crystal is a very personal process, the main ways that I have crystals coming into my life are;

1. Gifts from friends or clients

2. I am buying for a specific purpose or gathering crystals for my healing sessions or workshops.

3. Defiantly the best way to obtain a crystal in your life is for it to choose you. I love nothing better than standing in front of a crystal display and tuning in to the crystals and being drawn to the one that wants to come home with me, it could be a completely opposite crystal to the one I thought I needed but it is always the correct crystal. Another way is to rub your palms together to active the energy points in your hands and to hold them over the crystals and feel the energy of each crystal until have the internal feeling that you are holding your hand over the right one, to check you can also hold the crystal in your hand to feel it’s energy, that will confirm it is the correct choice. Using you inner senses helps with choosing a crystal. Same if you are giving one for a gift, think of the person you are buying for and you will connected with the right crystal for that person.

What is your fav crystals?

There are a couple of favourites that seem to be able to help in most instances,

Rose Quartz (Unconditional Love, Opens The Heart, Romantic, Self-Love)  is my go to crystal, if in doubt Rose quartz it.  I Always give out a rose quartz to my clients on their first visit.

Amethyst for Protection, Tranquility, Spirituality.

Citrine for Manifestation, mental clarity, creativity.

Kyanite for Communication, empathy, telepathy, past-life recall, psychic ability.

Hermatite for Grounding, manifestation, focus

My Clear quartz wand

How should we cleanse our crystals and why is this important?

It is important to cleanse your crystals as they absorb a different range of energies that they have been exposed to via handling and if they have been used in a healing by yourself or others this can transfer various energies and emotions. A crystal that is just sitting in a room not being handled or used for healings will need to be cleansed as well as it will have picked up energies and emotions that have been in the room both negative & positive.

All crystals that you have in your house or healing room must be cleansed. Working crystals (ones that are used for healings/grids/meditation and are handled frequently) would need to be cleansed more often that non-working crystals (ones that are sitting on shelves or around the house.) Also it is important to cleanse a crystal after you have purchased it and before you start to use it as it will have absorbed energies & emotions of those that have handled it before you. Don’t forget to also cleanse your jewellery like necklaces, bracelets, anklets & earrings if they have a gemstone.

There are different ways to cleanse crystals;

1. Running Water – if have access to clear clean water such as a creek or river, you can place your crystal in a container and place them in to the water and allow it to run over the crystals for a time. Remember to tied down the container or weigh it down so that it is not carried off. Its important to note that not all crystals can be cleansed in water. If they are porous these should only be cleanse by dry methods.

2. Crystal bed or cluster – placing your crystals on a bed or cluster of crystals or in a crystal cave overnight or for 24-48 hours. I use a crystal cave, amethyst cluster and a citrine bed for cleansing my crystals.  These will cleanse and also reenergise my crystals. Please don’t over load the cave or bed with too many crystals. 

3. Smudging. Using either a smudge stick or incense stick for this method by holding the crystal in the smoke to cleanse it of the stored energies Sage, sandlewood and cedarwood are particularly effective for smudging as when burned they can effectively remove bad and built up energies.

4. Visualisation or thought energy – Simply hold the crystal in your hands or hold your hands above the crystal/s and focus on the crystal and visualise a bright white light surrounding the crystal/s, then a bright white beam of light coming down through the centre of the stone/s and passing all the way through and spreading throughout the crystal removing all the negative stored energy within and see it being flushed out of the crystal into the violet flame sitting beneath with all that bad energy being transmuted into love and  floating out into the universe. Keep the white light within the crystal until you feel that the energy of the stone has become lighter and you are happy that it has been cleansed.

5. The sun & the moon. Placing your crystals, pendulums, jewellery or any object that many contain a crystal outside or even on a window still so that they can take in the energising rays’ of the sun and moon. I usually choose to place my out on the day before a full moon and then not take them back in until the day after the full moon to receive the full effect of the full moon but usually after 24hours of exposure your stones would be cleansed. There are some cautions with this cleansing Aquamarine and amethyst can fade so you may wish to place them outside in a filtered light. Also be careful of very cheeky wildlife such as bird that may be attracted to the beautiful shiny objects. Cleansing via sun and moon not only clears the crystal but reenergises them.

6. The Earth: Bury crystals in to the earth (you may wish to wrap them in a cloth made of natural fibre such as cotton, wool or silk) Leaving them for at least 24hours, I like to leave them for a full cycle of the moon. This will re-energise as well as cleanse negative energies from the stones.  It is important to remember where you have buried your crystals.

I also place many of my bigger natural rough stones out in the garden so that they are connecting with the earth/sun/moon for months at a time and when I need to use them I bring them in, and then place back out to be cleansed and reenergised. I also place crystals in pot plants indoor and out, they love it as they have come from the earth and love the connection.

What does it mean when your crystal breaks or cracks, should you stop using it when this happens?

It depends on how it has broken, if it has shattered then maybe you no longer need that crystal any more, for me I would pick up all the pieces, hold them while meditating, connect to the energy of the crystal and dialogue with it to find out the reason. Often it is that you no longer require the actual crystal in your life anymore and probably would not have stopped wearing or using it, the crystal has taken it out of your hands.  If the crystal breaks in half or a piece beaks off there is no need not to stop using it as it may have just had a small fault line within and over time has expanded to cause the complete separation. You can take the 2 pieces and bury in the earth for a moon cycle to adjust the vibration of both crystals. This will help them to work as 2 separate stones and not 1 fractured stone.

What is a crystal grid and what can they be used for?

A crystal grid is an arrangement of crystal in a geometric pattern for a particular purpose using the Universal life force that we tap into. As with all light work you must have a clear intent of the highest good and not use to cause harm to others. If you have a core belief block around something that you wish to manifest then work on this blocked belief will be require to be undertaken before manifesting with a grid can be accomplished.

I have used crystal grids in my life for approx. 15 years and I love working with them, either as one being placed in the land such as a grid around my property boundary or just around my beautiful roses. In an office to create balance & harmony, creating one to meditate within, using them for manifesting into your life, romance, healing, distant bridging and many other ways. The energy is powerful and gentle they can be left in the physical or energy placed into the universe. Everyone I have taught the grid to have had beautiful and positive feedback about their experiences.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the space in between community? 

2015 will be an exciting year for Angelic Presence. The next Meditation Teachers Certificate course starting will be starting in February. I will be running a two Crystal Workshops; An Introduction to Crystal Communication and also my popular Crystal Grid Workshops. I am also working on a Reducing overwhelm in your life course. My new website will be launched which will have some great meditations and ritual processes to do at home.

To keep in touch with Diane and find out about upcoming workshops, or to work with her 1:1 you can find her here;

Website:  www.angelicpresence.com.au
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/angelicpresence1
Instagram http://instagram.com/diane_angelicpresence
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/diane0612

Did you enjoy this interview? Do you work with crystals – what is your fav? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.

x Sara