Chakras
The Ideal Starting Crystals For Beginners
Crystals and gemstones are a popular resource in modern metaphysical practices, mysticism, and alternative spirituality. It can be used in various powerful ways, including healing, energy protection, meditation, prayer, manifesting, divination, psychic reading, and channeling.
Crystals are versatile and useful in enhancing one’s spiritual practice or energy work, but there are so many to choose from that it can difficult to know where to start.
Three of my favorite crystals that I recommend for beginners to get started with are amethyst, rose quartz and black tourmaline. These three crystals are affordable and easy to find, so they are ideal to start with if you wish to explore using crystals to expand your spiritual practice.
Amethyst
Amethyst is the ideal stone to start with because it has a gentle energy that almost anyone can tolerate without being overwhelmed by its influence. It is a fantastic stone to help you get in touch with your intuition and find your calm center. Amethyst’s calming energy especially enhances meditation and dreamwork.
Amethyst is associated with the crown chakra. It heightens our spiritual and personal awareness, which in turn helps us to self-reflect and evaluate more honestly where we need to make adjustments in our beliefs, behavior, and perspectives. Amethyst thus supports us in maintaining clarity in our self-reflection, which is a vital first step in a spiritual journey of higher consciousness and personal enlightenment.
Simple Energy Work To Balance The Elements
The ancients believed that the Universe is composed of five elements, namely Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit (Ether). These classical elements are an important theme in Ancient Greek, Indian and Japanese philosophy, Hermeticism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Medieval Alchemy and Western Astrology.
The elements are therefore also a key aspect of various ancient healing practices and metaphysical traditions. Traditional Chinese Medicine in particular stresses the important role of the elements in healing. Working with the elements is believed to create and maintain energetic harmony and balance which is essential to good health and holistic well-being.
The classical elements are also a key component in Neo-Pagan, Wiccan and Druid teachings and practices. When casting a protective circle in a ritual, for example, the practitioner traditionally calls the four cardinal directions or ‘the four corners’ (North, East, South and West), along with the corresponding elements for each.
The five elements are essentially energies. Energy can be experienced in different ways, however, when the elements are aligned within us, we tend to be able to better handle imbalance and adversity in the outer world.
The energetic harmony of the elements within us can easily get ‘out of whack’ and become imbalanced or blocked due to everyday life events and circumstances, but with increased self-awareness and a few simple self-care habits, you’d be surprised how easily your natural state of energy balance will come back into alignment.
The Mystical Power Of Amethyst Crystal
The calming and spiritually protective amethyst has a mystical energy about it, and the beautiful coloring makes this purple quartz even more exceptional. Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. It is formed in the presence of manganese and is found in Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, Madagascar and India.
Just holding a piece of Amethyst helps raise your vibration, putting you into a calmer and accepting frame of mind. It is believed that its very essence heals on the metaphysical and physical levels of our being.
Experts in crystal healing teach that amethyst crystals are the foremost stones of the violet flame. The use of the violet flame which emanates from this exquisite stone is overseen by the ascended master St. Germain. The violet flame helps transmute negative energies in the body and creates harmony. Wearing amethyst jewelry is a powerful way to absorb the benefits of this magical stone.
In many cultures, a large number of miraculous powers are attributed to amethyst, and it has been said to bring victory in war and in hunting, to drive out evil spirits, to boost the intellect, and even to protect crops against pests, particularly locusts. It is not unusual to see amethyst sewn into the special robes of priests and nobility.
The origin of its name is Greek and means ‘prevention from drunkenness’. It is said to help overcome any addictive compulsive disorders including alcoholism, overeating and other addictions. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and drank wine from amethyst cups to protect them from intoxication. For myself, as a recovering addict, this crystal is a ‘have-to-have’ assistant in my collection of crystals!
A Rainbow Of Crystals
Few metaphysical tools are as universal as crystals and stones, which are used in cultures all over the world. The color of each stone also carries certain traditional meanings and universal symbolism.
Red is a powerful shade with associations of love, war, fire, sex appeal, and blood. It is also a masculine color. Use stones such as ruby, red jasper, or garnet when you need extra protection or energy.
Orange is also linked to warmth and is thought to increase appetite and vitality. Try orange gems for self-esteem and creativity. Carnelian and calcite are both orange shades.
Yellow is almost always a symbol of happiness, optimism, and intellect. If you need clarity and relief from burnout, pick up a yellow stone like amber, citrine or lemon quartz.
Green, not surprisingly, is the color of nature, growth, and rebirth. It is perhaps the best all-purpose magical color. It can also be used to attract abundance or wealth. There are many popular green stones, among them jade, agate, and peridot.
Blue, the most calming color, was revered in many ancient cultures. Today it is connected to artistic and psychic talents. Use stones such as lapis lazuli or aventurine if you’re in need of some inner peace, or sleep.
Purple was once associated with royalty; it is now a color of spiritual fulfillment and magic. Use it to stimulate your creativity or remove impediments. Amethyst is a popular and widely available purple stone.
Chakra Clearing Using Stones
Clients often want to know what methods I use in my psychic readings. With the assistance of my spirit guides I usually pick up the energy around the person I am reading for. Sometimes names or events can come in, depend on what my guides are telling me. I also use meditation and stones to connect and keep my chakras open to receive message from the spirit world.
From a very young age I have been collecting crystals and gemstones to help keep my chakras clear and improve energy flow around me. Keeping your chakra system open and your energy field grounded is very important to obtain accurate inuitive information from your inner guidance system.
Speaking to my clients I aslo tend to find that people who do meditation and take care of their spiritual well-being often have happier lives and less stress. It also contributes to a longer life span.
To keep your seven chakras open I recommend the use of some of the following gemstones and crystals.
The Root Chakra is the base and grounds the spirit force that is in your body. A strong, clear base chakra ensures the ability to work more lovingly on the physical planes. Recommended stones: Red Garnet, Smoky Quartz.
The Sacral Charka is a conduit for creative utilization of forces leading into all aspects of the inner being and high soul procreation. It direct the self towards devotion. Recommended stones: Tiger Eye, Orange Calcite.
The Solar Plexus Charka expresses our personal power and helps us to manifest our goals. Recommended stones: Topaz Citrine
Practical Ways To Cleanse And Protect Your Energy
We often blame other people or circumstances for feeling tired, burdened, overwhelmed, or depressed, while in truth it is due to our own choices and actions.
When we do not take care to maintain a raised energy vibration, lower or ‘dense’ energies begin to affect us in a negative way. It typically manifests as general physical and emotional exhaustion, or feeling drained. There may also be recurring episodes of ‘bad luck.’
How do we cause this lowered energy frequency? The main cause is negative thoughts and limiting, false beliefs. Our daily reality experience is the result of our thoughts and beliefs. We are personally responsible for the vibes we exchange with our surroundings and the rest of the world.
No matter what belief system or religion you subscribe to, energy protection is always necessary. Every day we are exposed to etheric energies imbued with despair, conflict, hatred, and anger, but nothing can get into our energy field if we do not allow it to enter. So, always protect yourself and shield your energy.
True spiritual protection and energy shielding is however never about fear, insecurity, or paranoia, nor is it about focusing on the negative. On the contrary, it is a way to keep our lives open to the blessings available to us every day. By protecting our energy, we make sure that we are open to every good thing that moves around us and to every soul that wants to vibrate in a key of joy with us.
There are many spiritual and metaphysical practices for achieving and maintaining energetic security and a raised vibration, such as prayer, meditation, visualization, cleansing rituals, and invoking guides, saints, or a particular deity. The following practices are also useful to incorporate in your everyday lifestyle.
Simple Energy Cleansing Techniques
Everything in the universe is energy – so are you. In addition to our physical body, we also have a subtle energy body consisting of various layers, including the aura or energy field, the chakras or energy centers, and various smaller energy channels and points.
To be holistically healthy and happy it is therefore important to not only take care of the physical body (which is undoubtedly also very important and unfortunately too often neglected), but also the energy body. Our energy body can become unbalanced and even dis-eased with toxic patterns, old blockages, repressed negative emotions and deep energy imprints of trauma. It is vital for our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being to regularly cleanse and maintain our energy body.
In addition, as spiritual beings in humans form we are all energetically connected to each other and therefore we are affected daily by the energies of others. And the truth is that many people in our everyday environment have unhealthy and even toxic energy bodies that are not exactly emanating good, positive vibrations.
For example, you are in a happy, energized mood when you visit relatives or friends, and although everyone in the room outwardly appears to be doing perfectly fine, you soon begin to feel energetically drained or experience unusual emotions, such as suddenly feeling depressed, anxious or angry. This may well be due to someone else’s energy frequency present in the room. Energy never lies, even when we pretend or try to hide it.
The more empathic and highly sensitive we are, the more likely it is that we will intensely feel these environmental energies. A regular energy cleansing is vital to neutralize and shield us from external toxic vibes. I am such a person myself, and I have learned the hard way how destructive it can be when I neglect my energetic self-care and spiritual cleansing.