Of course, these aren't the same kind of blunt vibrations you feel when you touch a piece of running machinery. The vibrations of a crystal are much more subtle than that, and it's not generally something you can feel with your fingertips. Once you have worked with crystals for a while, you can often start to feel their vibrations on a more profound or psychic level.

The Nature of Crystals

Like with all other things in nature, there is energy inside a crystal. If you want to harness that, you need to know what each type of crystal holds.

Get to know your stones before doing a lot of work with them as they resonate differently from one person to the next. A little fine-tuning can be necessary to get the right stones for your purpose.

Using and Caring for Crystals

There isn't too much involved in using a crystal but you can learn a few techniques to help bring their energy into your life a little better.

Crystals are much like a battery, and they can be drained after too much active use. They can be recharged though, which is why they are such a powerful tool for natural energy work. There are a few different ways to do this:

You can leave your stones out during a night of the full moon, where the moon's light can fall on them. Outdoors is best but a windowsill would do.

When you store your crystals, you should keep them secure and a little hidden away. They can easily pick up stray energy or influences from people or even other objects, so a closed box or bag is a better idea than just having them out on a shelf. If you just can't resist having them out where you can see them (some are just too beautiful to hide away), then plan on giving them a recharge and a cleanse on a regular basis.

There are many ways to use your crystals, and it can depend on your personal spiritual practices. In many instances, just having a crystal with you can have a strong effect on your life. A small charm bag with stones, or a piece of jewelry would work just fine.

During Meditation

You can also use stones to help you with meditation practices, and then you usually take a little more of an active approach with your crystals.

Having certain crystals sit on power points of the body can help open up your inner eye, or even interact with your chakras. A simple example would be to have a piece of moonstone resting on your forehead during meditation to help open up your mind.

Working with your chakras can be a little more complicated since there are at least 7 different energy points involved. For this, it's common to use stones of a certain color to match the color associated with each chakra, such as a deep red carnelian for the sacral chakra or indigo sodalite for the throat chakra. The energy of the stones can open up the chakras and help balance the energy flow through your body.

Crystal Essences

For a little different approach, you can experiment with crystal essences too. They are sometimes called gem waters, or gem elixirs and it is a technique where you can consume the energy of a crystal into your body.

These liquids can be purchased, or you can make your own. The process for making your own essences is too complicated to outline here but it generally involves soaking a clean crystal in pure water and then preserving the liquid with alcohol. The idea is that the water absorbs the energy of the crystal, which can then be used by you. A few drops on the tongue through the day is the usual method of dosing, and such essences are used for healing or inner energy work.

So whether you are just carrying stones for a little added influence in your life, or doing more in-depth meditations with them, you'll find that the power of a crystal can be a vital tool in your personal growth.