To Choose a Crystal, Trust Yourself!

It can seem like a massive undertaking to figure out how to choose a crystal, when there is such an abundance of choice. Although it can be helpful to have a system, or prior knowledge for selecting your stones, it’s not necessary. Your spirit/subconscious will guide you to the stone you need.

Try not to worry about the stone that you logically think is the right crystal for you. People are drawn to all different sorts of crystals in our shop. It would surprise you to see how varied our customers’ selections are. It’s not about the right stone – it’s about the right stone for each person, in that moment. It’s about resonance. Whether it’s their appearance, how it feels in your hand, or just that little imagined voice in your head saying “Take me home with you,” what you purchase should be something that jumps out at you in some way.

Are you Feeling It?

Take a deep breath and remember to be receptive. Asking for and allowing information to come through to help you on your path will assist you in clarifying which stones that will have the most meaning and positive effect for you at this time. Do your best to stay out of your head, and do what feels right for you.

Remember that there are many different ways of sensing and perceiving things, and no way is wrong! Whether they just feel like a rock in your hand, or hot, or feel like wind, or you hear voices or sounds, or feel or see or taste things, or you get an inner sense of knowing… There’s a million different ways and combinations of sensations that you might receive to get a “signal” from yourself. Do your best to pay attention, and know that even if you don’t pick up on any signal at all, you’re not broken. That’s totally normal, and with some people it may take awhile before those channels open (it took me two years before they ever felt like anything more than just a rock – and a lot of them still feel this way to me). Trust the process, and trust yourself.

If You Feel Overwhelmed…

It can feel overwhelming trying to find exactly the right crystal to suit your needs – especially when your body may be adjusting to the energies of the many different stones within a crystal shop. If you are feeling overwhelmed, try a rooting or grounding practice, or have an associate lend you a piece of Black Tourmaline and Satin Spar or Selenite to help draw off excess energies and recenter your energy field. Once you are feeling more like yourself, you can begin re-engaging with other crystals again.

Intuition / First Sight

Typically, when you first see a large number of crystals, one will catch your eye, and continue to draw your attention. This is called “first sight” or “intuition.” Should this happen, this is likely the stone that you need the most in your life. Trust your gut (or eyes, in this case). This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to choose a crystal, because it popped out and chose you!

If you are overwhelmed by choices, or forgot which crystal first grabbed you, try standing quietly for a few moments with your eyes closed, and remember the reason you needed to purchase a crystal.

When you open your eyes choose the crystal you feel most drawn to. This is the stone for you.

When buying online, it’s a different story, because you can’t touch the stones. Use your intuition. If you see a crystal that excites you, you have a powerful urge to touch or feel it, or you have the strong feeling like you need it, then you probably do. This is your intuition guiding you to the crystal you need.

Sensory Feelings

Depending on your personal types of sensitivities, feeling a crystal’s energy can be a good way to know whether its right. Hold the stone in your hand, and clear your mind. Allow the crystal to communicate with you. Sometimes it may come through as a feeling, a tingling, sensations of wind, or more jarring physical feelings. Other times it can come through as sound, taste, or an inner knowing. And other times, it can feel like nothing at all. Everyone experiences crystals differently, and there’s no right way. 

Speaking for myself, there are only a few crystals that I get a physical sensation from when I hold them. Many feel like nothing at all. A few have made me nauseous. Mostly, it’s an inner knowing, or sometimes, when I ask a question, I will get a visual image of a crystal in my mind. Again, everyone is different, so trust your senses and what you’re experiencing, and listen carefully, because sometimes it can be quiet.

Generally a crystal that will be beneficial to you will feel right, even though you may not be able to describe the sensations (physical or not) that it creates.

Using Books and Resources

One way to choose a crystal is by their crystal healing properties. You can do searches online to find the crystals which will benefit you in your current situation, or use a book. The authors that Crystallography Gems suggest for crystal healing properties are: Melody, Judy Hall, and Philip Permutt. 

I found that when I used to go crystal shopping (before I had a whole shop), I’d go in with a big list of crystals based on the things I was working on in my life at that time. When I would leave, I’d be upset at first, because I ended up with a completely different set of crystals than the ones on my list. I chose those crystals because they “felt right.” Later on, when I would look them up, I would find, unfailingly, that the crystal healing properties of what I had chosen were more effective for healing the root cause of my problems than the stones I had on my list. So no matter what you think you know, understand that your intuition and heart will be doing their best to guide you when you choose a crystal.

That said, doing your research can still lead you to crystals that will bring you a great deal of healing, and it can be an amazing way to expand your knowledge, as well.

PENDULUM DOWSING

Using a pendulum is a simple way to access answers from your subconscious, using simple “yes” or “no” questions.

To use a pendulum, I pick one using intuition, cleanse it with breath or smoke (but you can use any method you prefer to cleanse your crystal), and ask for my guides to come through and bring me information for my highest good. We always suggest starting with cleansing and asking for direct guidance, as it helps the messages come through more clearly, and ensures that no errant entities decide to hop in and use the pendulum to speak.

Hold the pendulum still, and tell it, “show me a yes.” Note the direction it moves.

Then, “show me a no.” Again, note the direction. It might be circles, left and right, up and down, a dead stop, a slight wiggle. Whatever it is, and however faint, notice what’s happening with it.

To find out whether a crystal will be useful in your healing, hold the pendulum above a particular crystal. Ask it whether that crystal will be beneficial for you. You can also ask without holding it over the crystal, but make sure you’re being as specific as possible. The more specific and succinct your question is, the more accurate of an answer you’ll get. 

By noting the direction of the pendulum’s swing, you are able to interpret the answers, and get a little “out of body” help in choosing a crystal.