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Luinbariel
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 Selecting Your Crystals
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Choosing your Crystals
What follows is my attempt at a guide to choosing your crystals; this guide is intended to be used by any person of any skill level, as a means of selecting the right crystal for you. This is, by no means, the complete guide, nor should it be followed like a religion. As always, it's encouraged that you switch up what feels right for you, and that you explore and keep an open mind. Experiment, and you might be pleasantly surprised!
Research
This is what I personally feel to be the single most important step when looking for crystals; research, research, research! It never hurts to get as much information as you need about a crystal before you go looking, whether you're digging, buying, or bidding.
The internet is a great resource when researching crystals; however make sure that when using the internet, or any other source, you try a few different sources for the same crystal. What I mean by this is to check many different websites or books for information on the same crystal; some sites and books, in my personal experience, give information completely different from what is "generally accepted" as "correct". While these other sites may differ from the "norm", it's important to note that they also may still work for you; it's simply best to get as much information as possible, and to corroborate as much of it as you can before moving on, to get the clearest picture of this crystal's uses as possible.
Where can you get crystals?
There are many different places you can get crystals, and each person is likely to have their own preference. I'm a bit of an amateur rock hound, and I personally find the greatest pleasure in digging them up myself; if you plan on going digging, there are many different places that you might find stones. Some include actual known mines, quarries, buried in your yard, on a gravel road, in a river or lake... just about anywhere there are rocks!
If you plan on looking for stones in nature yourself, it pays to do some research before you go looking. Of course, there are only certain types of stones that will be available naturally in your area, depending on what sort of minerals and other natural phenomenon occur naturally near your location, but learning more about how and where these local types of crystals form might also provide some clues about where specifically to look.
There are, of course, much easier methods of obtaining crystals, which can be as simple as visiting a local market or new age shop. In the past it's been a little tough, at least in my area, to find a good selection (if any selection at all) of crystals and shops that sell them; however, I've noticed a recent increased interest in crystals and their uses, and as such stores have been popping up everywhere. Some local shopping malls even have kiosks dedicated to selling only crystals.
Local markets tend to have more common selections, especially the type that you might find in a shopping mall or kiosk. They cater to the general customer who might not be as deeply interested as some others, and as such they carry crystals that are easier to obtain, generally look prettier, and are cheaper and thus more interesting to an otherwise uneducated party. These types of stones are often stereotypical of the types used for energy work, and are thus more widely recognized. This isn't a problem; the more people that become interested, the better, right?
However, a market flooded with the more common stones and less dedicated sellers can make it much more difficult for you to find some of the rarer or less commonly used crystals. Typically, if you do find a more specialized local market, they tend to have some pretty steep prices for the more obscure types of stones, putting the average user at a bit of a crossroads. Fork out more than top dollar for a rare stone, or find a cheaper alternative?
Fortunately, the internet makes things much MUCH easier for the technologically savvy (or at least literate) buyer. There are plenty of websites dedicated to selling crystals, or, if you're into bargaining, ebay has a great selection and some amazing deals are possible.
Crystals do not have to be purchased or dug up, however. They often come in the form of a gift from a loved one or close friend, or can be happened upon by pure chance; pay attention, these could be chances to find a whole new stone in disguise, especially if they are something you hadn't personally considered or known about before.
Ok, I've found some... now what do I do?
What you do next depends upon a few things; your own beliefs, the place you've found them, and what you are looking for. Let's start with beliefs.
Beliefs come into play most often, in my opinion, in nature; once you've found a stone you like and wish to take, you could be faced with a few issues. If you believe in being nice to mother nature, you may want to ask permission first, or offer a blessing; perhaps you wish to offer something in return for the piece that you're taking. Whatever you do, make sure that you consider your stand upon this issue before taking the stone; feeling guilty about it later, when you can't go back and make amends, is never a good thing. Also, when finding a stone in nature, it's important to consider greed; take only what you need, and make sure that there is something left for nature, too. There is no sense in taking everything you find if you are able to make that choice; if you need all that is available, perhaps consider offering a gift in return, as discussed above.
Now, depending on the location you've found these stones, the steps may be pretty simple; if it's in nature and you're ok with it, dig it up! If it's a gift from a friend, be nice and accept it!  If it's on ebay, make a bid (and don't be afraid to ask the buyer questions).
However, if you're in a store and wish to purchase a crystal, what seems the logical next step of purchasing should indeed come last. Some care should be put into the selection of the stone you wish to purchase, even if you only want one in a selection of one hundred.
Often, stores will have some of the more readily available stones, such as amethyst, in great numbers and varying sizes. This can make choosing one or two a little bit daunting; but don't worry, it's easy enough to find the right crystal for you, and as with anything, there are several ways to do this.
Personally, I recommend the method as offered by the author of my favorite book, which is as follows;
| Melody, author of Love is in the Earth wrote: |
Stand in front of the crystals
Close your eyes and relax
Open your eyes and quickly pick up the first crystal you see
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I recommend that once you've picked up a crystal in this manner, you take care to inspect it carefully before purchasing; however, if you wish to purchase on faith, that is also perfectly acceptable.
If you have chosen a crystal such as amethyst, citrine, or smoky quartz, I would highly recommend either researching natural versions as opposed to lab-created versions before you ever even get to the store, so that you can at least have some knowledge of whether or not the stone in your hands is in fact natural, or has been artificially colored, as is very common for these stones.
At other times, you may find that you are inexplicably drawn to a certain crystal; pay attention to this feeling, as sometimes there is something to it. Some, such as Melody, believe that this crystal has such a draw for you because it has "chosen" you, and wishes to be with you for some purpose. This may be the purpose that you have in mind for the crystal, or even sometimes it may be to function as a carrier or protector of the crystal until the person whom it is intended for comes along. I have had a little experience with this myself, and it can also be a nice experience. :3
It is important to remember that when searching for a crystal in a shop, this crystal has probably already been touched and has received energy from any number of people, including the one who dug it up, the one who packaged it, etc. etc. etc. This can sometimes give a crystal a bit of a crowded or busy feeling, or can imprint a crystal with a little bit of energy that seems a bit strange to you. Don't let this deter you; try cleansing the crystal on the spot (using some cleansing techniques discussed in another article here) to see if you can clear up the energy, or you may want to take the chance and cleanse it at home.
If you want to choose a crystal for a certain purpose, like healing or protection, this is easy to do as well; keep that purpose in mind while choosing a crystal, and keep an openness about you, so that you can sense any responses that the right crystal might be giving you. This method isn't for everyone, and not something I use myself; especially not in a place already crowded with the energies of so many other things, stones included.
Responses from crystals vary from person to person; some may experience nothing, when searching for their specific crystal in this way, while others may see a flash of light, hear a sound, smell something pleasant... any number of responses. That is why it's important to remain open.
This pretty much concludes my guide to choosing your crystals; remember to keep an open mind, and to keep your purpose for that crystal in mind, if you have a specific purpose planned. Sometimes you might find something you didn't even know you were looking for!
Sources: Personal information/experience, "Love is in the Earth" by Melody (reference book).
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 Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:57 pm
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Tsukikage
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ooohh... this is a very intuitive article, that it is. xP I particularly like the method you mentioned of choosing a crystal, close your eyes and open them, picking up the first you see. If yeh don't mind, Liz, I would like to offer a method I have used before?
My mom is wiccan and she had me pick some stones from her collection, and is where I got my first real stone (at least that I chose consciously) that reacted to me very much (it is snowflake obsidian). My first stone was actually Turquoise. But when I chose the Snowflake Obsidian stone, basically I closed my eyes and hovered my left hand over the collection of stones. The left hand tends to be the most sensitive of the two hands when it comes to feeling energy, by the way. This I know from experience. Not sure why, though. o O;;
Anywhuff... basically I let my hand hover over the stones and at some points I would feel a warmth, and others it was cooler. Where my hand was warmest was where the energy from the stones was most intense and were from those stones reacting to me. This does require some sort of concentration, but I find that just letting the energy come to you works best. When I find the spot that works the most, I take each stone in that area and do the same thing with them, again determining which stone(s) react the most to me. I basically did this, and with a process of elimination, I found the one that reacted the most to me. And then if I felt a strong connection to more than one, I would have to get those as well, provided I had the monies. o O;;
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:39 pm
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Luinbariel
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Thats an excellent method! Thank you so much for providing that :3
It makes sense to me... it's pretty darn close to the way I choose cards while reading the tarot, so why not try it with stones as well, right?
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:54 pm
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Tsukikage
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Yup yup. I like your ideas too and next chance I get I will try it. I need more stones... and I don't have nearly enough crystals. O o;; I wanna go dig some stones and/or crystals up, but I am not sure where to look at the moment. I'll look into that laterz.
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:19 pm
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Luinbariel
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If you ever get the chance to be in ontario, there are plenty of mines there, ESPECIALLY for amethyst. It's everywhere.
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:23 pm
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Tsukikage
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Oh I would LOVE to go to those mines!! That makes me wonder if there are any mines around here. I know there are a lot of salt mines/plants around here, but I don't think there are any I can get into freely. o.<;; I will investigate that one for sure. *nod nod*
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:27 pm
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Luinbariel
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Take a look! There are likely mines not far from you... I was just looking around on google to see what sorts of things were out there, and there's quite a bit of everything that I could see (though I wasn't really looking in specific areas).
I think quartz and quartz related mines seem to be the most common, of course.
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:32 pm
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Tsukikage
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That makes sense. Quartz is everywhere, that it is. O o;; When you googled it, were you simply looking for mines or something else?
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:36 pm
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Luinbariel
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It helps to search for "crystal mines", otherwise you get a lot of crap about metal mines all over the place.
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:37 pm
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Tsukikage
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Right right. I'll check that out when I get home and finish my essay... *twitch*
xD Hopefully there are some places nearby. @ @;;
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2008 1:42 pm
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Shiari
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I make sure to touch each crystal, and look for one that "feels" right. These are often crystals that most people would overlook. Poorly colored, opaque, fractured... but they still work just fine. :3
And on the rockhounding note... I've done it! I have tons of rainbow sheen obsidian, obsidian needles (great for tiny wind-chimes), chert, serpentine, oil agate, and some others that I have forgotten. The "fancier" stuff is typically found far south of where I am, but I hope to make a week-long trip out there to hunt up some new stones.
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:17 pm
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Yurokimi
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Thanks for the guide. I have one Aventurine. And today I used the hovering method to pick out a small Kyanite gemstone while walking through a local new age store. It's rare that they get anything other then quartz in there and they kept it hidden pretty well.
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:06 pm
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Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul. - Leaves of Grass
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Luinbariel
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Awesome Shiari! Sounds like there's a lot of interesting stuff in your area *jealous, lol*
Yurokimi: You're welcome! I'm glad you were able to find something! :3
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Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:33 pm
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Eshtar
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I liked the choosing the Crystal part myself. I remeber before Purple Moon shut down here, the Wiccan at the store had me do the very same thing and told me not to rush. I chose a clear quartze pendant and a smokey quartze for Balance. Right now I do wear my Bast Pendant (I love Bast and other Goddesses) But the cyrstal is always near by.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:27 pm
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pyewacket
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Great article! I do a lot of crystal healing and general crystal work... I think it's very interesting that certain people are drawn to specific types of crystals. I have a preference for Hematite and clouded Quartz... they just seem so 'right' for me.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:13 pm
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