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Author Topic: Witchcraft: Crystal for altar?  (Read 2651 times)

wisteria27

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Crystal for altar?
« on: August 08, 2019, 04:41:51 pm »
So I had a dream the other night about something completely unrelated to witchcraft, but in the background I saw my altar. It was similar but had a lot more on it. It had a large pointed crystal between the candles and I have the vague impression it was acting as a sort of energy cleanser or beacon. Idk if that's a thing, but I'm wondering what kind of crystal I would use for something like that? Just quartz? I remember someone mentioning a different crystal that was supposed to have high Spiritual vibrations, any idea what it might have been?

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2019, 05:56:11 pm »
So I had a dream the other night about something completely unrelated to witchcraft, but in the background I saw my altar. It was similar but had a lot more on it. It had a large pointed crystal between the candles and I have the vague impression it was acting as a sort of energy cleanser or beacon. Idk if that's a thing, but I'm wondering what kind of crystal I would use for something like that? Just quartz? I remember someone mentioning a different crystal that was supposed to have high Spiritual vibrations, any idea what it might have been?

Different resources will tell you different things, but in general, a lot of crystals are good for cleansing in some way.

Since you need a large pointed one, I would suggest going for something that's easy to find in that shape and size--selenite is an inexpensive option. Clear quartz would probably also be fine for general cleansing.

Beyond that, you'd have to get more specific, since different crystals are said to cleanse in different ways.
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wisteria27

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2019, 06:32:09 pm »
Beyond that, you'd have to get more specific, since different crystals are said to cleanse in different ways.

I suppose the best way to explain what I'm looking for is to say that I'm severely bipolar and believe I may be an empathy, I think my mood swings might be tied to my empathy. So I'd like to have something for mental and emotional clarity, to make sure what I feel is me and not stray energies from other people.

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2019, 06:44:52 pm »
I suppose the best way to explain what I'm looking for is to say that I'm severely bipolar and believe I may be an empathy, I think my mood swings might be tied to my empathy. So I'd like to have something for mental and emotional clarity, to make sure what I feel is me and not stray energies from other people.

I was going to suggest selenite (though if you're new to working with crystals, I'd recommend thinking a little bit about how you feel about current mining practices, and the implications for a) miners and b) what that does to the energy inherent in the crystal before investing tons in it.)

In terms of energetic balancing - do you already have a practice of centering, grounding, and shielding? Crystals, in my experience, can help support those things, but they don't replace them. (And I am a generally huge fan of self-awareness being an amazing tool, so you can spot what's going on early, and take steps before it's an actual problem.)

There's articles on my website with some basics and suggestions for further practice if that's helpful.
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wisteria27

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2019, 09:40:17 am »
In terms of energetic balancing - do you already have a practice of centering, grounding, and shielding? Crystals, in my experience, can help support those things, but they don't replace them. (And I am a generally huge fan of self-awareness being an amazing tool, so you can spot what's going on early, and take steps before it's an actual problem.)

I've been grounding and center when I wake up and before I go to be and it seems to help a lot. Shielding, however, I'm having difficulty with. I think I naturally want to soak up what everyone is feeling so I can help, and shielding seems to go against my inherent nature. It takes a lot of effort and energy to maintain. But maybe I'm doing it wrong?

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2019, 01:20:22 pm »
I've been grounding and center when I wake up and before I go to be and it seems to help a lot. Shielding, however, I'm having difficulty with. I think I naturally want to soak up what everyone is feeling so I can help, and shielding seems to go against my inherent nature. It takes a lot of effort and energy to maintain. But maybe I'm doing it wrong?

Two things I want to bring up here.

One: it sounds like the concept of shielding as a form of blocking is difficult for you; have you thought about visualizing or otherwise imagining it in a different way? Instead of picturing a bubble around you blocking out the rest of the world, for example, picture the emotions of those around you as a rushing stream and yourself as a rock in the middle of it with a little bit of moss to soak up the water and buffer you. That's just one possibility; any kind of imagery that sets clear mental boundaries between you and the rest of the world may help in your case.

Two: it may be helpful to remember the principle of the oxygen mask. You cannot help others put on their masks if you haven't put on yours so you can breathe yourself. Think of shielding as putting on an oxygen mask that keeps you from drowning in everyone else's emotions before you can do anything to help them.

As I implied before with my metaphor of the mossy rock, shielding doesn't have to mean blocking everything out--you can make your shield semi-permeable to let through that which doesn't harm you, or design it to be easily toggled between different modes.
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Uneryx

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2019, 02:45:31 pm »
I suppose the best way to explain what I'm looking for is to say that I'm severely bipolar and believe I may be an empathy, I think my mood swings might be tied to my empathy. So I'd like to have something for mental and emotional clarity, to make sure what I feel is me and not stray energies from other people.

I second everything Jennet and Eastling have said about cleansing/grounding/shielding and checking in with yourself regarding the ethics of mining.

However, if you still want to have a large crystal point on your altar, amethyst is fairly common and I've found it good for the mind and emotions. If I'm trying to filter others' energies I use something grounding/shielding like black tourmaline.

sevensons

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2019, 03:44:43 pm »
So I had a dream the other night about something completely unrelated to witchcraft, but in the background I saw my altar. It was similar but had a lot more on it. It had a large pointed crystal between the candles and I have the vague impression it was acting as a sort of energy cleanser or beacon. Idk if that's a thing, but I'm wondering what kind of crystal I would use for something like that? Just quartz? I remember someone mentioning a different crystal that was supposed to have high Spiritual vibrations, any idea what it might have been?
The crystal that springs to mind would be Smoky brandberg amethyst scepter a lovely item for people addicted with supreme endless energies.
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Jenett

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2019, 04:54:10 pm »
I've been grounding and center when I wake up and before I go to be and it seems to help a lot. Shielding, however, I'm having difficulty with. I think I naturally want to soak up what everyone is feeling so I can help, and shielding seems to go against my inherent nature. It takes a lot of effort and energy to maintain. But maybe I'm doing it wrong?

So, we talk about it as 'shielding' but that's only one of the ways to use the technique - a lot of people instead use it to filter or buffer things outside them, so they can get through their day, concentrate on (important useful) things, or sort out what's coming from other people vs. from inside them. A lot of people who identify as empaths struggle with shielding, but in my experience (and I pick up other people's stuff too, if I don't shield), it's exactly those people who need the skills most to be able to keep functioning and keep helping people.

This essay has a lot more in the way of ideas (and for anyone who feels like they're empathic, I also highly recommend a regular practice of energetic cleansing of some kind, also on that page.)

How much I shield depends a lot on what I'm doing with my life. When I worked in a high school library, I needed a lot more regular shielding and filtering than I do now. High school students are amazing, but they have so many ups and downs in emotion, and in any school of much size, there's also just a lot of people around and in and out of any given space. I definitely wanted to know when students needed a bit more attention or help, so my shielding was set to help me ping on that, and notice those times, while keeping out the background noise that wasn't helpful to me.

These days, I work in a different kind of library, and we get a few people walking through, but maybe under a dozen, so I need a lot less day to day shielding and filtering. I'll still be more deliberate about shielding if I'm in a large crowd, or dealing with lots of strangers (like at a conference) for an extended period but in some cases, I'll also use it to deliberately make myself approachable and friendly, while putting some space emotionally between me and the people around me.

(Like if I'm at an event where I want to meet people, but want to focus on specific people - people with similar interests/goals, for example, shielding can be a tool to help with that.)

I usually set my shielding with the idea of the kinds of levers and adjustments you get on a stereo system (or the digital equivalent) where you can raise and lower specific frequencies. I've used (and found a lot of people like) the idea of a honeycomb, where the 'honey' sort of slows down what's coming at you, and helps you keep the distinction between what's you and what's not you.
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wisteria27

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2019, 07:34:43 pm »
You guys have been so helpful! I'll definitely try the idea of using the stream method instead, that seems like something that would work so much better for me. I'll do a little research on all the crystals you guys mentioned.

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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #10 on: August 10, 2019, 07:29:55 am »
I've used (and found a lot of people like) the idea of a honeycomb, where the 'honey' sort of slows down what's coming at you

I do indeed like this idea, and am making a note to myself to give it a try.
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Re: Crystal for altar?
« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2019, 05:00:20 pm »
I've used (and found a lot of people like) the idea of a honeycomb, where the 'honey' sort of slows down what's coming at you, and helps you keep the distinction between what's you and what's not you.

I also am not familiar with this imagery suggestion for shielding, but I love the potential in this!  Definitely going to keep this one in mind and work with it to see if it can help me refine my own process.

For crystals, I would also suggest smoky quartz.  As an empath, myself, I find it does well to both help in grounding as well as to amplify.  I'm crazily drawn to them, even before I understood why personally.  While it doesn't have the cleansing like properties of selenite, it's grounding tendencies do help keep things in line -- either from wild and energetic crystals or just wild and energetic energies around you.  However, it's definitely not a heavy "grounder" like tourmaline.

I work retail and am around thousands of people on a regular basis.  I've been known to carry a simple, tumbled smoky quartz in my pocket while at work when I start feeling overwhelmed by so much energy and find myself not shielding well.  I've also found it helps with grounding, centering, and focusing when shielding.

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