While nearly 2 in 5 of us in the UK use or wear crystals, the reality is you probably have a crystal with you right now! Quartz crystals, after all, make silicone for the microchips in our smartphones.
But crystals offer a lot more than that. If you’ve ever visited our crystal shops and felt the pull of these stones, without perhaps knowing more about them, you’ve come to the right place.
In this guide to crystals for beginners, we’ll help you understand what crystals are, how you can use them and give you some tips on where to start with your collection.
What Are Crystals?
Let’s start from a geological standpoint. Crystals are natural minerals formed over millions of years from heat, pressure and chemical reactions deep inside the Earth.
For example, quartz, feldspar, olivine and even mica (yes, from your makeup!) form from slowly cooling magma within the Earth’s crust.
If you’ve ever picked up a rock on the beach and found crystal veins, these are formed when hot water, rich in minerals, moves through cracks in rocks, resulting in minerals like amethyst, calcite and fluorite. Amazing, right?
Take a powerful microscope, and you’d see that each crystal has a repeated pattern called a crystal lattice. This is why crystals have a distinctive shape, and the variation between these structures results in different crystal colours and energetic properties.
This video by Ted-Ed goes deeper into the atomic structure and properties of crystals:
How Do Crystals Work?
Humans have used crystals for at least 6,000 years, from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt to India. While there’s no concrete scientific evidence pointing to the healing or metaphysical powers of crystals, many people have found them useful in their day-to-day.
Part of the explanation for this might be in vibrations. If we go back to our microscope, all the atoms that make up the universe vibrate at specific frequencies.
Crystals, if you remember, have repeating crystal lattice structures. This means their vibrations are particularly stable and consistent. This could be why many crystals, like amethyst and blue lace agate, are associated with calm.
Many people find it helpful to use crystals as energetic tuning forks. Traditionally, it’s believed that your energy will harmonise with the crystals around you through a process called ‘entrainment’.
To start exploring crystals, take a look through our tumblestones, which are perfect for beginners.
If you’re a beginner, tumblestones can be an accessible way to explore crystals. These angelite aura tumblestones have a beautiful rainbow sheen.
Charging and Cleansing Your Crystals
As you’ll know by now, crystals are incredibly special stones, but the meaning you give them is up to you. Some people benefit from making crystals part of their rituals, helping to support their well-being.
If you’re new to crystals, you might have heard about the process of charging and cleansing your gems. The idea behind this is to refresh your energy, ready for you to set an intention for what you want the crystal to represent in your life.
Here are a few ways you can charge or cleanse your crystals:
- When it’s a full moon, leave your crystals outside overnight.
- Briefly putting your crystals out in the sun can refresh them, but be careful as crystals like amethyst and rose quartz can fade easily.
- Light a smudge stick and waft the smoke over your crystals.
- Use a singing bowl or bell, or bring your crystals with you to a sound bath.
4 Crystals and Their Meanings for Beginners
You now know what crystals are and how to use them. Here’s the fun part! While browsing through all the different kinds of crystals can help you find the stones that resonate with you, and learn more along the way, we’ve put together a kit list for four crystals you might want to start with as a beginner:
1. Clear Quartz
If you choose just one crystal, clear quartz is a great one to get started. You can think of it as a Swiss army knife of crystals, predominantly made of silicon dioxide (remember those microchips).
Clear quartz is said to boost productivity and clarity. Handily, it can also help to amplify the energy of other crystals as you build your collection.
Clear quartz is a powerful crystal to start with, as it’s said to boost the properties of other crystals, while bringing a sense of clarity.
2. Rose Quartz
Rose quartz is said to radiate the energy of pure love. While similar to clear quartz, its pink colour comes from traces of manganese or titanium. You can use rose quartz to set intentions around self-love, relationships and emotional healing.
3. Amethyst
When most people think of crystals, amethyst is probably what comes first to mind! Amethyst stands out with a beautiful purple that comes from iron and irradiation, although it’s completely safe.
You can use amethyst to help you feel calm and ease anxiety, particularly during stressful periods of your life. This is a great stone to keep on your bedside table to help you sleep.
4. Citrine
If you’d like to feel happier, citrine is a wonderful crystal for setting intentions around abundance, confidence and positivity. This gem has a sunny colour that comes from iron impurities and is sometimes enhanced by gentle heat treatments.
Complementary Crystal Pairs
Lastly, it’s worth noting that you can also use crystals together. While it’s entirely up to you, pairing crystals can be a way of making their meaning more personal to you.
For example, rose quartz and amethyst are a beautiful pairing for bedrooms, your meditation area, or to come back to when you’re feeling emotional. Combined, they can bring a calm and loving energy to your situation.
On the other hand, you could combine clear quartz with citrine. If you remember, clear quartz can amplify other crystals. With citrine, this can bring you amplified positivity - great for creative projects and abundance. You might want to keep this crystal pairing where you work.
Exploring Crystals as a Beginner
We hope you enjoyed our guide to crystals for beginners! As you’ll now know, crystals can be beautiful additions to your life, whether you’re interested in their healing purposes or just their geology.
Either way, if this guide has inspired you to start exploring crystals, we offer thousands for you to choose from, including rough crystals, tumblestones and crystal points.
Or, come visit our shops in Aberystwyth, Monmouth, Hereford and Tregaron to see all our crystals up close. We’d love to meet you and help you find some ‘hidden gems’!