Lithomancy
The Crystal Cabinet
Sixteen working stones — what each one is for, how to use it, how to clear it, and the signs it answers to most readily.
Find your birth stones
In short
A working crystal directory: what each stone is for, which chakra it serves, how to use it, how to cleanse it, and the zodiac signs it suits best.
- Never put selenite, halite or malachite in water — they are soft, soluble or toxic in solution.
- Amethyst, rose quartz and citrine fade in direct sunlight; charge them by moonlight instead.
- One stone worked with for a month beats a shelf of twenty.
- Buy from sellers who name the mine or the country. Provenance in this trade is a genuine ethical issue.
Stones have carried meaning for as long as people have carried stones. Egyptian lapis, Roman amber, Chinese jade and Mesoamerican obsidian all served ritual and status functions long before the modern crystal tradition, which is largely a twentieth-century New Age assembly of folklore, colour symbolism and Victorian birthstone marketing.
Used honestly, a crystal is a physical anchor for an intention — an object you touch that returns you to a decision. The lithotherapeutic claims beyond that have no clinical support, and the good practitioners say so.
Questions Readers Ask
How do I cleanse a crystal?
Running water for hard stones, dry salt, smoke or moonlight for soft ones. Check hardness and solubility first.
Which crystals should not go in water?
Selenite, halite, calcite, malachite, pyrite and most soft or metallic-bearing stones.
Do crystals have scientific effects?
No demonstrated therapeutic effect exists. Their value is as ritual objects and focus anchors.