✨ A Beginner's Guide to Cleansing, Charging, and Storing Your Crystals and Ritual Tools

November is prime time for going inwards and exploring our inner landscapes through divination. But what happens when your chosen tools no longer seem to work as well as they should?

Why Are My Oracle Cards Feeling "Fusty"?

My Mushroom Oracle deck is my go-to between the end of summer and the start of December. Recently, however, the readings felt a bit off, and the same card kept showing up for no obvious reason. At first, this was annoying, but then it dawned on me: I hadn’t cleansed the cards before I started using them this year. 

No wonder these cards weren't feeling their best! They had been sitting on my bookshelf, soaking up all the energy—good and bad—from our home since last December. It was as if they hadn't had a bath all year… they were dirty, crusty, and fed up!

So, I gave them a good cleanse, and they were instantly much happier.

In this blog post, I’m going to give you a roadmap for clearing, charging, and storing your own tools, whether that’s your favourite crystals or your trusted oracle and tarot cards.

🧼 Cleansing Your Tools: Releasing Old Energy

Cleansing is the essential first step to resetting your tools. It releases any stagnant, negative, or "errant" energy they have absorbed, making them a blank slate for your new intentions.

Which Items Need Cleansing?

Any item you use for magic or divination will need cleansing from time to time. Some items need it more often than others:

• Crystals: Especially those you use regularly, carry with you, or have used in an intense working.

• Wands and Athames: Your routine ritual tools.

• Divination Tools: Oracle cards, Tarot Cards, Runes, and pendulums.

How to Cleanse Your Items

There are several popular methods you can use, including smoke, sound, burial, or sun/moon bath.

⚠️ Important Safety Check: Always check the compatibility of your tool with the type of cleanse you want to perform. Some crystals (like Selenite or Pyrite) will be damaged if they are placed in water or in salt. Water is also not a good match for card decks!

Also, remember to open a window or a door when cleansing with sound or smoke so that the old energy has somewhere to dissipate.

1.     Smoke Cleansing (Quick & Safe)

 This is where you pass the item through a stream of smoke, usually from burning herbs (like ethically sourced sage or rosemary) or incense.

• Best for: Quick cleanses and items that cannot be placed in earth or water (like card decks).

• Example: This is the exact method I used to shift the stagnant energy from my Mushroom Oracle Cards.

2.     Sound Cleansing (For Spaces & Tools)

This technique uses vibrations from a bell, chimes, or a singing bowl to clear away stagnant energy.

• Tip: You can also use sound cleansing to clear the energy in your home or other space. I have been known to grab the pans and a wooden spoon and allow my "witchling" to make a loud noise to quickly reset the energy in our house!

3. Earth or Salt Burial (Deep Clean)

This method involves burying your item in salt or earth for an hour or so.

• Plant Power: You can ask your houseplants to help you with this one, but if they don’t like it, they will soon let you know!

  

• Safety Note: It is not recommended to dispose of cleansing salt outside; make sure it goes in the bin. A designated tub of salt can be reused as your "cleansing salt" and refilled when its potency begins waning.

4. Full Moon or Sun Bath (Natural Forces)

• Sunlight: After checking that your crystals are not prone to fading (some quartz varieties and amethyst will fade), they can be placed outside or on a windowsill in bright sunlight to drive out funky energy.

• Moonlight: Crystals that are not sun-safe can be cleansed under a full moon instead. I usually place my crystals and jewellery on a mirrored plate on my windowsill under the full moon to maximize the light.

⚡ Charging Your Tools: Infusing New Intention

When we cleanse our tools, we effectively empty them of their previous programming. We are preparing them for new goals and instructions!

We then need to charge or program them to do their new job. This can be achieved in several ways, such as using natural forces like sun or moonlight, or through focused intention and breath.

For my own personal tools, I use written intentions and moonlight. For the products I sell in my shop, I use intention and breath.

Charging with Natural Forces

🌙 Moonlight (Gentle & Loving)

This is most commonly done at the full moon. It is a gentle and kind method.

• My Method: I personally write out my intention on a slip of paper and place that on a mirror. I place my crystals on top of the paper and leave them on my windowsill overnight to soak up the moonlight and be infused with the intention. I feel that the mirror ensures all facets of the crystal receive the moonlit intention.

  
  

☀️ Sunlight (Powerful & Fiery)

This is a more powerful charging method and lends itself to intentions of a fiery nature (e.g., lust magic or cord-cutting).

• Cautions: The same cautions apply here as did during cleansing—check that your crystals are safe to be left in the sun. Never charge a crystal ball this way, as you run the risk of starting a house fire!

• Timing: I would personally set my crystals out in my garden space for this kind of charging, again writing the intention on a slip of paper and placing the crystals where they would be in direct line of the sun, most likely around midday for the most potent charge!

Charging with Intent & Breath

This method does not require a special time of day or moon phase, so it's excellent for charging items as soon as an order is placed.

🌬️ Intent & Breath (Personalized Charge)

I will hold the item in my cupped hands and whisper the intention to it. For example, with our good luck earrings, I will tell them: “Your job is to bring your new owner good luck.” I then allow the feelings of the intention to flow from my hands into the item until it is fully charged.

💡 Visualization

This is when you hold the item in your hands and imagine the intention coming true. You picture it as clearly as you can in your mind’s eye and then allow that vision to transfer to the item using an imaginary stream of bright or white light.

Quick Note on Intentions

Most people reading this will be familiar with what I mean when I talk about intentions. However, for anyone new to this concept, an intention is a statement of what you wish to happen, framed as though it already has happened.

• Example 1 (Calm): If you wish a crystal to bring you calm, you could say: "I am calm when I hold you."

• Example 2 (Enchantment): If you wish to enchant the wooden spoon you always use to make family meals, you might say: "Meals made with this spoon share love and joy."

📦 Smart Storage: Protecting the Energy

How you store your tools is as important as how you cleanse and charge them. You do not want them picking up errant energy that may affect your intention. This means thinking carefully about where and how you store them when not in use.

• Strategic Placement: I do keep some crystals near my TV specifically for the purpose of absorbing and protecting me from negative energy. However, it is not recommended that you store crystals and tools near the TV unless they are for that specific, protective purpose.

• Common Practices:

  • Crystals are often stored separately in dark bags when not in use.

  • Tarot and oracle card decks are often wrapped in velvet or stored in a designated box.

  • Staffs and wands can be wrapped in linen and stored upright or on a designated shelf.

• Practicality: Of course, you can also just cleanse and recharge regularly, so that storage does not become an elaborate ritual in itself.

A Final Note on Children

If you have small children, you need to think practically about your storage. Sharp tools or tools with small pieces need to be kept out of reach. There are plenty of safe tools for children to use, and I would very much encourage families to practice cleansing and charging with their children. However, a stick and a rock from the garden are probably better choices than your expensive “proper” tools.

Conclusion

We have covered the how and the why of cleansing and charging. You now know there are several ways to do both, and we have touched upon how and where to store your tools to protect their energy.

Let me know in the comments:

What tool are you tuning up first now that you have the know-how?

For those of you looking for pre-charged jewellery, we have two types of crystal earrings over in the shop and a small range of fully cleansed and charged keyrings.

Anyone who wants to know more about practicing witchcraft with children should check out the YouTube channel “Magic with Aunty AJ” for educational content and practical craft-along sessions.

Brightest Blessings x