How Often Should You Charge Crystals? [Quick Answer]

Why Do Crystals Need Charging?

Many people know gemstones need to be cleansed, but not always that they need to be charged. This is unfortunate, as charging is essential for restoring a crystal’s natural state and healing properties.

A crystal’s healing effects come from its ability to emit positive energy and raise our vibration.

However, every crystal has a limited amount of energy. When this energy reserve has been used up, the crystal may become dull and ineffective – at least temporarily.

While many crystals naturally replenish their energy, this can be a slow process that often won’t be complete before you want to use the crystal again.

Charging restores a crystal’s positive vibration and frequency. Once recharged, a crystal has a more intense and powerful energy, making it effective for crystal healing.

Note: Charging is different from cleansing. Cleansing a crystal removes negative or stagnant energy, while charging fills the stone with positive energy.

What Drains a Crystal’s Energy?

A crystal’s energy is drained whenever it’s used for healing.

Whether you’re wearing the gemstone in jewellery, holding it during meditation, or performing a healing session, the crystal’s energy will be temporarily reduced.

In general, focused healing sessions drain a crystal’s energy the fastest. Crystals that are placed around your home or office are drained slower.

How Often Should You Charge a Crystal?

There’s no set time when you should charge a crystal. It depends on how often you use the crystal, the type of stone, which intentions it’s used for, and various other factors.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can judge whether your stone needs recharging.

1. Listen To Your Intuition (And Some General Guidelines)

My favourite way to know when a crystal needs to be charged is by listening to my intuition. Whenever a crystal starts to feel dull, lacking energy, or ineffective, I know it’s time to charge it.

This can be more difficult if you’re new to crystal healing, as it takes time to build your intuition. So, here are some general guidelines:

• For light use (such as crystals placed around the home), I recommend charging every 2-4 weeks.
• For crystals worn in jewellery, I recommend charging every 1-2 weeks.
• For regular use, I recommend charging every week.

Remember, crystals are more powerful and effective when charged. So, it’s best to recharge a stone even if you’re not sure it’s necessary.

As you progress with your crystal healing practice, you’ll become more in tune with your gemstone’s energy and vibration.

Eventually, you’ll instinctively know when a crystal needs to be charged – but the guidelines above are a good place to start.

Tip: You should always cleanse a gemstone before charging it. Never charge a crystal without cleansing it.

2. After a Healing Session

As I mentioned earlier, a crystal’s energy is drained much faster when it’s used for a focused healing session.

For this reason, I recommend charging a crystal after every healing session. This ensures your stone is always in its natural state when you need it.

3. After Cleansing

You don’t always need to charge a crystal after you’ve cleansed it, but it’s often a good idea.

Cleansing removes negative energy from the crystal, but it doesn’t restore the stone’s natural vibrations. Combining these practices is an effective way to care for your crystal and maintain its healing properties.

However, if you decide to charge your stone, you should always cleanse it first. The order is important, as it’s essential to remove negative energy before trying to charge the stone.

4. Before First Use

A new crystal is likely to have come into contact with many people and environments before it reached you.

It’s common practice to cleanse a new crystal, as this removes unwanted energy. However, I also think it’s important to charge a new stone, as its energy may have been drained by previous environments.

For this reason, I always cleanse and charge a new crystal before using it for the first time.

5. Before Storing The Crystal

It’s a good idea to charge a crystal before storing it – especially if it might be stored for a long time. This ensures the crystal is ready to be used whenever you need it in the future.

For How Long Should You Charge a Crystal?

There are many ways to charge a healing crystal – and each method takes a different amount of time.

Here’s a quick overview of how long some of the most popular charging methods take.

• Moonlight: 8 – 12 hours. Moonlight carries a gentle energy for recharging a crystal. Most people leave their crystals to charge in moonlight throughout the night.
• Sunlight: 5 minutes – 2 hours. Sunlight is much more intense than moonlight, so takes less time to charge a stone. However, some stones fade or become brittle in direct sunlight, so be careful when using this method.
• Burying: Up To 7 days. Burying a crystal is a great way to reconnect it to the Earth’s energy, but this is also the slowest charging method.
• Incense: 60 seconds. This is a traditional method involving holding a crystal in the smoke of incense. It’s a fast charging technique that only takes around one minute.
• Visualisations: 3-5 minutes. If you’re in a rush, you can use visualisations to recharge a crystal. This is a fast method that doesn’t need extra equipment.

To learn how to perform each charging method, read my guide on how to charge a crystal.

Summary

Charging a crystal restores its natural state and healing properties. It’s important to charge your crystals regularly, otherwise they may become less effective and energetic over time.

There’s no single answer to how often you should charge a crystal, so it’s best to listen to your intuition.

With that said, I recommend charging a stone after every healing session, as a focused session can quickly drain a crystal’s energy. For crystals placed around your home or in jewellery, charging every 2-4 weeks may be enough.

Do you have any questions about how often you should charge a crystal? Please let me know in the comments section.