Large collection of stones

A little over a year ago I inherited a nice sized collection of stones and crystals from my great uncle. Mostley I have agates, of varying sizes, obsidian chips, and red and green jasper but also some different stones like Herkimer diamonds, Selenite, Fluorite, Malachite/Azurite, petrified wood, the list goes on. When I aquired these stones I lived in an apartment with a lot of bad/negative energy so the stones took a beating. When I moved out they were packed into boxes and in storage for about 5 months before I moved into my new place and set them out again. I set them all out in a display on a glass and mirror top table (see photo link below for a view of part of the collection) and have the table near my patio door so that they get constant light, but I am wondering if that is enough to cleanse them of the negative engery they aquired? If not, is there a simple way of cleansing a large quantity of stones? I also kept 2 large (appx 20 pounds each) Mahagony Obsidian rocks what I currently have on my deck...I don't have any place to put them inside the apartment. Will I still get the protective qualities of the obsidian if they're out on my deck?

Selenite will cleanse and charge any stone, as will soapstone. If any of the pieces are either of these stones and are cup shaped, you can place other stones inside them.

Sunlight and moonlight are also good for cleansing and charging - you just need some space where the stones can rest undisturbed outside tonight or if the day is sunny, during the day. Do be careful with clear quartz and sunlight though - to make sure there is nothing flammable, i.e., dry leaves or paper, close by.

sharpchick said:

Selenite will cleanse and charge any stone, as will soapstone. If any of the pieces are either of these stones and are cup shaped, you can place other stones inside them.

Sunlight and moonlight are also good for cleansing and charging - you just need some space where the stones can rest undisturbed outside tonight or if the day is sunny, during the day. Do be careful with clear quartz and sunlight though - to make sure there is nothing flammable, i.e., dry leaves or paper, close by.

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Sunny? I live in Oregon, we have liquid sunshine. LOL
This time of year it's mostly cloudy but I do keep the table in front of the patio door and the blinds open during the day, so they are constantly in the light. I also burn incense on the same table I have the stones on. I'm not really sure what the name if the incense is but it says it helps reduce negativity and increase the positive aspects of all zodiac signs. It smells great, too.
I do know I have spirits in here...I have seen their shadows in various parts of the house...and while I COULD send them on their way, they are a bit of a comfort to me. I don't know if they came with the apartment or if they came with the stones? Sometimes I swear my great uncle took over my mind when he died and I inherited the stones because I became almost instantly obsessed with the bloody things once I had them in my possession. It about killed me getting rid of the rest of his collection but I had no place to put 2 tons (literally) of obsidian, petrified wood, and thunder eggs. I kept the smaller, more managable, stones and now that I'm thinking about needing to cleanse them I wonder what in the world was I thinking?

What a beautiful collection! You could try smudging them with white sage- you wouldn't have to do each individual stone- just use one of the sage bundles and go around the area and table where you keep them. (I just had a look- there are quite a few sage bundles on eBay).

Elnor

mysticangel_001 said:

Sunny? I live in Oregon, we have liquid sunshine.

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You have the perfect environment for cleansing your stones. I live in the BC lower mainland where we also get lots of rain. When I want to give all my stones a thorough cleansing and recharging all together at the same time I put them outside on the back deck on a very rainy day. I just leave them there in the rain for several hours and that does the job magnificently. They especially benefit if I put them out there when we have a thunder and lightning storm because there are lots of healthy negative ions in the air during lightning storms and the stones are particulary responsive to the extra negative ions. This is the best way for me to recharge them all at once as I have over a thousand stones that I use in my crystal healing practise.

crystalwoman said:

When I want to give all my stones a thorough cleansing and recharging all together at the same time I put them outside on the back deck on a very rainy day. I just leave them there in the rain for several hours and that does the job magnificently.

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That works well for all but the water soluble ones such as selenite and malachite.

crystalwoman said:

You have the perfect environment for cleansing your stones. I live in the BC lower mainland where we also get lots of rain. When I want to give all my stones a thorough cleansing and recharging all together at the same time I put them outside on the back deck on a very rainy day. I just leave them there in the rain for several hours and that does the job magnificently. They especially benefit if I put them out there when we have a thunder and lightning storm because there are lots of healthy negative ions in the air during lightning storms and the stones are particulary responsive to the extra negative ions. This is the best way for me to recharge them all at once as I have over a thousand stones that I use in my crystal healing practise.

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Wow, I should have done that during the last big storm we had. Of course they might have been blown all over creation, too. LOL
OK, I'll remember that for the next heavy rain storm...which should be any about minute.

And thank you to everyone else, too. I have a sage bundle around here somewhere, will have to find it.

sharpchick said:

That works well for all but the water soluble ones such as selenite and malachite.

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Sharpchick makes an excellent point here. There are several stones that should not be immersed in water or even left exposed to high humidity, or heat or light. Some of them will simply break down but some of them may also produce toxic gases. A good rule of thumb is that stones which have a high percentage of quartz, or that are harder than quartz are usually safe to immerse in water. But some of the softer stones such as apophyllite, selenite, celestite, azurite, and even some calcites and oriental turquoises will break down quickly. Stones such as pyrite, cinnibar, realgar are hazardous and break down quickly into very toxic substances.

I'll see if I can find my long list of common stones that are fragile to the elements, in the meantime here is a link to a short list of stones that should be treated with caution (and especially not used for making tinctures or elixers):

http://www.mooncavecrystals.com/Cautions/Cautions.htm

Cool, thank you. I have several that aren't good in water...I also got several mineral and gem books from my uncles estate...so I know which ones not to expose to water. I do have a black opal that I have in a jar of water all the time, just to keep it from drying out.
The thing with my uncle was that he wasn't into the rocks for their healing properties, he was into lapidary and loved to cut and polish them, make jewlery, he even made a wind chime out of slices of polished agate and a piece of driftwood. Sadly that didn't fair so well in the big storm and there are only 2 of the 5 agates left, the rest were broken in the storm.