Trusting Intuition

Even more than most healing modalities, Crystal Healing requires that you learn a great deal of information, but in the end, you are almost totally reliant on intuition. It’s important to have a happy union of the two. Your knowledge is there to fall back on when you feel stuck, and will also prevent you from accidentally poisoning a client, but you need to be intuitive and creative as well.

No one has all the answers. When you pick up different books on the subject, you will find that, apart from the traditional uses that date back hundreds or even thousands of years, most authors will have entirely different takes on each crystal does, unless they have used another book for reference and are repeating what someone else has already said. You will find as you are working that we all pick up what we need at the time. After tearing the ligaments in my sacroiliac joint, I was able to sense every crystal that worked on connective tissue. Now that the issue is more or less gone, I don’t sense this quality anymore. There is also a danger in a ‘prescriptive’ approach to crystal healing, as you will hopefully discover that crystals are individuals, and two of the same type will not necessarily have the same qualities.

Trusting Intuition Exercise

The following is an adaptation of an exercise used by one of my teachers, Stephanie Harrison.

Before you begin, fill a bowl or pouch with a variety of polished crystals, all around the same size, and have a pad and pen close to hand. You can also do this with mineral specimens, but it is much easier to work out what they are when you can feel their natural shape.

Sit comfortably, and take a moment to centre yourself. Keeping your eyes closed, and using your left, intuitive hand, select a crystal from the bowl or pouch. You can choose at random, or focus on what you need, ask for a message, or the answer to a question, but keep it simple at first. Don’t look at the crystal – keep it closed in your hand. What information does it give you? You may feel a tingling sensation, heat, or cold in your hand, you may see colours, get images, sensations elsewhere in your body, or an emotional reaction.  Don’t worry if all you get at first is the shape, texture, or temperature of the crystal, and try not to concentrate too hard. Just relax, and write down anything that comes to mind, even if you’re not sure it is relevant, or you distrust your initial reaction because of outside influences (for example, if you visualise water while holding the crystal, but know you can hear water flowing from a nearby river or water feature). What you sense may be circumstantial, but it may also be important.

When you’ve written down all the information you sense, open your hand and look at the crystal. You may find it’s exactly what you expected, but it may equally be a complete surprise. Again, write down your reactions. If you are unfamiliar with the crystal you’ve chosen, look it up, and see if the explanation resonates with your intuition, and also if you think it is relevant to you and your situation.

You can practice the exercise at home, and as you become more skilled, start asking for insight, as well.