 On my cosmic travels through life, reality, and the universe, I have come across many things. One of the most amazing of these revelations, however, is knowledge about crystals. What they are, we already know. But what can you do with them? Many of you may have crystals already, but without knowing what you can do with them, they just sit on your shelf, influencing your energies from afar. Today, we're going to look at practical uses of crystals in your everyday life. If you haven't seen part 1 of the Crystal Special, I highly recommend watching that first. The first thing we need to discuss is how to charge your crystals. Just like us, crystals need sustenance. Well, they won't die if they don't get any, but who doesn't love to be fed? One way of charging your crystals are with bigger crystals. By allowing the smaller crystals to receive energy from the points of the bigger ones, you can also just sit small crystals onto a cluster. However, there is a much easier way. Sunlight. Just as we receive energy from the sun, crystals also receive and recharge under the intensified life force rays of the sun. By letting your crystals spend an afternoon in the sun, they will be bursting with juicy energy for quite a while. Think of crystals like a rechargeable battery, and by leaving it in the sun, it recharges and stores energy to give to you. If it's running on low, the frequencies that it emits will not be as strong as if it would be at a full charge. You can also cleanse your crystals by allowing them to bathe in saltwater for a while. If possible, use sea salt or pink Himalayan salt. If you live near the ocean, you can also let them bathe in the ocean itself. You can also sage your crystals, which is very beneficial for cleansing them and keeping them happy. Letting them sit in brown rice for 24 hours centers and grounds the crystals and balances their male and female energies. When you first get your crystals, whether it's through a gift, or you dig it up yourself or bought in a store, it's usually important that you dedicate your crystals. This can be done by holding on to it and consciously intend that the crystal only be used for love, light, and the goodness of all. Your chakra system picks up frequencies throughout your whole body through high frequencies and low frequencies. Most crystals will give off an energy which will resonate to at least one chakra, if not more, which makes some excellent tools for aligning your energy body. One of the easiest ways of using crystals is carrying pocket stones. Carry a crystal of your choosing in your pocket for any amount of time that feels right. If you need a lot of help in one aspect of your life, you might want to carry a certain crystal around with you up for even a month. Then after that time, look back at the month and see if the description of the crystal matches what you experienced. This is actually how I first got into crystals. A friend of mine gave me a crystal and told me to hang on to it for a month. I didn't really get why, but I did. After a month, I found out what that crystal did, and it had been affecting me in the exact ways of the description. After that, I was hooked and have been exploring crystals ever since. One thing that I do quite often is actually make what I like to call spirit water. It's really very simple. All you have to do is place a crystal into a glass or bottle of water for an extended amount of time before consuming. Usually it's recommended that you wait 24 hours before drinking the water, but even several hours will yield slight changes in the water, especially if you meditate with the water. You can also leave the water out in the moonlight or sunlight for a day before consuming while the crystals are in the water. If you really want to get creative, try mixing and matching crystals in the water. For one day you could put in an amethyst, and the next you could put in citrine. This actually goes to the phenomenon of water that researcher Masaru Imoto had been studying and researching for a very long time. The phenomenon in which water that had been blessed froze into beautiful crystals, and the water that was projected negatively onto froze into gross or ugly crystals. Now, we have an entire lesson about water coming soon because I know a lot of people want to discuss that, so in the meantime, we won't be going into this at this time. The reason I bring this up, though, is that this does grant you an opportunity to try this for yourself. I highly recommend placing several crystals in water and letting them sit for 24 hours. You can also place a plain glass next to it. If you want to, meditate with the crystal water and project love and health into the water. Then, drink the water and compare the difference yourself. I have done this many times, and I can always feel the difference. And from the people I've talked to who have done this as well, most people do. In my experiences, this rejuvenated water is smoother and cleaner than it is when you first pour it. So putting crystals into your drinking water is a very good way of keeping your body hydrated with some living, healthy water. Crystal Grids Many of you may have seen the YouTube video, Spirit Quest 10.5. In this video, Jordan demonstrates how to make a crystal grid around your house and what it's used for. A crystal grid is an energetic grid that you can create around your house that fills your house or room with energy by connecting several crystals together to the power of your intention and energies of the crystals. If you happen to have several larger crystals and a wand crystal, you can make a crystal grid around your house or room, or wherever you are. Place the crystal around your room. The crystals do not have to be in a geometric pattern, but if they are, it will only serve to strengthen the grid. Consciously connect all of the crystals together using a wand crystal. You simply have to point the wand at a predetermined master crystal, usually at quartz, or something bigger than the rest. While holding onto the crystal in your mind, then move the wand to point it to the next crystal and draw a connecting line in your mind. Then continue to make lines between it and the other crystals. You can go between all of the crystals and back to the master, or back to the master for everyone, or anything you want really, let your creativity guide you. You can also program your intention into the master for whatever you want, whether it be abundance or healing or spiritual development, and allow those energies to flow through all of the crystals in the grid. Something I've been playing with for a long time now and have had wonderful experiences with is what I call the bed chakra charge. The day that you charge your crystals in the sunlight, take seven crystals, one for each chakra, and place them either under your bed or in between your mattress and box spring in the order of the chakras, lined up with where your body is while you sleep. You can do a little meditation with them, too, if you like. Set the intention for them to provide you only with the highest of frequencies for you to explore. Then go to bed. The first time I did this, as well as pretty much every time after, I would fall asleep and wake up after about four hours or so, except I would be fully charged and wide awake as if I was an iPod plugged into a socket and I'd be ready to start the day. None of that lazy, tired morning routine at all. It was phenomenal. Not only that, but I also had amazing dreams when I did that, and I don't always remember my dreams. Again, I'm not saying that this will happen, but that it's a possibility as it's what I experienced, and it would be very interesting to see how others reacted to trying such an experiment. Also, don't feel that you need to place the crystals under your bed. If it's not possible, you could put them in your pillowcase or on your night shelf or something like that. The possibilities are infinite. And of course, we could not talk about crystals without talking about meditation. You can learn so much from crystals by working with them in meditation, and they can also greatly benefit you with finding the peaceful meditation state if you're struggling with it. You can sit in the traditional lotus position with a crystal in each hand, or you can sit with a single crystal in your lap. You can also just place them nearby if you don't want to touch them. And of course, like with the bed chakra charge, you can place crystals on each chakra as you lay down and allow your body to receive their energies naturally and intimately. What you experience from working with crystals will be up to you to discern, but many report crystals magnifying one's personal energy by merely focusing and connecting it with the universal energies. Crystals can assist in manifestation, but one must understand the difference between want and need. In manifestation, there is a thin line between helping the universe provide that which is necessary and attempting to force the universe to provide that which is desired. Unfulfilled want is one of the true sources of unhappiness. If one wants something desperately enough and is unable to attain it in one lifetime, they might keep drawing themselves into additional lifetimes until that want is fulfilled. However, need is always fulfilled, as long as it's not blocked by want. Although, of course, one might need to work to fulfill that need as well. It will come. Certain crystals, like citrine, are helpful in manifesting abundance into your life. Although in what sense, that is totally up to you. Ultimately, you are the one pulling the experiences of receiving towards you, and as long as you are open to receiving, energy can keep flowing in all aspects of your life. Finally, and this is something I found in one of my favorite crystal books, Love is in the Earth, but I haven't tested it. Supposedly, gasoline mileage has been enhanced by placing a quartz crystal on the carburetor or on the fuel line. Increases of up to 50% have been reported. Mechanical portions of the automobile have also been treated by placing a crystal on or towards the equipment. There has been many reports of crystals that have been placed in automobiles to encourage the protection and safe passage of the drivers and passengers, as well as maintaining the vehicle itself. Whether you're skeptical of crystals or not, you gotta admit there's something absolutely magical about them. And hey, why not just pick up a few just to find out? You won't know until you experience it.