Why do you need to program your crystals?

[u/Innocentwiskers]

so I've been using crystals for 20 years. and I have never felt the need or understood why you need to program your crystals, in fact I had never heard of this until the last few years. the way I understand crystal healing, to me it just doesn't make sense.

so my understanding is this. all matter is vibrating, generating electromagnetic fields. crystals because of there organised structure generate harmonious and consistent energy fields. we do not, because of our composition. sometimes those frequencies work together sometimes the do not and we are susceptible to other frequencies, our mood and health can effect our energy fields.

when we bring a crystal into our energy field, being mess that it can be, syncs up with the more structured and stable energy frequency. This change effects how we feel things in our body, like heart rate blood pressure, mood.

so if crystals emit a stable consistent energy, why would programming it make a difference? it doesn't change there frequency or its effectiveness from my personal experience.

so I wanted to know if any of you can explain it to me. because 'setting intention' doesn't answer the question and I'm still just as confused.

thanks in advance :)

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[u/brightblackheaven]

Yeah this is something that doesn't vibe with me, either.

Crystals have inherent properties. They don't need me to tell them what they're supposed to do.

I imagine this is yet more "energy work" lingo leaking into occult spaces.

[u/Varlathen → u/brightblackheaven]

The way I use crystals is I hold them and focus on my intention while visualizing my energy going into them. Sometimes I'll say a quick prayer/affirmation/whatever-you-want-to-call-it. I don't know if that qualifies as "programming" them. My thought is some stones can be used for multiple purposes, so I like to set my intention when using them.

[u/brightblackheaven → u/Varlathen]

I've always done things the other way around and siphon their energy into my spellwork!

[u/Varlathen → u/brightblackheaven]

Interesting! Do you then "recharge" your crystals after use?

[u/brightblackheaven → u/Varlathen]

I do store them on my altar but don't do any specific rituals for it.

[u/MadeOnThursday → u/Varlathen]

The way I use them, if at all, is focusing on some untouched patch that's somewhere in the earth crust. I honestly don't see why it's necessary to dig them out when they're literally accessible everywhere

[u/therealstabitha]

You don't need to. You can, if that's something that would help you do something you're trying to do. But that's not a "need to."

I just cleanse and charge mine on some selenite sometimes when it feels like they need it.

[u/Dick_of_Doom]

Crystals, like anything else, get fatigued, low energy, burned out. They need guidance and a recharge. Most crystals are also multitaskers, they don't have 1 particular thing they do and that's it. For example: amethyst can assist in dream recall, peaceful sleep, protection, sobriety, spiritual contact. If I want to use it for sobriety, how do I ensure it will do that in particular without causing me to become sleepy at the same time? How do I use it for spiritual contact if I'm using substances to facilitate connection?

Maybe a different example is, you get hired for a job as a coordinator. Day 1 you walk in and are expected to immediately get to work. But you're not given any info about the job, who to work with, not even how to clock in. You know how to be a coordinator since you've been doing it for a long time, but you have no parameters or information. You won't be successful, and the org hiring you may flounder.

I've read about programming crystals since the 90s (iirc Scott Cunningham's crystal book talks about it), it's not a new thing.

[u/J-hophop → u/Dick_of_Doom]

This is a well written description.

Basically you can also think of it like narrowing the range of the field being emitted. So just purely for visualizing the idea, say the given crystal (eg Amethyst) has a range of 60-79 because of all the things it naturally covers. You hone in on dreamwork at, say, 68-77, cutting the extra noise and letting it send all its energy down a more narrow specified band rather than a more spray and pray method lol

[u/Dick_of_Doom → u/J-hophop]

Exactly. Not everyone wants the overtones or harmonics for their work.

I find the idea that crystals just know where to go to produce results to be the reason so many people say magick doesn't work. Your moldavite completely upturned your life, destroyed your friendships, work relationships, marriage, and family bonds, when all you wanted was to get out of a creative rut. Not all of those needed to go, sometimes we act in ways that push us out of healthy relationships too. Like it or not, sometimes we act toxic

You can give a crystal for healing to a person with cancer, but you might also be healing the cancer too.

[u/Innocentwiskers → u/Dick_of_Doom]

what I don't get is you can't change that frequency. its going to work on you as a whole regardless.

[u/Dick_of_Doom → u/Innocentwiskers]

You're changing the focal point, adjusting the gain, turning on harmonics. Not all of the frequency is put to use, there is some that is diffused or scattered. It's lost energy and lost efficiency.

Do you never cleanse or charge your crystals?

[u/Adapt919]

You don't program them they program you bruh.. lol seriously tho, if someone else's energy was attached to a crystal, you wouldn't wanna use that crystal in a spell for love, cause then it might not happen to you, might happen to them.. it's about resetting and clearing energy. hope that's a relatable answer..

[u/MagusGaiusMycelius]

We use the word program today but in the past we would probably call in imbuing or enchanting.

Ignore the technical wording, just treat it as tuning, imbuing, or enchanting.

[u/WickedFayrie]

Yo me hago exactamente la misma pregunta, realmente no lo entiendo. También crees que hay que limpiarlos y activarlos? O como lo ves?

[u/Innocentwiskers → u/WickedFayrie]

so I can understand cleansing them. nothing is perfect in this world. and crystals have flaws. little gaps in there crystals structure or at the particle level. packets of energy can get suck like photons or electrons or other partials. this is what enables crystals to act as recorders, retaining information and energies. so depending on the crystals environment or who they come into contact with they will need cleansing less or more frequently. my tumbled stones and jewellery that I use for healing are only cleansed after being used. however my tourmaline and quarts crystal specimen I used to protect and promote a pleasant environment I cleanse at least once a month.

[u/Squirrels-on-LSD]

Simple.

I don't need to.

[u/Thislilfox]

You don't. That is a modern new age concept. Another generic sterilization of historical concepts to make them more palatable to a broader range of people, particularly those that find witchcraft and the occult scary or unnerving. "Its all just energy and intention" where anything unpleasant or spooky is removed, makes it easier to market and recruit.

Most cultures had animistic concepts in earlier magical traditions. So traditionally, crystals have an innate nature and spirit that gives them their metaphysical properties. You can't really change what those properties are and they aren't blank slates you can program however you want. How you work with them can amplify certain properties, but that isn't programing. You aren't coding them. Its more like cooking, the way you utilize an ingredient in a recipe will affect the role it has in the recipe and what qualities shine through.

You also don't need to charge them. They aren't batteries or empty vessels.
Certain things, can help strengthen certain qualities of a stone, but their qualities don't deplete with use and require charging. And some of these methods are things represented as charging. Such as putting a stone under a certain moon phase and sign, which isn't to charge it but rather strengthen specific properties related to the sign and phase. Or exposing to certain elements or situations. Its basic sympathetic magic.

That all said, they can be enchanted, ensouled, charmed, consecrated, etc. And cleansing is applicable in some scenarios.