This week I thought we could take a look at a practical use for crystals that can help promote and enhance healing on all levels of  body, mind and spirit.  This is something that many of you who already have a collection of basic stones can work with.  The laying on of stones, the technique of placing crystals and stones on and around the body, can help to cleanse and balance energies in the body, aid in emotional release, and can also balance the aura while drawing in light and energy to the individual’s life.  While it is always best to properly cleanse, dedicate and program your crystals for their specific use, you can still work with crystals in layouts with stones that have been simply cleansed with water and/or smoke.  The energies and powers of the stones will activate and work with the aura and energy field of the body naturally.

When working with the stones in layouts you can use stones in any formation.  Polished and tumbled, raw, points, beads, faceted or eggs.  Keeping in mind where the stones will be placed and being sure that they will stay in place for  the duration of the work should be the only thing that really limits you as trying to keep a crystal ball on the body can be difficult and could cause a distraction during a healing session.  Stones that have some sort of flat surface are helpful when being placed on the body since they will be more likely to hold their place.  When placing the stones around the body you can use large pieces, heavier pieces, and oddly shaped pieces and they can be placed on holders or pillows around the body to keep them in place.

There are several different ways to work with crystal layouts and if you have other healing skills, like Reiki, you can use them together to enhance the process.  If you are a Reiki practitioner one way you can work with this is to use just clear quartz crystals on each of the seven chakra points, or you can work with stones that correspond to the chakras themselves.  Once the stones are in place you can then work to clear and balance the energy of the aura down the meridian of the body with hands on Reiki from head to toe.  Using crystals that have points, like the case of the quartz crystals, point the points toward the feet so that the energy being cleansed from the body will flow down to the feet.  You will want to keep everything moving in the same direction.  So if you’re doing work that is aimed at releasing or balancing, then having the stones point to the feet/Earth and moving the energy in that direction will be ideal.  If the energy needs to be drawn in, if you’re working essentially from Earth to Sky, then you would have points all going upward and the energy flowing from feet to head, or root to crown.

Working Earth to Sky:  Stones are placed with all points toward the receiver’s crown.  Working in this direction helps the move the individual’s energy to a higher vibration and helps to balance and increase spiritual energy.

Working Sky to Earth:  Stone are placed with all points toward the receiver’s feet.  Working in this direction helps to ground the energy from crown to root allowing you to facilitating grounding and releasing energy to the Earth.

Once you have accessed with the individual being worked on which direction that you will work, ask them to lay flat on their back.  Have them lay on a yoga mat, a massage table or some other soft, padded surface.  Place a pillow under their head and under their knees (many people don’t think of placing the pillow under the knees but having a bolster there helps to alleviate possible strain on the lower back while laying flat in this manner).

Take a few moments to call on any Spirit Guides, angels or healing spirits that you and/or your receiver wish to work with and have present during the session.  Light candles and incense if desired to honor those spirits and the spirit of healing that will take place.

Begin by placing a stone above the head at the crown and then a stone below the feet.  Next you will have your receiver place their hands at their sides, palms up, and place a quartz in their dominate hand (the right hand for right-handed people, the left for left-handed people) and then place a stone related to the type of work being done in the other hand. For example if the purpose of the work is to bring more loving energy into the person use a rose quartz; if the goal is to bring protection you can use an amethyst or a piece of onyx.  If you are unsure, or if you are doing just general cleansing, you can use another clear quartz.

Next move around the chakras placing stones in their appropriate places moving from feet to head.  This is where you need to really listen to and follow your inner guidance.  If you are working with a blend of different stones, use the ones that you feel drawn to use.  The general guide is to place stones that correspond to the color of the chakra.  For example any red stones can be used root, any orange stones can be used at the sacral chakra, etc.  (The placement of the root chakra is sometimes debated among healers.  Some believe that the root chakra is not a stationary chakra and that it moves to wherever the body is physically rooted at the time.  In the case of laying down it’s believed that the root would be at the based of the feet.)  If you place a stone on the body and it rolls off the body, then this is likely a sign that this is not the best stone to use for this chakra, so try another one.  If a stone placed in one chakra doesn’t stay in place but rolls into another chakra point and comes to rest, then allow yourself to be guided into using it in that area, even if it isn’t “traditionally” right for that chakra.  Listen to your Guides and your intuition.  Healing doesn’t need to be a rigid practice and listing to the energy of the stones and the energy of your receiver is more important than practicing this method by route.

At this point, once all the stones are in place ,you as the healer have the option to either employ other techniques like Reiki or you can just sit by the person and wait, allowing the stones to do their work and allowing your intuition to guide you as to when the work is complete.  You may find after a while that stones begin to naturally roll off the body one by one which will indicate that the receiver’s aura has absorbed the energy that it needs from the stones.  You may also find that your receiver will verbalize, either through words or more primal sounds, that they feel they are done.  Again, listen to your receiver and follow your intuition.

When you are done, take all the stones and places them somewhere away from your other stones until you can cleanse them.  Give your receiver time to ground and come back to normal waking consciousness and help them to sit up.  Give them some water and ask them to share any experiences they had during the session.  Some may have had very vivid dream like images, felt specific types of sensations around the areas of specific chakras, and others may have found they spontaneously experiences some astral projection.  Give them time to process and make notes for them.  This information can be helpful for future sessions as well.

There are many, many different types of crystal layouts out there and you can create your own based on the specific needs of yourself or your receiver.  Here are a few others that you can work with.

Claifying and Releasing

• 1 smokey quartz below the feet
• 1 clear quartz above the head
• 1 turquoise to strengthen vitality or 1 lapis lazuli to release deep stress in the center of the forehead
• Stay in the layout for five to ten minutes or until the stone on the forehead releases naturally

Balancing Natural Energy

• 1 smokey quartz below the feet
• 1 clear quartz above the head
• 1 rose quartz at the center of the chest
• Stay in the layout for five to ten minutes or until the stone on the forehead releases naturally

In the tradition of not feeling as though you have to follow strict, rigid rules for placing stones or where to lay them, you can use these stone combination in whatever layout you personally feel drawn to when working with your receiver or yourself.

Calming

• 1 clear quartz point
• 1 smokey quartz
• 1 rose quartz
• 1 turquoise

Concentration, Memory and Study Help

• 1 clear quartz
• 1 labradorite
• 1 smokey quartz
• 1 black tourmaline
• 1 amethyst
• 1 sodalite

For more on crystal layouts, check out the book “Laying on of Stones” by D.J. Conway for many different layouts that address both physical and spiritual issues.  You can also find a number of various books on crystal healing in the Sacred Mists Shoppe.

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