How to Activate Selenite (and Avoid Damaging Your Crystal)

Activation of a crystal is a step that is often skipped by folks who are new to using crystals for self-care.

While it is helpful to bring crystals into your home, it is not enough to touch them or display them on a shelf.

You need to set up the crystal to do the best it can for you. In this article, we’ll teach you how to activate selenite.

How to Activate Selenite (and Avoid Damaging Your Crystal)

The First Step to Activating Any Crystal: Understanding What Material Your Crystal Is Made Up Of

Crystals are not just like any stone you find on the ground.

In many cases, they are made up of unique minerals or other elements.

Many of these minerals need special care.

Some of these minerals may cause you harm if you don’t understand what you are doing.

The reason that we start with understanding your crystal before we start talking methods of activation is that you will often come across a general list of ways to do something in particular with a crystal.

These include soaking a material in water. leaving it out in the sun, or rubbing with with other materials.

Depending on the material, some of these ways of activating a crystal (or cleansing it) can cause complete destruction of your material.

Don’t ever start working with your crystal without fully understanding the material, what it can be used for, and how to physically care for it.

What is important to know about selenite?

Selenite is actually a crystal variety of gypsum, and contains no selenium in it, whatsoever.

Sodium selenite does contain selenium, but it is pretty toxic and isn’t generally utilized by crystal practitioners as a result.

Selenite (aka gypsum) is extremely soft.

Like so soft that you could scratch or dent a raw and unsealed piece of selenite crystal with your fingernail.

When you are working with selenite (or carrying it with you or wearing it), you have to be careful that you don’t bump it or drop it because it is easily scratched and damaged.

Selenite is also water soluble, and using cold water or salt in the water makes the material even more soluble.

While some people scoff at the idea that you could lose an entire chunk of selenite in a few hours soaking in a water, bath, others have personally experienced the loss.

The polished surfaced of selenite is also easily damaged by water.

Some people recommend quickly dipping selenite in water and then rubbing it to clean it, without realizing that they are dissolving the polished gypsum on the exterior leaving the duller looking material behind.

This is a crystal that should not be placed in your water bottle to create crystal infused water, nor should it be placed in the bathtub with you.

Otherwise, gypsum is a fairly stable, not really toxic, and friendly crystal to have around. You can touch the raw form of it without having to wear gloves.

As with any mineral, avoid breathing in the dust from the material while cutting, grinding, or polishing it, and keep it from getting in your mouth, nose, and eyes.

How to Activate Selenite Without Harming It

People disagree about what “activation” means when it comes to crystals.

For us, we think of it as a reset.

A tuning of the stone to us so that it resonates with us. This should be accomplished by doing a few things:

Clearing the stone of the energy or influence from its previous handlers.
Tune the stone to you.
Program the stone to work on your behalf in a certain way or with a certain focus (such as healing, protection, etc).

Step One: Cleansing Selenite

Selenite is what is called a self-cleansing stone.

Theoretically, it should not require any sort of metaphysical cleansing of energies, though you will still need to care for the stone physically.

That being said, with a new piece of selenite, we still think it is worthwhile to cleanse the stone, so that you can start from a fresh slate with it, and never have to wonder whether the function of the stone is/was impaired in any way by anything leftover.

To cleanse selenite, there are our three favored methods that should not damage the stone:

Place the stone in a calm place outdoors where it can bathe in the light of the moon for several hours.
Set your selenite on top of or among other cleansing stones like amethyst and carnelian.
Using your breath (holding the selenite in your dominant hand, taking in a deep breath, and exhaling over the stone with the cleaning intent firmly the focus in your mind).

You could also use salt, but place the selenite on top of the salt instead of in a solution of salt and water.

We also don’t think that springing for the upscale Himalayan salt is worth the expense.

Step Two: Tuning the Stone to You

While others may have a more extensive method involving tools, we think of getting the stone on board with you like getting to eye level with someone else.

The most effective way is to spend some time in mediation with the stone close to you or even touching your skin, perhaps on your leg or in your hand.

Spend time relaxing your mind and feeling for a connection to the stone. This may look and feel different for everyone, and make take a few minutes or many longer sessions.

Since this is a personal process, do not worry if other people skip this step.

Just spend some time focused on finding a peaceful place inside of you, and seeing if at any point, you feel the stone in where with you in that peaceful place.

Step Three: Programming the Stone

Again, we think mediation is the best method for this.

Others will argue that you need to stand in the moonlight, or jump on one foot (joking), but ultimately it is not how exactly you do this.

Instead, it is your intention and the strength of your commitment.

When you feel connected to the stone, visualize a picture, think the words, or even speak out loud what it is that you want or need.

If you aren’t sure, spend some time thinking about it. You should be able to speak in just a few words what it is that you need the stone to do.

If a paragraph wants to slip out, think again about how that paragraph could be boiled down into one sentence.

The need to explain is a sign that you might not even know or understand what it is you want and need.

You won’t be able to see a difference in your crystal when it is activated.

But you should feel inside like you’ve finished something, or your job is complete.

Like a “whew, glad that’s done” and not “I wonder if that’s enough.”

If you find yourself wondering if you did it right, you should probably spend some more time in meditation with the stone and confirming that you are clear in your intentions.