Sea Sprite said:
Greetings!
I'm new to the forum and to crystals. I just recently got a piece of Larimar and would like to know more about it. What is it used for and how should I cleanse, charge, program it?
Cleansing larimar can be problematic depending on whether or not it's of the fibrous variety.
It is from the Silicate family of rocks but some specimens can be very brittle. If you have the fibrous type stone please take care in handling it as the fibers can break off in the skin and be quite painful and hard to remove from flesh.
So as to avoid possible damage to any stone but the hardest Quartz crystals, I would suggest not using water for purification. This is particularly true for beginners who are still learning to identify stones and their uses, as well as the cautions one may need to use when handling them.
There are many suggestions and methods for cleansing stones and other tools via often complex rituals, but the simplest way, especially for beginners is to just let the sun do the work for you by putting any stone or crystal in the sunlight.
In his book, Scott Cunningham recommends that one should leave the stone in direct external sunlight (as opposed to indoors behind a window--Scott feels that as some of the sun's rays are blocked by the glass, it is better to put the stone outside where it will receive a "full" dose of sunlight) for 1 day, 3 days or as much as a week, depending on how the stone "feels" to you. He also recommends that you not leave it out at night. Scott and other authors also recommend that ALL stones be ritually cleansed.
Personally, I don’t worry about “losing” sunlight nor do I “bring” stones in for the evening. Instead I put stones in a south facing window where it will receive both sunlight and moonlight (especially with the full moon approaching at the end of this week). This is especially useful in the Fall and Winter when it can and often does rain here in my part of “sunny” California.
I often put the stone on top of a bowl of sea salt OR beach sand and place a Smokey Quartz crystal on top of or next to the stone. I’ve also been know to bury hard, non-porous stones in the salt or sand for stronger cleansing action, but one must be careful as this can damage softer, porous stones. This isn’t a necessary or required step, it’s simply a personal ritual of mine.
I generally leave the stone for 1 to 3 days and nights depending on how the stone feels to me when I first obtain it. If I feel especially negative vibrations from the stone I’ve been known to leave the stone for a full 7 days. I begin the ritual at one of three different times depending simply on a personal feeling. I can’t really say why I pick which time. All I can say that with each stone or crystal I pick the time that feels “right” for this stone. I begin at midnight, dawn or dusk.