Reply #15: by all means [View All]

don't feel bad, I'm sure Mother Earth knows of your love and care for her! I simply like to try to be aware of where things come from. If you felt right about the person you purchased the crystals from that is good.
There is a very large store here where they sell gems and minerals of all kinds. They have some huge amethyst geodes which obviously took some effort to obtain. I get a sad feeling when I walk by them, as they were taken from the earth solely for profit.
I think it is this sort of enterprise that is the most troublesome.

As for passing on a crystal or receiving one, I like to put them in a running stream for a little while if possible, or run them under cold water and smudge them with sage or cedar smoke to cleanse them of accumulated energies.

In my way of thinking maybe the most important thing one can do is 'talk' to a crystal or stone, thank it and tell it of your intention. I know that would sound crazy to some, but many of our indigenous relatives do/did this also.
Another thing one can do is make a small offering (tobacco, a bead or any simple gesture) to the earth and thank it for sharing.
If the stone had been taken in a 'non-sacred' manner this would be especially meaningfull.

Please don't take my comments as trying to discourage you from working with stones. Like so many things in nature they can be of help to us two leggeds. I don't believe there is anything wrong with getting a stone for a specific meaning. Stones in general are often thought of as the record keepers for they have been 'around' through various ages here on earth and can be teachers. The secret it seems is 'slowing down' and learning to hear them. Their sense of time is much different than ours.
Like the Ents of Tolkien's story, we probably seem quite "hastey" to them. :-)

blessings, G_j