A simple and practical way for you to make use of your gemstones, aside from carrying, meditating and laying them on and around the body for healing, is to make an elixir or gemstone potion.  These liquid creations can be used in many, many ways; you can take them internally as a way to absorb and incorporate the energy of a stone or crystal in the body, they can be added to plant water to energize them, drops can be added to a pre-ritual bath, or you can even use the charged water for cleansing ritual objects or even just areas in the home that may need some extra energy.  It’s a simple process and one that anyone can work with.

A BIG Word of Caution
Before you begin working with this method it is highly imperative that you purchase a good, solid resource manual for your crystal information as many crystals and stones are actually toxic and NOT recommended for this sort of process.  While any of the stones can be used externally on and around the body, some stones contain very dangerous minerals and inclusions such as sulphur, copper, lead, mercury and more.  I am going to include a list of some of the more popular stones that are known to be toxic and I will include some substitution suggestions as well along with a few source recommendations.

But, with that said, you can work with some of the toxic stones as long as you are creating an elixir that will be used for external purposes only, like for cleansing tools or cleaning the home.  In some crystal books when information on elixirs is given, you may see the suggestion of using elixirs made from toxic stones to be used for anointing the body, but again I have to even caution against because by putting the water made with these stones on the skin it’s possible for the undesired elements to absorb through the skin and into the blood stream.  So again, play it safe and do your research before making any elixirs.

Picking Your Stone
The best way to work with these elixirs is to use a single stone or crystal for each one and to work with taking the elixirs one at a time.  So when you’re making your very first one, try picking a stone that either has a very specific property that you wish to work with, such as carnelian for healing issues of anger or jealousy, or maybe amethyst to help with your psychic development or to open up the third eye before meditation.  When you aren’t sure, or you’re just giving this whole thing a try and don’t know what to work with, you can always used clear quartz as it is a stone that will give your energy vibrations an overall life and balance as well as being able to be used specifically for things like meditation and spiritual development.

Making Gemstone Elixirs
The process of making the elixirs is quite simple and doesn’t require a large amount of tools.  In fact, as long as you have your stones already, you can probably round up everything you need right in your own home.

You Will Need:

• A glass jar or bottle, with a lid, one for each elixir you’re making if you’re making elixirs from multiple types of stones.  NEVER use plastic!
• Spring water, distilled water, or filtered water.  This is important because you don’t want the natural inclusions found in tap water to leach or react with the stones themselves or their possible inclusions.
• A bowl that will be large enough to hold the amount of water you will be using for your elixir (multiple bowls will be needed if you’re doing multiple types of elixirs).
• A measuring cup and funnel for easy pouring.
• A singing bowl (this is for an optional step, but this is a nice touch if you have one)

Once you have gathered together everything, make sure that you cleanse everything, physically and psychically/energetically.  You might want to bring your items into sacred space to sit and charge at your altar overnight.  If you’re familiar with crystal grids (something we’ll talk about on a Wednesday in the future), you can place your bottles within a grid or layout to cleanse them as well.  Otherwise, a simple physical wash, including sterilizing the bottles and then given them a smudging with sage and charge with white light and energy (if you’ve never done this before, or if it’s been a while since you’ve sterilized a baby bottle, simply submerge your bottles, and droppers if you’re using them, in a pot of water on the stove, turn on the heat and let it come to a boil and let the bottles sit in the boiling water for five minutes, remove with tongs because they will be very hot, and place on a drying rack or paper towels to cool and air dry).

While you’re waiting for your bottles to dry you can work with cleansing your stone.  Give it a physical cleansing in cool, running water and then dry it.  Charge your stone with your intent; all stones have multiple energy properties so ask that the specific one(s) that you are looking to call into your elixir come forward and focus on sensing that energy or energies growing and becoming the dominate vibrations within the stone.  Place the stone on your altar and allow this to sit and charge until it is time to add it to your water.  You may also want to place the stone in direct sunlight or you can leave the stone with the water for the same 24 hours that it will be charging for.  Some people like to charge their stones for several days in sunlight, but use whatever stone charging and activation method you normally use or feel drawn to using.

Next, take your water and place it in a window sill, on your altar, or in another space that is near a window where it can catch direct sun and moonlight.  Do not worry if it is not a full moon, however working with the moon phases while creating your elixirs is another wonderful way to add extra energy to your potion.  The idea here is to charge the water with sun and moon energy for a full 24 hours.   The energy of the moon is always there, even when we can’t see it, so as long as you’re placing the bowl in line with an exposed window, you’re fine.

The next step, which happens once the water has charged, is to bring together your stone and water in a bottle for storage.  There are several ways to do this.  The first way is to simply take your stone, place it inside your bottle or jar, and then fill it with your charged water.  The other way utilizes a singing bowl.  If you have a singing bowl, first physically and psychically cleanse and charge it.  Place your stone inside the bottom of the bowl and fill the bowl with the water.  Be careful not to fill the bowl to the top because if it’s too full you’re going to spill the water and possible end up with quite a wet mess (I bet you can’t guess I’m speaking from experience).  Take a moment to center yourself and call up the energy that you’re looking to charge your elixir with and begin to play your bowl.  You’ll notice that the water will vibrate from the action of the bowl which not only adds the vibrational energy of the bowl itself but also activates the crystal energy on another level.  When you are ready allow the vibrations to settle on their own and then you can begin to add the water from the bowl into your jar or bottle.  At this stage you can either place the crystal in the bottle as well or, if you wish to keep the crystal out of the bottle, you can just pour in the water.  The work with the singing bowl and the vibrational activation will have merged the crystal’s energy with the water already.  Personally, I still like to keep the stone in the main storage bottle, even when I use this method.

Once the bottle is filled and sealed be sure to label your bottle.  Include the date, moon phase or astrological timing if you worked with that as a factor, the type of water used, the stone used, the method used (did you use the singing bowl or just place everything together in the bottle), and the specific purpose of this elixir.  This is important because you can create two or three elixirs using the same stone but with a different intention. Let the jar sit for 24 hours in sun and moonlight.  Over this next day you want to keep an eye on the bottle to make sure that there is no scum or algae forming either in the water itself or on the glass of the jar.  If it does you’ll need to toss the water out, sterilize the bottle, wash the stone, and try again.  This will happen if you missed one of these steps or didn’t properly or completely cleanse something in the initial process.

Store your bottles in a cool place our of direct sunlight.  It might sound a little silly, but if you have made multiple elixirs for different purposes be sure to store the bottles so they are not touching.  It is possible for the energies from the bottles converge in this situation and it could confuse your work.   But, on the reverse, if you have something like a bottle of body lotion or shampoo that you’d like to infuse with the energy of a specific elixir, you can place the bottles together, touching, and the energy from the stone in the elixir will mingle with the other item(s).  This is a great way to add some of the benefits of the elixir energy to something that shouldn’t necessarily have water added to it.

If you are going to take your elixir internally, take 3-6 drops 3-4 times a day, either under the  tongue or add to a glass of drinking water.  There is usually no real restriction to how long you can make use of these elixirs, so use them when and for as long as you feel you need to.  Be sure to periodically check your bottles for any contamination as well!

Toxic Stones
Here is a list of some stones that people may think of using for making elixirs because they may use them often in other healing or crystal work, however, these are all toxic.  This is by no means a complete list!  Please be sure to go online, call a gem shop, or purchase a comprehensive gemstone guide to reference if you are in any way unsure as to the toxicity of a stone. I am including the known inclusion that makes the stone toxic for internal use as well as a few safe substitutes as well and will add a few book recommendations at the end.

Amazonite – (copper), substitute with Aventurine
Amber – (toxic dust, fumes, raw amber will disintegrate in water)
Angelite – (lead sulfate)
Cobalt-Calcite/Pink Calcite – (cobalt)
Coral – (while organic, bacteria and toxins develop and form within it which can be dangerous when ingestied), substitute with Carnelian or Red Jasper
Emerald – (aluminum), substitute with Aquamarine or Peridot
Garnet – (aluminum)
Labradorite – (aluminum)
Lapis Lazuli – (copper)
Malachite – (copper)
Moldavite – (aluminum)
Moonstone – (some contain aluminum, but other toxins can also be present depending on the type of moonstone)
Mother of Pearl and Pearl – (organic but toxins in the water when it is formed will be present)
Ruby – (aluminum)
Sodalite – (aluminum), substitute with Carnelian
Tiger’s Eye – (can contain asbestos and dyes)
Topaz – (aluminum), substitute with Citrine
Tourmaline – (aluminum)
Turquoise – (copper)

A few book recommendations:
Love is in the Earth: A Kaleidoscope of Crystals by Melody Over 700 pages and one of the most popular and recommended reference guides for stones and crystals and their use in healing and metaphysics.  A must have for anyone looking to work with stones in this way.

The Essential Crystal Handbook by Simon and Sue Lilly – This is a great, small book that you can toss in your bag and take with you when you go shopping for your crystals.  Lots of tips for working with stones for healing, some great meditation tips, and excellent information on over 100 different stones.  One great thing about this book is you will also get the chemical composition for each which can help you quickly identify those that could possibly contain toxic elements.

Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem and Metal Magic by Scott  Cunningham – A wonderful quick reference for some of the more commonly used stones, with information on substitutions, picking stones by specific intents, and information on magickal and healing uses.