Six Stones to Start Off Your Crystal Collection

Six Stones to Start Off Your Crystal Collection

If you’re new to the fascinating world of crystals you can quickly become overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of all there is to learn and know. I, for one, have been fascinated by stones for essentially my entire life, and felt myself to be fairly knowledgeable well before I started making crystal jewelry as to the properties of many of them, but I sure have learned an enormous amount since then and am quite aware that I’ve only scratched the surface. In fact, those of you who know me personally know that I’m a pretty big social media fan, but what you probably don’t know is that my favorite Facebook Group as of late is called “Rocks, Fossils and Minerals Identification” – you can post a picture of a stone you want to identify and you’ll immediately get all kinds of responses and opinions. Way too much fun. I always look at the comments even if I think I know the answer just to test myself. Anyone can join if interested!

Anyway, I thought it might be helpful to post about a “starter kit” of stones to have in your arsenal if you’re just beginning to put together a collection – whether in jewelry form or otherwise. (All of these are pieces handmade by me; some are still available and I have many other stones in all of these categories.) Here goes:

1. Smokey Quartz for Grounding and Protection – Smokey Quartz comes in an enormous range of colors, from almost clear to deep transparent brown. Here are a couple of examples, in palm stone form and in wand form.

Wearing or carrying Smokey Quartz is said to keep you calm, balanced and centered and to ward off negativity, fear and darkness. And we can all use that these days.

2. Carnelian for Creativity – This beautiful orange-red stone is said to help you “find your passion” as well as to build confidence and courage to move forward in manifesting whatever that passion turns out to be. These two are particularly interesting as the wand has such lovely striping and the palm stone has a little “window” in its lower right corner that let’s you see into the interior of the stone.

3. Citrine for Abundance and Success – Citrines can also range widely in color, again from almost clear looking to deep golden to almost brown-ish. The piece on the right has quite a bit of rutilation (hair-like interior growths which look amazing and add to the inner life of the stone) and includes a second small citrine as part of the emblem.

Citrine is said to attract abundance on all levels and also helps with creativity and manifestation. As an added bonus, the rutile serves to amplify the energy of the stone.

4. Rose Quartz for Heart Opening and Forgiveness – Think pink whether the palest petal variety or a medium rose; it’s gorgeous whether polished or raw.

Rose Quartz also protects the vulnerable heart and soothes the hurt of loss as well as supports self-love and acceptance.

5. Amethyst, the Spirituality Stone – Amethyst comes not only in delicious purple tones but also, as I recently learned, in shades of gray ranging into black. (Many of the Druzy rings and pendants I’ve made are in this color range). Here are a couple of purple examples – a Druzy ring and a wand pendant.

Amethyst has purifying energy and helps to connect you with your spirituality as well as to release addictive behaviors. It’s an excellent meditation stone.

6. Clear Quartz for Balanced and Harmonized Energy and Amplification – By far the most popular of all crystals, Clear Quartz ‘s exquisite clarity brings balance and enhances the energies of all other stones. Here are a couple of examples:

As stunning as the clarity is, the inclusions make each stone that much more interesting.

This is a good jumping off point for beginning a crystal collection or for filling in the blanks. I hope you’ve found this to be helpful and informative and of course I’m happy to address any questions you might have or to help you put together your own collection.

Warmest, Nicole