Whenever you acquire a new crystal, it should always be cleansed. All sorts of impressions will have been made on it between the time it was mined and the time it came into your ownership.
This unwanted energy isn’t necessary negative, although some of it may be. Even if there’s no negative energy within your crystal, it’s important that it’s tuned in to you and you alone. Only then can you endow the crystals with your own personal energy.
Sometimes, a crystal will appear dull. This is most obvious in crystal prisms, but can also be seen in stones such as Jasper and Tiger’s Eye. There are two reasons for this dullness. One is that the crystal is resting, in which case you shouldn’t ask anything of it. The second is that it needs cleansing.
If you think your crystal needs to rest, leave it in a quiet place for 24 hours. If it’s still dull after 24 hours, you can be certain it needs cleansing.
Even if nobody else has handled your crystal, it may have picked up other energies from the atmosphere around you, especially if it’s been used in particularly intense or emotional work. Those used for crystal healing need cleansing often.
Crystals used to protect or bring positive energy to the home or workplace will probably need to be cleansed more often than those that are kept in a dark place and only brought out occasionally. Again, check their shine, if they’re dull, they’re either tired or need charging. Home or workplace crystals that are tired should be removing and left in a quiet place to rest.