Crystals For Beginners [Ultimate Guide]

Crystal medicine is a form of healing that humans have been practicing for pretty much as long as we’ve existed. Anyone with the time and the drive to practice can learn to use crystals. But what are the best crystals for beginners to use?

Where to Start?

Of course, we all have to start somewhere. You don’t just hop onto high-energy powerhouses like diamond or moldavite and expect that to work out fine. To be clear, it can, but you’re much less likely to connect with a high vibration crystal without some kind of foundation. 

A connection with gemstones is something that’s built up over time. If a crystal is too overwhelming, then it’s likely there’s a less intense one that does the same job you can work with first.

Keep in mind that you may or may not have success with various crystals. Each and every one of us has our own energy that changes as we go. 

Some of it is simply a part of who we are. There will always be crystals, either specific specimens or types as a whole that don’t work well with our energy. 

That’s not only completely fine, it’s normal. With over 200 kinds of crystals discovered and many different forms of rocks out there, there’s bound to be a gem, that works for you. 

Basically, if any of the following gems, crystals, or stones don’t mesh with your energy, it doesn’t mean you’re a crystal failure. You can always try another. Without further ado, here are ten of the best crystals for beginners.

Quartz

Quartz is a silica-type crystal that forms in trigonal and hexagonal points and clusters. It can be completely clear or included with other stones and even metals like copper or gold. Of course, it’s not the chemical properties that make quartz one of the best crystals for beginners.

Quartz is a powerful energy absorber and magnifier. It helps open up our psychic centers and boost the connections we have not only ourselves but with other stones as well.

One of the best (and sometimes worst) things about quartz is its near-limitless ability to absorb and magnify the energy you put into it. If you put in positivity, that’s what you’ll get back. 

Be careful, though. Even unintentional negativity can come back to bite you. 

If you plan on using quartz to sieve off your negative energy, be sure to intentionally compress that energy into a quiet form. It also wouldn’t hurt to cleanse your crystal frequently.

How to Use Clear Quartz Crystals for Beginners:

• Sit holding your quartz and imagine all the things you want in life.
• Meditate with quartz over your third eye to help awaken and strengthen your psychic senses.
• Wear quartz in a ring, pendant, bracelet, or earrings for a constant boost throughout the day.
• Carry a quartz worry stone with you for a quick surge of energy and reassurance whenever you feel you need it.
• Add quartz to your time with other crystals such as amethyst and citrine to magnify its effects and store the energy of the other crystals for later.
• Put quartz in your crystal water bottle to infuse yourself with its powerful energy from the inside out.
• Use quartz in your bath or shower water for an extra cleansing scrub.

Amethyst

A purple form of quartz, the amethyst comes in various shades from nearly clear to deep violet. This is mostly due to the relatively high concentrations of manganese. It’s this rich purple color that betrays amethyst’s spiritual qualities.

Since it’s connected to the third eye, amethyst is a powerhouse of psychic energy and intuition. Working with this stone helps us learn more about ourselves and how we connect to our world.

Amethyst also happens to be an excellent protector. It purifies us of negative emotions and allows us to see ourselves for who we truly are. 

When looking for crystals for beginners, amethyst expands our perspective and amplifies our energy. It smooths over negative emotions and helps us settle into a more solid place in our lives. This can help us approach our path, with crystals or otherwise, from a much more informed angle.

How to Use Amethyst Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear amethyst as a ring, bracelet, earrings, or necklace for a constant hum of soothing energy and intuition.
• Carry an amethyst worry stone for a quick boost of inner sight and confidence whenever you feel like you need it.
• Add amethyst to your crystal water bottle to infuse yourself with psychic energy and healing.
• Put amethyst in your bath or shower water for a particularly insightful scrub.
• Use amethyst with other stones like quartz and selenite to maximize its calming, intuitive effects.
• Place amethyst in a special place in your house to fill your home and those within it with a powerful psychic boost.
• Meditate with amethyst over your third eye to help awaken your psychic senses and increase intuition.

Citrine

Citrine is a yellow form of quartz with a decent amount of iron oxide mixed in to give it its sunny color. Much like its purple and clear cousins, it’s not citrine’s mineral content that makes it among the top-recommended crystals for beginners.

This sunny semi-precious stone has a vibrant, transformative energy that rivals even some of the most powerful crystals. It’s said to embody the light of the sun itself and can add powerful energy to those who work with it.

Citrine helps us burn away emotional impurities and adds kindling to our confidence. It has a strong transformative energy that takes our old selves and remolds us into something better.

Citrine is such a powerful source of energy, in fact, that it never needs to be cleansed or recharged. It also happens to make an excellent stepping stone to working with its more expensive counterparts like diamond and topaz. Of course, it’s plenty powerful in its own right and a perfect choice among crystals for beginners.

How to Use Citrine Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear citrine as earrings, a necklace, ring, or bracelet for a constant boost of positivity and transformation.
• Carry a citrine worry stone for a little surge of confidence whenever you feel that you need it.
• Add citrine to your bath or shower water for an energizing cleanse.
• Use citrine with other stones like quartz and shungite to enhance its transformative effects.
• Give citrine a special place in your house or bury a chunk at each of the four corners to bring a boost of energy and confidence to all those within.
• Meditate with citrine over your solar plexus to help open up your energy and spur radical transformation.

Shungite

Composed primarily of carbon, shungite is a powerful non-crystalline gem. The more carbon it contains, the shinier it is. Regardless of the carbon content, this stone makes a wonderful starter stone for new crystal enthusiasts.

Shungite is a powerful stone of luck and protection. It’s said to help with astral projection and shields its keeper from energetic attack. 

It’s even been used in water purification due to its hefty carbon content. Think of those little packets of carbon you stick in the back of a fish tank filter. That’s the sort of job shungite does with your energy and emotions.

It’s a powerful soother and can help us filter out the gunk when it comes to our spiritual and emotional bodies. For this reason, shungite is often used in conjunction with other stones to help keep the intended energy on track. Though, it works well on its own too.

How to Use Shungite Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear shungite in earrings, a necklace, bracelet, or ring for a constant soothing and purifying effect.
• Carry a chunk of shungite or a worry stone for a quick boost whenever you feel you need it.
• Add shungite to your time with other stones to help keep their effects on track.
• Put shungite in your crystal water bottle to infuse yourself with its purifying essence from the inside out.
• Use shungite in your bath or shower water for an extra cleansing and balancing scrub.
• Meditate with shungite over your root chakra to help ground and purify your energy.
• Give shungite a special spot in your home to purify and soothe the space as well as those within it.

Selenite

Largely composed of gypsum, selenite is clear to a milky or white gem. It forms in rods, sheets, and even odd-looking balls called desert roses. As varied as its forms are, it’s not the mineral makeup or even the shape that makes this such a good stone for beginners.

Selenite is a powerful purifier that soothes negative emotions and clears us up to see our own self-worth.

One of the best benefits of selenite for new crystal enthusiasts is its knack for helping us clear our minds. This, in turn, assists with basic tasks like grounding and meditation. In short, selenite is the perfect beginner stone to help us work with other crystals for beginners. 

How to Use Selenite Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear selenite as a ring, earrings, bracelet, or necklace for a constant surge of pure positivity.
• Carry a worry stone or desert rose in your pocket for a quick boost whenever you need it (keep in mind that towers and wands tend to have needle-like filaments and should not be used as a worry stone without thorough polishing).
• Meditate with selenite over your crown chakra to open and clear all chakras. 
• Set up a special place in your home for a selenite tower or sculpture to fill the space and those within it with cleansing calm (remember that selenite begins to melt when it gets wet and should never be put someplace it will get damp).
• Use selenite when you work with other stones to help increase focus and get deeper into your meditation.

Hematite

Rich in iron oxide, hematite is a metallic-looking gem that forms in geometric clumps. It’s one of the few commonly used stones that’s actually magnetic. This magnetism is a big hint to its properties.

Hematite repels negative energy and attracts the positive. It also keeps its keeper grounded and centered while boosting clarity.

This is a stone of the mind that helps us organize our thoughts. It magnifies self-confidence and detoxifies our own heads.

In short, hematite is a unique gemstone that grounds and purifies us. It helps us keep our focus and process things clearly so we can better navigate our experiences. In turn, making this a must-have among the crystals for beginners. 

How to Use Hematite Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear hematite in a necklace, earrings, ring, or magnetic bracelet for a constant ebb of positivity.
• Carry a hematite worry stone for a quick boost of clarity whenever you feel you need it.
• Add hematite to your time with other stones like quartz and amazonite to enhance their effects.
• Add hematite to water mixtures such as war water for a protective tool (keep in mind that hematite will rust when it gets wet).
• Meditate with hematite over your root chakra to ground and cleanse you.
• Set up a special place for hematite in your home to fill the space with clarity and protection.
• Use hematite as fridge magnets to add clarity and cleanse your kitchen.

Obsidian

Obsidian is a stone that’s not a stone at all. This volcanic glass is usually brown to black and, since it’s glass, tends to break rather easily. Of course, its metaphysical effects are much stronger than its physical properties.

This dark-colored wonder is a powerful protector and cleanser. Not only does it block negative energy from its keeper, but it flat out absorbs and dissolves all the gunk that comes at us in life.

Part of what makes obsidian such a good gem for beginners is the way it grounds us and clears out any spiritual leftovers. 

Basically, it helps us keep our head and clears the way for us to work better not only with ourselves but with other stones. That’s an incredible tool for someone just starting out.

How to Use Obsidian Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear obsidian as earrings, a ring, bracelet, or necklace for a constant purifying effect.
• Carry an obsidian worry stone for a quick boost of positivity whenever you feel you need it.
• Add obsidian to your time with other crystals to help clear out distractions and help you focus on the task at hand.
• Use obsidian in your bath or shower water for an extra cleansing scrub (please note that obsidian may crack, just like any glass, in extreme hot or cold temperatures).
• Add obsidian to your crystal water bottle to infuse yourself with its cleansing energy.
• Give obsidian a special place in your home to clear the space of any negative energy.
• Meditate with obsidian over your root chakra to help ground and center yourself.

Carnelian

A silica-based stone that’s heavy in iron, carnelian typically forms in rough chunks. It’s yellow to orange in color but can sometimes look almost red. The bright exterior is the telltale clue to this stone’s vibrant energy.

Sometimes when we first start working with stones we’re not as confident in our abilities. Carnelian helps boost that confidence with its warm, sunny energy.

This stone anchors us and pumps us full of the positivity of a ray of sunlight. It helps us control and balances our life energy, which is an especially important skill for someone just learning.

Basically, where obsidian purifies, carnelian powers. This is the battery of confidence and spiritual energy to get you started. These fiery crystals for beginners are an asset to every new collection.

How to Use Carnelian Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear carnelian as a necklace, bracelet, ring, or earrings for a constant boost of confidence and energy.
• Carry a carnelian worry stone or chunk for a quick surge of positivity whenever you feel you need it.
• Create a special place in your house where carnelian can charge the space and those within with vibrant, sunny confidence.
• Use carnelian in your bath or shower water for an extra empowering scrub.
• Put carnelian in your crystal water bottle to help infuse yourself with its vibrant sunny energy.
• Mix carnelian into things like war water to add protective power behind their effects.
• Add carnelian to your time with other stones like citrine and tiger’s eye for a nice energetic boost.
• Meditate with carnelian over your sacral chakra to help unlock the flow of your life energy.

Tiger’s Eye

Tiger’s eye is a dense form of quartz that has formed in stacked strips of fiber that give it that flashy sheen. It can be red, green, yellow, blue, or even black, but it’s not the color that makes this stone a powerful tool for beginners.

When you’re just starting out you’re bound to make mistakes. Tiger’s eye is there for you as a grounding, protective stone that helps flash negativity away.

It’s a lucky stone that enhances wealth and just might give you that edge you need to make it over that first hump. It also grounds and clears its keeper of any spiritual gunk. 

Basically, tiger’s eye doesn’t just look good. It’s a powerful tool that helps us keep a level head and adds energy to our endeavors.

How to Use Tiger’s Eye Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear tiger’s eye in a necklace, bracelet, earrings, or ring for constantly grounded luck.
• Carry a tiger’s eye worry stone for a little boost of protection and a reminder that you have to power to do whatever you want in life
• Add a slice of tiger’s eye to your purse, wallet, or desk to help multiply your profits and encourage steady increases.
• Meditate with tiger’s eye over your solar plexus to help open up your emotional centers and add energy to your workings.
• Make a special spot in your house for tiger’s eye to fill the space with a grounding boost of energy.
• Put tiger’s eye in your bath or shower water for an extra energizing scrub.
• Use tiger’s eye in your crystal water bottle to infuse yourself with its energy and protection.
• Add tiger’s eye to your time with other stones like quartz and hematite to help boost its effects on luck and prosperity.

Moonstone

A feldspar type stone, moonstone is a gem that comes in white, brown, gray, yellow, pink, green, and even rainbow. While it’s most recognized for its white and rainbow varieties, this semi-precious gem glows among the crystals for beginners.

Moonstone is a calming stone that helps open up our psychic centers. It increases awareness and helps calm our turbulent emotions.

This is a gem of intuition and feminine energy that helps us keep in touch with our inner voices and see where we sit in the universe. Knowing where you stand, physically or otherwise, is an exceptionally useful tool for someone who’s just starting out.

Moonstone, especially the rainbow variety, is a gem that’s been worshiped by mankind just about as long as we’ve existed. It’s certainly no wonder why. Between its purifying and eye-opening properties, this stone is an excellent tool for any crystal medicine enthusiast.

How to Use Moonstone Crystals for Beginners:

• Wear moonstone as earrings, a necklace, ring, or bracelet for a constant boost of luck and intuition.
• Carry a chunk of moonstone or a moonstone worry stone in your pocket for a little reminder of your place and a surge of security whenever you feel like you need it.
• Add a chunk of moonstone to your bath or shower water for an intuition strengthening cleanse.
• Put moonstone in your crystal water bottle to infuse yourself with moonstone’s luck and spiritual properties from the inside out.
• Use moonstone alongside other crystals for beginners like quartz and amethyst to enhance its self-reflective effects.
• Set up a special spot for moonstone in your home or place a chunk at the four corners of your house to fill your space with positive energy.
• Meditate with moonstone over your sacral chakra to wake up your energy and let your passions flow.
• Lay with rainbow moonstone over your third eye to help awaken your psychic senses and increase intuition