Our Deep Dive Into Moonstone: A Crystal All About New Beginnings (2024)

Iridescent, luminous, and just plain pretty, moonstone is a favorite of crystal aficionados and gemstone enthusiasts everywhere. Moonstone is thought to be linked with feminine energy and intuition. Here's everything you need to know about moonstone.

History of moonstone

Moonstone is a gemstone of sodium potassium aluminium silicate, belonging to the feldspar group of minerals. It's been highly regarded in Eastern cultures for generations as a symbol of good luck, thanks to its shimmery, lit-from-within appearance. It was often used in jewelry in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations and was closely tied to lunar spirituality and deities, feminine energy, and even fertility.

Also sometimes called hecatolite, moonstone can be found all over the world, from the U.S. to Australia to Madagascar to the Austrian Alps and more.

Types of moonstone

The highest-quality moonstone is essentially colorless with a slightly blue sheen and translucent quality. Though different varieties range from gray to green, brown, pink, and even rainbow.

Moonstone properties and benefits

According to Ashley Leavy, founder and educational director of the Love and Light School of Crystal Therapy, moonstone is thought to balance the emotions, increase fascination, improve focus, and correspond to the cycles of life.

It's also believed to enhance connection to the divine feminine, increasing feelings of nurturing, spiritual curiosity, surrender and acceptance, and patience. "Moonstone encourages you to experience the freedom that's found through giving into your wild side and following your passions," Leavy says.

As author of Crystals for Healing Karen Frazier notes, "Moonstone is a great, calming stone, perfect for facilitating better sleep, promoting calmness, and for helping you to have meaningful dreams and supporting psychic vision and intuition."

How to use it

As with any crystal, there are lots of ways to use moonstone depending on what you're going for. Here's a rundown of some different ways to use it.

Moonstone can be a great tool for manifesting, so Leavy recommends using it for heartchakrawork, to manifest your heart's desire.

"Place this crystal outside on the ground, overnight on the night of the full moon, to charge it with Lunar energy," she says."Write down what you'd like to manifest on a small piece of paper, and place the charged moonstone atop the paper for one full day and night to call your desire into being. Retrieve the crystal and hold it over your heart chakra in meditation for 13 minutes."

Frazier suggests placing your moonstone between your mattress and box spring to enhance intuitive dreaming.

And for a cleansing and clearing new moon ritual, try sitting in your favorite meditation spot with a piece of moonstone in your receiving (nondominant) hand, or lie on your back and place the moonstone touching your crown chakra, Frazier suggests. "Close your eyes, and visualize white light entering you through the moonstone in your hand, flowing throughout your body to cleanse away anything that doesn't serve you."

For a chakra ritual to balance your body, mind, and spirit, Leavy suggests a color visualization technique with your moonstone.

And of course, you can also simply keep moonstone around your home or on your person when you're out and about, to keep its energy with you. Place a piece on your altar or near your home's entryway, stow some in your car for a clear head while driving, or hold some in your hand whenever you want to calm down or tap into your inner feminine.

How to take care of it

Caring for your crystals is an important part of getting the most out of them, so it's always a good idea to look into how to best cleanse, activate, and store them.

While some crystals can be cleansed with water or salt, others don't play well with either. "In order to make things easier to remember, I recommend not using salt and water for crystal cleansing," Frazier says. "Instead, I like to place them in a singing bowl and ring it, or I use Palo Santo smoke to cleanse them."

Leavy is also a fan of smudging or sounds to cleanse crystals, adding, "To cleanse your stones by burning sacred herbs, pass your stones through the smoke (such as sage, sweetgrass, Palo Santo, or cedar) or incense (such as sandalwood, lavender, or jasmine) for approximately two to three minutes."

And if you really feel like your moonstone needs a deep clean, Leavy suggests burying it. "Dig a small hole where you would like to bury your stone, placing the soil you have removed into an earthenware pot or jar," she says. "Bury the crystal in the soil within the pot or jar. Then, lower the pot into the hole and cover it with the remaining soil. Mark your crystal with a flag or some other marker, and leave the stone buried for at least one week."

To keep your crystal safe, you can consider storing it in a cloth to prevent scratches. If you have it on display, it's a good idea to give it a good cleaning before and after you use it, to prevent it from holding on to excess energy.

The takeaway