What’s the difference between raw vs polished crystals for crystal healing? Which is better? Are raw and natural crystals more powerful? Does cutting or polishing crystals weaken their energy? Here’s my take…
Raw Vs Polished Crystals: The Big Debate
This can sometimes be a bit of a controversial topic in the crystal healing community. As I get a lot of questions about this I want to cover it in more detail here. I want to clarify what I believe and why I think this to hopefully clear up any confusion.
📌 PLEASE NOTE: This article isn’t about anyone’s personal preference. You may prefer one type over the other and that is fine.
I have been working with crystals for many years but this is just my perspective. You can make up your own mind. First, I want to blow a myth right out of the water…
Crystal Myth Busting
You may have been told by someone that crystals that are carved into shapes or polished have weak or no energy… In my opinion, this is a modern misconception. It often comes from virtue-signalling crystal puritans and new age fanatics online.
Although they are free to believe this, it makes no sense in a scientific, metaphysical or historical sense to me. Let me explain why…
Remembering The Roots Of Crystal Healing
My biggest problem with these extreme ideas is that they show a complete lack of knowledge about the spiritual and cultural history of crystals, minerals and gemstones. Modern crystal healing exists because of these earlier traditions.
The ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, Mayans and Indians (to name just a few) were not stupid. They cut, carved and polished crystals and minerals for spiritual purposes. Be careful of throwing valuable ancient knowledge out the window…
The funerary mask of Tutankhamun is made from Gold, Lapis Lazuli, Quartz, Obsidian, Carnelian, Amazonite and Turquoise.
Crystal Structure Is Infinite
Crystals have an internal crystal pattern that repeats throughout them. It makes no difference if you have a Quartz crystal point, tumbled stone, carving or grain of Quartz sand. Even with non-crystalline minerals, they are still made of the same elements throughout.
The Power Of Sacred Geometry
Some of the shapes crystals and gemstones are cut into use geometric forms. Sacred geometry occurs everywhere in nature, including in the crystal’s internal structure and outer formations. But this metaphysical science applies to ALL forms, including mad-made ones.
The circle of stones at Stonehenge for example or the Great pyramid don’t have low or no energy just because the stones they are made from were cut and moved into position by people (or ETs). The ancients built sacred sites to harness and amplify the natural spiritual energy of the location.
Does cutting, carving or polishing harm the crystal?
I’ve been communicating with and sensing the energy of crystals for many years. In that time they have never told me this or had any such energy. Crystals are conscious but they are not like a human with a finite bodies. They are so beyond that.
Crystals have a purpose and want to reach people to serve the greater good. This may involve splitting into more versions of themselves. Transformation of form is part of alchemy and the nature of the universe.
Also, Consider This…
You will see people say they only work with raw crystals but I can imagine this must be very limiting. For example, do these people not have any Rose Quartz? Most of the Earth’s Rose Quartz grows in massive form. Even if you have a raw chunk, it was broken into smaller pieces by someone…
Let’s Get Real About Crystals & Minerals
Even if they only wear raw crystal jewellery, where do they think Silver, Gold and Copper come from? These are all crystals that grow in the Earth. Your silver was split from the original formation (or extracted from ore), and melted down, altering its crystal structure and outer form. Gold and Sterling Silver even add other minerals to them like tin to create these wearable metals.
Where do people think their homes bricks, tiles and flagstones come from? What about the metals in their cars, modern technology, wires and pipes? Is the quartz in their windows, glasses and ceramic plates any different?
While we are on the subject of conscious life forms. What about all the wood in people’s houses and furniture? Unlike crystals and minerals, a tree dies when you chop it down. Where do you draw the line?
The Difference Between Raw Vs Polished Crystals
There is a difference between raw vs polished crystals, energetically. But it’s not what some people think. I work with both. Neither is better than the other, it’s more about what you need the crystal for. Let me explain the pros and cons of both below separately:
Raw Crystals: Pros & Cons
Natural crystals are beautiful creations from nature. Generally, raw crystals can give off strong energy. But, powerful energy isn’t always ideal in all situations. If the crystal is big, this can be very intense and overwhelming to some people.
Raw crystals are great for placing around your home, gridding or meditating with. Angular or fragile crystals are not ideal for carrying on you. They can poke you or easily chip or break.
Also, remember that some crystals are toxic and you don’t want them to shed onto your skin. Polishing stabilises the surface which usually stops them from shedding.
Polished Crystals: Pros & Cons
Cutting and polishing a crystal can bring out its hidden inner beauty. You just can’t see this with raw crystals like Labradorite, Fluorite or Phantom Quartz otherwise. Generally, polishing seems to soften and regulate the energy of a crystal.
This makes it easier to receive their energy gradually over time such as in jewellery or chakra crystals for example. However, some geometric forms like pyramids, spheres or points can amplify and focus the energy in a different way.
That’s another reason the ancients did this. Working with different shapes and forms adds meaning and enhances certain properties of the stones. Polishing also makes crystals more comfortable to carry and wear like tumbled stones.
In Summary
Here’s a very quick recap of the main benefits of raw and polished crystals. Please watch my short YouTube video:
Hopefully, you can see that both types of crystal forms have the same amount of energy. It’s just that they release their energy in different ways. (PLEASE keep any questions you have concise and stick to this blog post topic if you want a response).
If you are looking for other information please use the search box or visit my FREE Resources page to see if it’s already been covered elsewhere.
With gratitude,
Ethan
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Thank you for this. I wholly agree with you on the energy of the raw vs Polished. I prefer to carry polished due to the safer handling. All new crystals go through a ritual to cleanse them and recharge them, but I am also now reconnecting them to Mother Earth. In between as needed they are cleansed with incense and when possible a bit of sunshine and as much moon as is possible. Since they are from the Earth, I just feel these amazing gifts need to be reconnected. In doing that, my crystals seem to perk up and have a little more energy than before. I think in the end, it’s the care we put into them too. I had someone tell me that she could tell my crystals were loved. They are but that is still affecting how I see them; they definitely are more than a pretty stone. No matter the form, it’s intent, it’s the care and the respect we give these wonderful gifts from the Earth that seems to have an affect on their energetic levels. Just my experiences and I am still learning so much about them.
Great points Debbie, I agree, thank you for sharing
I agree too. I just wanted to add to Debbie’s point:
I’ve always rinsed my crystals & gemstones, then placed outside in the dirt to recharge. Wow! They’re jumping with joy when taken out, the strongest vibration they’ve ever had. What a difference.
My crystal balls too. They just love being back in the ground. Also, works with polished or unpolished stones.
Sometimes I leave crystal balls in the house in a bowl of dirt or sand. They like that too, but not as much as being buried outside.
Try it, they’ll love it.
The problem I see with polished crystals is one of intent. Most shaped /cut crystals are shaped by an underpaid/undervalued person and sold by a person looking to make as much money from it as they can from it’s sale. Most of whom dream of becoming some kind of big-shot in the material world. This seems like a bad way to start. Thoughts?
Two words, Chain: cleanse, and Love.
Always cleanse a crystal when you bring it home, even if you bought it from a shop with the sweetest energy you’ve ever known.
And Love can overcome basically anything. Love your crystal, regardless of its shape, form or type, and remember: it let itself be torn from the Earth, its mother, shaped, polished, in many cases transported far away from its home… it lets people put it through all that, because:
It grew specifically for its recipient and knew it would have to subject itself to all of that to eventually arrive in their life and get to work.
I love this blog. It has clarified the difference between raw and tumbled stones, and makes perfect sense. Thank you.
We are finally planning the trip to Scotland and London. My father was born in Scotland. Any advice on sacred spots where the energy is special.
How exciting. There are some stone circles there but you could check out Rosslyn Chapel, its on my bucket list
I agree completely I have both raw and polished and they are all precious and I have the same respect for all of them I have never thought raw is stronger or better than polished .
Thankyou for covering this topic
There is a difference between raw and polished crystals, certain people are right about that.
There are also differences between the different types of polishing, i.e. faceting, forming into a specific shape e.g. totem animal, tumble polishing, making into a dragon egg, polishing in sympathy with the crystal’s original form.
The last thing I want to do is be prescriptive, so I’ll simply say that in my experience, the difference in these shaping techniques is mostly how they affect the stone’s energy.
For my own personal preference, I tend to prefer Quartz family crystals in their natural state, just as they come out of the Earth, or polished in sympathy with same, and I favour Agates and Chalcedony in tumbled form, along with Labradorite/Spectrolite/Galaxyite which I’m also partial to in palmstone form. (Ethan, I do love the solo image of the Labra palmstone above!) I have no preference when it comes to Fluorite (the only one I don’t have in Fluorite is a facet), the Beryls, Corundums or in fact, now that I think about it, most other stones, the exception being Jasper which I strongly prefer tumbled. With the Quartzes, I think it’s mainly to do with the termination being a phenomenally good focuser and director of energy; that’s what they’re meant to do, and it does seem a shame to take that away from them, but if a Quartz in some other form is meant for me, I’m not about to turn it away (even if it gave me the option).
I mentioned the effects on the crystals’ energies which can happen with polishing.
Tumblestones tend to have the raw ‘edge’ taken off their energy, making them a good way to introduce yourself to an unfamiliar and powerful crystal — I find it helps with the adaptation process if I first obtain a tumble of a crystal (Blue Apatite comes to mind here), and then get hold of a raw crystal later, when I’m used to the intrinsic energy of that species. Tumblestones can also, in the more physical sense, be easier and more comfortable to handle: I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve had a “crystal cut” (with no blame nor fault attached to the crystal, that’s basically a paper cut, but caused by a sharp crystal edge). Tumblestones are also usually fairly cheap (although, that said, a few years ago I saw 2cm Golden Apatite tumbles for sale on the Amazon UK Marketplace for £25 each, so the price will vary widely dependent on species) and can be used decoratively in many places in the home or office where they will continue to spread their beautiful energy for thr benefit of all.
Crystal animals are excellent for connecting with the ‘spirit’ of that animal since shaping them into that form imbues that new energy into them — I have two crystal horses (with the horse being prominent among my spirit animals), one a palm-sized Clear Quartz in the shape of a recumbent horse and the other a 4″ horse’s head in Rainbow Fluorite (sold as representing the Knight chess piece and carved in the same way, but the proportions being somewhat different, and closer to a real horse’s head and neck than the traditional Knight). Obviously the crystal the piece is carved from, has a bearing on the deeper meaning.
Abstract forms like Ethan’s Carnelian flame can, like the carved animals, be helpful in meditation, and again the shape and type have a big influence.
Facets — now we’re dealing with one of my favourite ways to shape a crystal. Some claim that a faceted stone has more power because it has more outlets for its light/energy, but I haven’t found, with quite a few faceted stones (both loose and set as jewellery) in my collection, that this is actually the case. The effect of faceting, I tend to find, is to ‘refine’ a crystal’s energy, as opposed to its energy in its raw state. They don’t feel more powerful; they feel more….. the best way I can explain it is to say that a faceted crystal seems to have more ‘layers’ to its energy, and a more concentrated power, but without being actually amplified.
Dragon eggs (AKA seer stones) are intriguing things, looking like the sea has done the polishing (the curved surface, especially with Quartz versions, looks a lot like sea glass), but I have only one in my collection and, if I’m honest, I would have been delighted if it had come to me as a natural or sympathetically polished crystal, because it has a truly stunning number of Phantom layers in it. It looks a lot like the one on the right side of Ethan’s banner image for this article, the layers even being the same colour; the only difference is that mine’s more smoky. (Ethan, what exactly is the Phantom in that picture?) Mine also has what appear to be very fine needle-like inclusions of something black, so could be tourmalated as well. It is very powerful, and often acts as a memory aid and/or a conduit for intuitive knowledge.
My experience of this last one, polished in sympathy with its natural form, is admittedly limited, having only four or five crystals which have obviously undergone this process; but from what I’ve discovered, it seems this one makes little to no difference to the crystal’s energies, only perhaps removing stubborn chunks of matrix, or improving the view of the stone’s interior.
In any event, there are things I always try to remember about shaped/polished crystals, of whatever species:
1) Their energies are intrinsic, and cannot be removed or completely changed (with the obvious exceptions of the heat-based transformations of Amethyst to Prasiolite or Citrine).
2) These crystals, whatever shape they reach us in, *have grown themselves specifically for us*.
3) They have permitted humans to put them through whatever polishing or other treatments are deemed necessary, in order to reach us. They are extraordinarily patient with our follies, and I feel we should be grateful for that.
Love and Light.
Very good read. Crystals are really about intention than form for sure. Even though forms can enhance one’s intention. I don’t have a preference I tend to intuitively work with them based on them calling me.
This is a really interesting article Ethan, thank you.
At Armichi Wellness, we have previously Resonance Tested crystals and found that they are holders of Akashic records. We have also discovered that all crystals emit a field of energy. You will find more about this in the Article titled ‘Akashic Records: Exploring the Science and Nature’.
After reading your article we used Resonance Testing to see if there was a difference between cut and natural crystals and got the following results:
1. There is no difference between the energy levels of a cut and raw crystal (the amount of field emitted).
2. There is a variable difference between the frequency of the field between cut and raw crystals (of the same type). We tested further and found the difference was between 0 and 12%.
This means that, just as people are mentioning above, that each of us will be guided to the ideal crystal, according to their current vibrational set point. Our vibrational set point is the combination of frequencies that we current resonate for.
As with everything in life, there is no one size fits all! We each of us will have our preferences and these preferences will allow us to pick the perfect crystal in the moment.
We hope this information helps.
Interesting info, thanks