It’s a great idea to cleanse and charge amber when it’s new in your space or if you use it for its calming effect on the body and mind, and for protection.
Amber is charged by natural elements, using earth, fire, wind, or water. Put the gem in healthy soil, the smoke of a burning smudge or incense stick, your own breath, or even water, to purify and re-energize it.
There are a lot of easy ways to charge amber, which I cover in this blog post, along with some things to be careful of so you don’t damage the gem. Use one or more of these methods – just choose whatever feels right for you.
By the end of this post, you’ll have 12 easy ways to cleanse and charge amber.
Cleanse and charge amber with…
Meditation and visualization
To cleanse and charge amber with visualization and meditation, start by looking at your stone. Take note of the shades in the gem; any sparkles in it; the look, shape and feel of it; and even its weight.
Next, close the gem in your dominant hand: If you’re right-handed, close the stone in your right hand. If you’re left-handed, close the stone in your left hand.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.
Once you feel calm and centered, try to see the amber floating in front of you, still with your eyes closed.
Keep on trying to make the picture clearer until you have a good view of it in front of you.
Now imagine clean spring water gently washing over the gem. The stream can be as strong or as gentle as you wish, and it can wash over the gem for as long as you want to continue with your meditation.
Trust your intuition and let the water wash negativity and old energy from your stone.
Once you feel the cleansing and charging ritual is complete, picture the amber rising from the stream into warm, pure orange and yellow sunlight.
Try to see the water droplets that carry negativity evaporating from the stone in the sun’s rays, until all that’s left is a shiny gem in your hand.
Feel the gem warming up in your hand as the sun’s rays charge it with pure light energy. Stay in this moment and say an amber affirmation if you want or need to.
When you feel the ritual is complete, slowly bring yourself back to the present, open your eyes and hands, and thank your gem.
Soil
If you have access to healthy soil, either outside on the ground or in a plant pot, you can use the soil to cleanse and charge your amber.
Healthy soil is dark, has good plant growth in it, and is alive with earthworms and/or other insects when it’s out in the open.
Cleanse and charge amber by placing it directly into healthy soil. Completely cover the gem with the soil, so you can’t see any part of it.
You want the soil to touch the entire amber. Wherever it touches, it absorbs old energy and charges with fresh energy from the earth.
Leave your amber in the soil for at least 24 hours before rinsing it in soapy water, then clean water from the faucet, before patting it dry with a soft cloth.
Smudging
Smudges are made from dried herbs or plants. When these herbs are burned, the smoke that’s released has a cleansing effect on anything it touches.
A sage smudge is the most popular type for cleansing amber, like these white sage sticks from Amazon, but you can also use smudges made from Palo Santo wood, cedar, sweetgrass, juniper, or yerba santa.
If you enjoy smudge cleanses and want something prettier than the usual bundle of dried plants, try these handmade floral smudge kits to add some beauty to your ritual.
To cleanse amber with a smudge:
- Go outside or into a well-ventilated room, where the smoke won’t bother you.
- Light the smudge with a wooden match (these are the most beautiful wooden matchsticks I’ve ever seen), if you have one. It’s always best to use natural materials like wood during a cleansing and charging ritual.
- Gently blow out the flame on the smudge. The smudge should keep on smoking.
- Hold the amber directly in the smoke. Make sure the smoke touches every part of the amber by slowly turning the amber over (like a rotisserie chicken) and circling the smudge around the gem.
If you have a feather in your smudging kit, like the one that comes in this deluxe smudging kit, blow the smoke over your gem with the feather to represent the element of air passing over your gem for even greater cleansing and charging.
- Smudge your amber for as long as your intuition tells you to do so. If you’re unsure, it should be enough if the smudge smoke touches each part of the gem at least three times.
- Once the cleansing is complete, leave the smudge stick to burn to the end or put it out in sand. It’s important to make sure that it is completely dead before packing it away.
- Sprinkle any ashes from the smudging process on the ground outside or in the soil in a pot plant, for the soil to absorb the energy from the gem and heal it.
Incense
To cleanse and charge amber with incense, light the incense stick with a wooden match if you have one. Blow out the flame gently, so the incense keeps on smoking.
Any type of incense cleanses amber, but many people like to use cedar incense blocks, white sage, frankincense and myrrh, or organic sandalwood incense.
If you want to use a candle rather than incense or a smudge, try this pure white sage smudge candle.
Hold your amber in the incense smoke and slowly turn the gem over three times, so the smoke touches, cleanses, and charges every part of it.
This should only take about a minute to do, but you can leave the gem in the smoke for longer if you feel it needs more time. This is an intuitive process, so it’s important to listen to yourself for guidance.
If you burn incense in a covered holder, like this handmade wooden box, put amber inside the box, light the incense, close the lid, and leave your gem in there to be cleansed by the smoke until the incense stick has finished burning. This is a great way to cleanse multiple gems at the same time.
Throw any ashes from the incense stick onto soil outside, to release the energy it absorbed.
Breath
Your own breath is a powerful cleanser as it’s one of the four natural elements – air.
To cleanse amber with your breath, sit down with the gem closed in your dominant hand. Close your eyes and take 5 to 10 slow, deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Draw in crisp, clean air with every breath and try to feel the sparkle or buzz of this air as it moves through your nose, around your lungs, and leaves your mouth.
Once you’re ready, imagine a bright, warm light around yourself. Feel it snuggling you and warming up the air you are breathing.
Open your eyes and hands, then bring the amber up to your mouth.
Take in a deep breath of clean, warm air through your nose. When you exhale, breath out of your mouth with force so you blow the air onto the amber in your hands. Do this several times, making your breaths intentional.
As you do this ritual, imagine the light that is surrounding you passing through your breath and over your gem.
Turn your gem over after each exhale, to make sure your breath touches every side and inch of the gem.
Do this for as long as you feel you should, but you can stop after about four full breaths if that is enough for you and you have breathed over the entire gem.
Water
Rainwater, water from a stream, running fountain water, or even water from a faucet can be used to cleanse and charge amber.
Amber is porous, so it can soak up liquids and shouldn’t be left in water for a long time.
Note: Don’t ever put amber in saltwater or seawater. Salt is corrosive and can even suck moisture out of the amber, drying it out.
Place the gem in moving water for a few minutes. It’s believed that running water washes away harmful and negative energy and takes it back into the earth, where it is healed.
If using still water, put the amber in a bowl or container made from a natural material, like wood or glass, and leave it there for a few minutes. Don’t ever use a metal bowl for cleansing and charging rituals. Throw the water in healthy soil when you are done with it.
Once you’ve cleansed your gem with water, pat it dry with a clean cloth.
Sunlight
Direct sunlight and too much heat from any source dries out amber, making it brittle, and can change the color of the stone.
If you still want to cleanse amber in sunlight and take the risk, place the gem in a sunny spot at dawn or in the morning by 9 am, before it gets very hot.
If you can, put the amber outside on healthy soil, so the soil supports the cleansing and charging ritual.
Leave the gem in the sun for no more than an hour, and don’t touch it during this time.
Moonlight
Amber can be cleansed in moonlight when there’s a full moon or a waning moon.
- A full moon is when the entire moon is visible, so you see a bright, complete circle of the moon. A waning moon comes after a full moon, when the moon starts becoming smaller in the sky.
Click here to check when there will be a full moon or waning moon in your area –just type the name of your city in the top-right search bar on the website.
When the moon is full or waning, put your amber outside at sunset. Make sure the gem is in direct moonlight, with nothing blocking the moon’s rays from touching the gem.
Don’t do this on a rainy or humid night, as the moisture could affect the amber.
Try to put the gem on the ground, so the soil absorbs old energy and supports the cleansing and charging process.
Leave the amber out overnight, and bring it in before 10 am the next morning.
Sound
Sound is a great way to cleanse and charge amber. As sound waves pass over the gem, they push away old, negative energy and allow new, powerful energy to enter.
To cleanse amber with sound, place the gem no more than 3 feet away from you. The closer your gem is to the source of the sound, the stronger the sound vibration will be and the better the ritual will work.
The space between you and the gem should be clear and free from any objects, so the sound vibrations can move freely through the air and surround the gem easily.
When you’re seated comfortably, relax your body and start making your noise or sound. Make this sound for at least two to three minutes, to fully cleanse the amber.
You could chant by making the “om” sound over and over, play a singing bowl like this one from Amazon, use meditation chimes, or play cymbals.
Whatever you choose, it’s good to get involved and make the sounds yourself – don’t play sounds on your phone or TV.
When you’ve had some practice doing this, you can use two or three sounds at the same time. For example, you could chant and play chimes at regular intervals for greater cleansing and charging.
Selenite gem
Selenite is a gem that cleanses and charges amber quickly and easily.
To cleanse amber with selenite, put amber in a selenite crystal bowl. The bowls are known as “gem charging stations” because they release old energy from gems and allow new energy to flow in.
These charging stations can be kept in a special spot in your home and be used to charge any gem or crystal.
If you don’t have a selenite bowl, put amber on selenite crystals. Try to get enough selenite sticks to wrap them around your amber – underneath, on its sides, and on top, so the selenite touches all sides of the amber.
If you don’t have selenite available, use another cleansing crystal, such as carnelian or black obsidian. All you need to do is make sure the cleansing crystal is bigger than or there’s more of it than the amber being cleansed.
This makes space for the cleansing crystal to absorb the amber’s energy.
Himalayan salt
Dry salt has a wonderful purifying effect on gems.
It’s best to cleanse amber with Himalayan salt in a shallow glass bowl, drinking glass, or vase. A wooden bowl can also be used, but never metal.
Fill the container with pure Himalayan crystal salt or larger salt stones. Bury the amber in the salt, and leave it there for at least 24 hours or longer.
Once a gem has been cleansed with salt, rinse it under clean water to remove any salt residue, then pat it dry with a soft cloth.
A bowl of salt can be used many times to cleanse and charge amber.
Another safe salt cleansing option is to use a pure Himalayan salt lamp: Place amber next to the lamp and let the gem bathe in the lamp’s light for several hours.
Then turn the gem over to expose its other side to the lamp’s light.
Brown rice
Brown rice cleanses amber by absorbing negativity. Simply bury the gem in a shallow bed of dry brown rice and leave it there overnight, or longer if you wish.
When you’re done with the cleansing, thank the rice and throw it out.
This is rather wasteful and is only recommended as a cleansing ritual if you cannot use any of the other methods listed above.
Here’s my full guide to amber, where you’ll learn everything you need to know.
