Last week I asked you for your questions, and this was one of the really good ones. Good friend and fellow crystal lover, Melinda, said, “How do you store, display, and enjoy all of your crystals? Do you have them on tables, shelves, in divided containers (cosmetic)? I have seen that some people keep stones in a divided tool upright container (for workshop nuts and bolts and stuff), but this won’t work for me. I love having them all out to enjoy, but I really don’t have the surface space to enjoy all of them. I don’t like them in any drawers or tucked away. My dining room table is no longer a place for us, it is only for my crystal friends (not complaining, just can’t think of creative ways to display and enjoy). Any suggestions you may have will be helpful. Hoping not to have to buy a bigger home for all of my friends! :-)"
So, like I said, that's a great question! It will vary tremendously from person to person, and depending on space requirements and personal preference. I decided that the old adage "a picture's worth a 1000 words" fit nicely into this description, so this blog post will be more of a show and tell.
Obviously, since I have been tasked with the honor of sending crystals out to their new homes, the way I display, store and enjoy will be different than most. The crystal above is directly in front of me at about head level (I have a roll top desk which I use in my office). It is one of my personal family crystals, and is just a little smaller than my head. It is a Manifestation point, it has an amulet my dear friend Christa Reeves of UniversalGypsy made for me where I can always see and enjoy it. The little bag on top is a mojo pouch I made, full of secret goodies.
I do have a couple of shelves of my personal crystal family members which live in the office with me, but, for me, they don't stay with me forever. If someone writes asking for something specific and one of "my" crystals steps up for the task, I must bid it a fond farewell. Not always an easy task, to be sure! Here are a couple of those shelves:
As you can see, the large Manifestation point is there in the bottom right corner of the picture above. I have shelves stacked on top of the roll top, most surfaces in my house are shelves stacked to maximize storage areas. These crystals came to live in these spaces as they called to me, or were gifted to me by others and share the space with other special trinkets from trips taken or gifts received.
Above is a picture of the shelf above the large Manifestation point. Going randomly around my office, there are crystals sitting, waiting to be photographed or included as an Ask Genn crystal, and the following pictures describe those. Below are some beautiful, large Arkansas crystals waiting to be photographed:
The next photo is a large box of smaller points, again, waiting to be sent to new homes:
Still more clusters and large points waiting patiently:
Following is the storage system I have had for the page 20 years, sorted into boxes based on type of metaphysical characteristic, or other sorting criteria. This is near my order wrapping table, and the tissue paper and stuffing also lives on these shelves.
The plastic tubs above are the back-up boxes, and the crystals I choose from currently are in these small drawers, separated from Artemis to Yin/Yang. The boxes with all the small numbers on them are how the crystals which are posted to the webpage are stored until they are adopted.
Sitting right in front of my keyboard are special crystals, both gifted and which called to me for various reasons. The little rusty looking crystal on the left with the black ribbon tied around it was one which presented to me when I was burying my beloved Gitszy... It is a Dolphin crystal and as I was picking up crystals from around gardens and walkways to place on her grave, it told me it was to remind me of the playfulness and love between the two of us which will last beyond our physical bodies. It lives here by my keyboard, as it has these past two years. To the right of that is a Double Terminated Smoky Tibetan Tabby, good for grounding and communication, full of Rainbows for hope and optimism. To the right of that are three clear quartz points, two Double Term Tibetan Merlin or Generators, and one Arkansas Manifestation crystal. The Pink one is a rose quartz scarab from my dear friend, Carol; it has spent time with the crystal skull, Synergy. The little black tumbles, also from Carol, are Shungite, good for healing, shielding from electromagnetic radiation and grounding. These are crystals which I work with (and which work with me) daily.
Moving from the office, the next room really filled with crystal is my bedroom. I'll only share a few of the surfaces from there. Directly inside my door to the right is this antique Tibetan cabinet with crystals which were lovingly gifted to me from my friends Ken and Karen. They are all crystals which they dug themselves here in Arkansas. There is also a small selenite wand there and a piece of rose quartz from my friend Patti.
To bring us back to giving you ideas of how to display and enjoy, you will see that under the large Twin crystal in the center, there is a smaller rock. I often use crystals as props for larger points if they need a little help standing upright. The smaller points never seem to mind lending a helping "hand". There is also a small beanbag type pillow which you can nestle a larger crystal on if the base isn't flat.
Next is a wooden cabinet which was given to me as a gift. It isn't something I would have chosen as a crystal storing option for myself, but it has actually become very handy, and I have learned to like it quite a lot.
Most of the drawers have non-crystal gemstone family members, mostly gifts from customers and friends over the years. Some of them have stones which my Granny picked up and they are still in the baggies in which she used to store them, with her handwriting still on the labels. So I guess, this is a crystal and gemstone hope chest/heirloom chest of sorts. Next is a picture of what is on the top of that wooden cabinet:
It's a lovely place for grids, the doilie was hand crocheted by my friend Darla and has a Channeling grid set-up on it right now. The other stones were gifted to me from lovely friends. Black tourmaline hand dug by my beautiful friend Pippa and topaz from my friend Tommy (who also gave me a bunch of sun stone, both of which he had the pleasure of digging himself). There is also garnet in matrix and many other goodies, both found and gifted.
So for some display possibilities, you might consider small bowls, boxes, linens, fabric baggies and pouches. Whatever works for you. My friends Karen and Ken (mentioned earlier) have crystals, both large and small, sitting everywhere! On tabletops, in corners, by themselves or nestled joyfully in bowls and baskets all over their house and it is a crystal HEAVEN! You can look and look and there is always yet another surprise around every corner. Delightful!!
Finally, we come to the top of my altar. This is a cabinet about head-high. My spheres live here, most of them gifts from my soul-sister, Angel. Crystal, amethyst, rose quartz, fluorite and one glass one I picked up in Mexico years and years ago.
So, as you can see, there are many different ways to display and enjoy your crystal friends. I have been told that they don't mind being in drawers at all (as long as you don't forget they are there). Venus said with a slight giggle that they have lived for a VERY long time in the earth, a few years, even up to a human lifetime, is but a blink on their timeline. She reminded me to tell you that it IS important to remember they are there, and to touch in periodically, however. She reminds me that this can be done mentally if you can't get to the crystal (say, if it is in storage deep in a box where you can't reach it). This is why it is important to make a strong connection with your crystals, to become familiar with their look, their feel, their energy. That way you can call them up in your minds eye and connect with them from a distance at any time at all, near or far.
Do you have a favorite way to display your crystal friends? Drawers, bedside tables, pockets, bras, window sills, garden paths, tree trunks... These are all places where crystals live at my house. Feel free to comment below and share with the rest of us where your crystal friends live!