Choosing a crystal:
Go anywhere 'spiritual' and you will find crystal shops. Where I am there are lots, plus places like Tintagel in Cornwall, Anywhere where Arthur or Merlin might have been or Glastonbury the whole town is full of them. Places that have fossils like Lyme Regis have a ton of shops. Bath has a very good one. I only really know south of England and west Wales, sorry. Most markets will have a 'hippy' stall or two.
Go in and pick several up. Touch them, try and feel if vibes coming off them are good or bad. They pick up vibes from other people that have touched them, so it might just feel wrong. Just find one you feel an affinity with. Personally I love green stones so am drawn to them on sight. I use them for inspiration and creativity (really important to the writer side of my personality) I find Rose quartz very calming, and anything with a deep purple feels very protective and lucky to me. So I chose the colour first depending on what i'm looking for. Don't worry about the colour properties from books, if it 'feels' right then it is.
Crystals you find are supposed to be much more powerful than ones you buy, but that's unlikely to happen.
Cleansing your crystal:
If you want to cleanse a crystal or think you've put the wrong energy into it when you were in a bad mood you need to wash it.
There are two schools of thought. For the non-pagan use salt water, this will take all the charge out of your crystal, except for it's natural properties, making it clean and ready for use again.
For the pagan you need to wash it in water left out in the moonlight. This will cleanse and purify the crystal. Full-moon light is most powerful, but new-moon light is good for a positive charge.
Charging a crystal:
As Louise says, most people hold it close, whisper their hopes and desires into it. Just remember that what ever you throw in their will be magnified thousands of times over, so try not to put any negative thoughts in it. I personally like to create a bit of an altar for what I call Crystal Prayer. I spread out a piece of velvet cloth light a candle and place the crystal in the middle then sit and stare into the candle flame until I feel chilled out. Clear my mind of everything so I can focus on the one thing I want to put into the crystal. Then with only that clear thought in my head do i concentrate on pouring it into the crystal. I try to imagine my desire like a bright thought channeling into the heart of the stone. Handle the stone if you need to channel through your hands. I've seen people press it to the third eye in their forehead to imbibe it with their thoughts.
It isnt like prayer in the sense that you are not asking it to help you, you dont need to thank it, it is yours to command, it is an empty vessel ready to take in your feelings and strenghen them through refraction so that they magnify back out into the cosmos. But it is like prayer in the sense that it is all the power of positive thought.
Hope that helps! It's only my personal take, do what ever feels right for you, some people might think it's all a load of nonsence but I think that it's lovely and that it can only help.
and there is a crystal related shop on one of the high streets, but you literally can get them anywhere - but maybe better to get them from a shop because they cleanse the stones for you.
