10 Easy Crystal Substitutes for Harmonizing Your Vital Energies on a Budget

If you’re reading this, you probably understand the importance of harmonizing your crystal energies and aligning them towards your goals. However, not everyone can afford a high quality, ethically-sourced chunk of turquoise or amethyst to enshrine in their home. Perhaps you’ve long recognized the value of malachite in aiding concentration or the ability of aventurine to sway fortune to your side, but you simply couldn’t justify the cost.

Fret no more. For the budget-conscious crystal enthusiast, we suggest these easy crystal substitutes that channel the spirit of each stone and are guaranteed to be equally effective.

Stone: Clear Quartz
Replace with: A marble

Clear quartz elevates the mind, improves comprehension, and removes obstructive thoughts. Carry a glass marble—or two or three—around in your pocket as a replacement. The transparent interiors and mineral compositions of these crystal substitutes are easily mistaken for the real deal and will, ironically, fool your brain into becoming more perceptive. Just be sure not to misplace them.

Stone: Agate
Replace with: Rock candy

Agate has a soothing, cleansing effect on the spirit, removing negativity and easing tension. Candy has been shown to have many of the same effects. Carry a pack of rock sugar crystals around with you for the spiritual benefits and for a tasty snack in a pinch.

Stone: Jasper
Replace with: Concrete

Jasper is strongly rooted to the earth, granting powers of stability and courage. A small chunk of concrete will grant you similar affinities and comes with the added bonus of being readily available from your nearest construction site.

Stone: Lapis Lazuli
Replace with: A Lego piece

Lapis lazuli grants deep wisdom and powers of thought. Carry around the child’s Lego you stepped on this morning, as a reminder for the wisdom and rational mindset you gained when you chose not to swear at the top of your lungs and wake every other member of your household.

Stone: Carnelian
Replace with: A crayon

Carnelian was used by warriors of old to increase their strength and courage, and it can also increase creative energies. Keep a crayon in your pocket and walk around with the secret knowledge that at any moment you could start letting out bursts of creative energy in every direction. And this time no one can yell at you for getting crayon all over the walls, or for leaving your Legos out overnight.

Stone: Citrine
Replace with: Table salt

Using citrine properly will enhance your imagination and scrub the negative energies from your life. What’s more, citrine is known for attracting wealth and good fortune. Replace it with another crystal that in ancient times was associated with wealth and status—the humble compound sodium chloride.

Stone: Amethyst
Replace with: Anything purple

Amethyst can heal emotional wounds, bring peace, and cure insomnia. It’s also literally the same compound as clear quartz, but purple. Try a variety of purple substitutes—plums, violets, grape candy, small aubergines—until you find one that speaks to you.

Stone: Moonstone
Replace with: A glass of water

In addition to its calming and strengthening properties, moonstone can heal injuries and relieve stress. Drinking a glass of water in the morning before work will have a similar effect. As an added bonus, it’ll also improve your skin complexion, flush out toxins, and boost your immune system.

Stone: Rose quartz
Replace with: An ice cube

Rose quartz. The stone of love, the stone of the heart. It is said that if you hold a piece of rose quartz in your hand, love will find you. Take the metaphor a step further and hold an ice cube in your hand, letting the indisputable melting point of water remind you of love’s ephemeral and fleeting nature.

Stone: Jade
Replace with: The incontestable power of belief

One of the luckiest stones of all, jade brings health, love, fortune, and peace to the bearer. No material substitute could possibly emulate its powers, so why even try? Instead, just imagine you’re holding a piece of jade. Feel its weight in your hand. Sniff its ancient aura of mystical purifying energy. Imagine good health and money pouring into your life, ushered in by the crystal harmonies you’ve painstakingly and price-consciously curated.

Piece of cake! Let the fabulously wealthy enjoy their topaz and opal. You can rest assured in the knowledge that with these crystal substitutes, you aren’t letting frugality get in the way of optimizing your spiritual energies!