Nicknamed “The Merchant’s Stone”, this is a crystal that I find useful in all abundance and personal power manifesting efforts. Finding the real deal is a bit of a tricky task though. Citrine is a form of quartz; it forms typically in single points or small groupings of slender points. The natural variety of citrine is rare and usually a bit pricey. It has a gentle color to it in the pale yellow to brown range. The vast majority of crystals sold as citrine on the market today is another variation of quartz that has been heated or otherwise altered to have a coloration within the orange-brown – yellow range. You can identify these by how the color seems to pool in certain areas as opposed to being a more uniform color. The shape of the crystal is also a huge indicator as these altered pieces are typically from an amethyst geode with poor color which has undergone treatment. These points and “clusters” have a distinct shape to them, sort of short and chunky and not long and slender. Some smoky quartz points do fit the right shape and have been altered as well to look like citrine, so this adds to the difficulty of finding the mineral you are looking for. To be honest though, once you see or hold a genuine piece of citrine, you really can’t mistake it for anyone else. It does look and feel like its own crystal. This will bother some people who insist they are all one and the same. Sorry, it’s just how it is, you don’t have to take my word for it – the crystal can prove it all on its own. 

Now that we have that squared away, what does citrine offer? Everything! It is said to be associated with abundance and success. I suppose I do agree with this but in my experience, this mineral is one of the best minerals to facilitate a direct connection to ourselves. When we connect to our true selves, very little can stand in our way. 

Some believe the higher self resides not above us somewhere or just in a higher chakra, but within all of our being. I feel the place we find the strongest communication with our higher self is the solar plexus chakra. When this area is well balanced and energy flows freely through it, we feel empowered and full of “ourself”. Not in a “you think you are better than the world” type of way; but rather that you see your place in the world and the value you add. This is what this stone embodies, and it is funny to me that it is one of the most difficult stones to find because so many people have such a hard time finding their true selves. The quest for genuine citrine is much like the quest for the genuine self. There are so many poetic points of view that can be found within the search for citrine and they all align with the energy it offers. 

When we find those pieces of citrine that turn out to be heated amethyst, many get disappointed and feel that what they have has no worth. Yet, even when we don’t have what we thought we wanted, we still always have something. There is always value to be found and this is the nature of citrine. It shows us what we are. It shines a light on strength and reinforces the notion that we have all we need right within us to manifest anything we wish. Even if what we have is different than what we thought we wanted. More often than not, we need determination and belief in order to find success. Success can be achieved in a multitude of ways; but if you do not embrace the tools you are working with and believe they are good enough for the job, you will never find success. 

Citrine resonates on this frequency – the frequency of belief, strength, positivity, gratitude, and most of all it promotes alignment with truth. It shows us how things are, and when we know how things are we are better able to navigate the path ahead. This notion is a huge reason as to why a mineral that has been altered to impersonate another mineral could never resonate the same as citrine. You cannot resonate with truth if you are putting on a show. That does not mean those crystals hold no strength – they do, and we will talk about them in another post, their strength is just different than this crystal’s. That is very okay! Citrine invites us to embrace our true self, we can never live up to our potential if we are pretending to be someone else. 

Here are a few applications for this crystal:

-Aids all manifesting efforts 

-Connects to the higher self and inner guidance 

-Promotes a positive outlook

-Attracts good fortune

-Enhances creativity 

-Combats symptoms of depression

-Helps release negative behavioral patterns 

-Promotes confidence 

-Helps to transmute lower vibrations 

-Promotes generosity 

-Helps combat psychic attacks 

-Promotes good decision making 

-Resonates best with the solar plexus chakra but works well with all chakras 

-Aids focus and clarity of the mind 

-Helps overcome trauma and provides the feeling of safety 

-Strengthens and repairs the auric field 

-Stimulates and revitalizes the entire energetic system

-Helps promote understanding of alternative points of view

-Inspires a zest for life and a joyful being

-Inspires the acceptance of one’s true self

-Activates and enhances the clair-senses and innate psychic abilities 

-Aids meditation efforts 

-Helps one to find their “path”

-Aids all healing efforts 

-Enhances discipline and willpower 

-Excellent ally for those who struggle with clairempathy or those who identify as “empaths” as it enhances the self and strengthens the auric field