Tiger's eye, carnelian, hematite, black onyx, citrine and amethyst are the stones kept for willpower. Tiger's eye is the central one, since willpower is mostly a holding-on problem rather than a starting problem. Carnelian is the pick if getting going is the harder half.
Key takeaways
- Six stones: tiger's eye, carnelian, hematite, black onyx, citrine, amethyst.
- Motivation stones are for day one. Willpower stones are for day eleven.
- Carnelian and citrine start things. Tiger's eye and hematite keep them going.
- Usually worn on the left wrist, since these draw in rather than project out.
- Wear one for a month rather than rotating. Familiarity is the mechanism.
- Hematite stays dry. Take it off in the shower and skip the salt bowl.
The six stones
| Stone | Traditionally kept for | Mohs |
|---|---|---|
| Tiger's eye | Holding on when it stops being interesting | 6.5 to 7 |
| Carnelian | Starting, and restarting after a lapse | 6.5 to 7 |
| Hematite | Steadiness through a long stretch | 5 to 6 |
| Black onyx | Restraint, the firm no to yourself | 6.5 to 7 |
| Citrine | Momentum, keeping the thing enjoyable | 7 |
| Amethyst | The craving hour, and sleeping through it | 7 |
Amethyst has the oldest association here. Its Greek name means not intoxicated, and it has been kept for restraint for a very long time on that basis, which is why it turns up on willpower lists rather than only on calming ones.
Willpower is a shape of day, not a quality
This is the useful reframe, and it changes which stone you want.
Nobody has willpower evenly across sixteen hours. What people have is a handful of specific moments that go wrong, and the same ones each time. The five minutes after sitting down at a desk. Three in the afternoon. The hour after dinner. Sunday evening, looking at Monday.
A stone worn as a general wish to be more disciplined attaches to nothing. A stone tied to one of those specific moments has something to hold. Work out which of your hours is the one that breaks the run, and buy for that hour rather than for the resolution as a whole.
Starting versus continuing
The two are different problems and the tradition treats them differently.
If the difficulty is beginning, carnelian and citrine are the stones. They are kept for drive and momentum, for the push into a thing rather than the endurance through it. Most people who buy a stone in January are buying for this and do not need it, because January is not when resolutions fail.
If the difficulty is week three, when the novelty has gone and nothing is visibly working yet, tiger's eye and hematite are the ones. That is the whole of what they are kept for, and it is the harder and less glamorous half. Our guide to crystals for empowerment covers the acting-on-it side, and crystals for concentration covers holding attention within a single session.
Stopping something
Quitting is a different use again, and it is worth being practical about what a stone does here.
What it offers is something to do with your hands at the moment of the craving. That is not a small thing. A great deal of what people reach for is reached for because the hands are idle and the moment is uncomfortable, and a smooth cold stone in a pocket gives that moment somewhere else to go for thirty seconds.
Black onyx is the traditional stone for restraint and amethyst for the same, and both are worth carrying loose rather than wearing, precisely so that reaching for them is a deliberate act. Set it up so the stone is in the pocket you would otherwise reach into.
Wearing it
Willpower stones are usually worn on the left wrist. The reading is that these are receiving stones, drawing steadiness in rather than sending something out, and the left is the receiving hand. Carnelian is the common exception, often worn on the right because its job is outward push.
Wear one for a month before judging it. Rotating a collection weekly means no single object ever becomes familiar, and familiarity is the entire mechanism: the stone works once you have stopped noticing it as jewellery and started noticing the thing it stands for. Our guide to which hand to wear a crystal bracelet on sets out the reasoning stone by stone.
Looking after them
Four of these six are quartz family stones at 6.5 to 7 and need nothing beyond warm water and a soft cloth. Tiger's eye, carnelian, black onyx and citrine are all robust enough for daily wear on a working wrist.
Hematite is the one that needs attention. It is an iron oxide, and prolonged damp dulls the polish and eventually marks it, so take it off in the shower and keep it out of a salt bowl. A dry wipe is all it wants.
Citrine and amethyst both pale in sustained direct sunlight, so neither belongs on a sunny windowsill. If you cleanse, smoke or a night on an indoor sill covers all six safely.
The uses described here reflect traditional and cultural crystal practice. They are not medical or psychological claims, and they are not a treatment for addiction or dependency. If you are trying to stop drinking, smoking or using anything else, please speak to a doctor or a support service, who can offer help a stone cannot.
Sources
Written by Chetena Sharma. Reviewed by the Solacely editorial team.
Frequently asked questions
About the author
Written by Chetna Sharma, crystal healing practitioner and co-founder of Solacely. Chetna has worked with healing crystals for over a decade and curates Solacely's protective stone collection.
