Introduction: What is Cleansing?
Cleansing a space spiritually or energetically can be a fun and refreshing task. After an illness or at the close of a season, it can feel invigorating to move the old, stagnant energy out and welcome the new, fresh energy in.
Cleansing, also known as purification, is found in every culture around the world in one form or another. The Indigenous people of America have rituals of smudging with white sage, while the Celts would practice saining, a similar practice. Regardless of your culture, it is possible to cleanse your home and space to ward off negative energy and bring about prosperity and peace. You can cleanse any space too! Your home, your car, an alter space, and so on. If you are a magical practitioner, it can be important to cleanse a space – and yourself – before and after any spell work.
Consider cleansing as energetic hygiene as it is frequently referred to in modern spiritual sources. It is something that shouldn’t just be done when something bad happens, but rather done routinely as part of your housekeeping or maintenance. However, it can definitely be utilized for specific instances. You might consider cleansing your guest room after hosting a visitor or cleansing your home after an intense conversation with your spouse. Like any skill, cleansing becomes easier and more effective the more you do it. It becomes easier to clear out negative energy from a space, and it becomes harder for that negative energy to return in the future.
To start, you should ground yourself. Get barefoot – feel the ground outside your home and then feel the floor beneath your feet. Talk to your house: ask it how it’s feeling, if it needs anything or has any tender spots that need attention energetically. (I am a big proponent of talking to your house more! Dozens of different religions and spiritualities recognize the home as being alive and full of magical entities that can help you or make your life very difficult. So, be nice and make friends with them! You might find that missing necklace or sock appears on the coffee table after a good, long chat.) Meditate within the home to connect with it and ask its permission or tell the home what you will be doing. The idea is to slow your vibration to the speed of the house, so you can understand what it is telling you. This can be done by sitting or lying down, closing your eyes, and focusing on the natural sounds of your house and nature around you. You might also find that working with crystals and stones helps ground you. Maybe spending some time in your garden with your hands in the soil.
Choose a method that feels real and organic in you, not the hottest trend on Instagram. Once you feel settled and connected to the home or space, you are ready to begin.
Step 2: Physical Cleaning
After the grounding work is complete, the cleansing work can begin. The first step is to physically clean the space. If you are coming out of a period of depression or illness, this activity can feel overwhelming. There may be a lot of dishes in the sink, piles of laundry to do, or clutter up to the ceiling. Take a deep breath. We have all been here before and, while the mess may reflect your current state of being, it is not a portrait of who you are. It is just a cluttered moment in time that you will cleanse yourself of and have a fresh start from on the other side. So, turn on some happy music, open the curtains and the windows so that light and fresh air can enter the space. Start small: only set aside 15 – 30 mins to clean and then give yourself a break. Know that this part is the longest and most tedious part, but it can have some major health benefits.
Step 3: Choosing Your Method
There are tons of ways to energetically cleanse a space, but not all of them are available to everyone. As mentioned before, the native Indigenous Americans frequently used a ritual called smudging to cleanse their spaces (ex: the Cheyenne and Navajo). This involved burning an herb bundle – often made of white sage – and using the smoke to drive out negative energy. Even though you can’t practice the ritual of smudging unless you have Indigenous ancestry, you can still use smoke to clean out spaces. Find an herb native to your culture to use. For example, people of Germanic or Pennsylvania Dutch descent might use bay leaves, while people of Asian descent might use cinnamon. Whatever you choose, make sure you do your research and pick an herb that has meaning to you. Take your time to find one that doesn’t just have purification qualities that suit your need, but also has spiritual significance to you and that you can source locally and sustainably. At the bottom of this page, you will find a couple Etsy shops that are great for sourcing herbs.
Note: Please DO NOT use endangered species of herbs unless you are growing them yourself or know a sustainable, safe method of harvesting. WHITE SAGE IS ENDANGERED AND RARELY SUSTAINABLY SOURCED. Please replace it with common garden sage unless necessary for cultural ritual. Non-endangered purifying herbs include cinnamon, bay leaves, sweetgrass, juniper, lavender, and so many more.
You could also investigate sweeping, a method of cleansing and protecting used by witches for centuries. Brooms are a classic tool utilized by magic practitioners. Some practitioners may encourage you to have a broom for magical purposes and a broom dedicated to household cleaning, however, the same broom was used for both tasks for centuries in homes. So, if you can’t afford or fit another broom in your life, that’s okay! You can find brooms on Esty that are handmade and imbued with good intentions as well.
You can also use salt mixed with herbs to cleanse a space. Any form of salt that you have on hand works, and, once again, you should be working with herbs familiar and meaningful to you. Salt is meant to represent purification, fidelity, and endurance. You can similarly use water and herbs. In this case, preparing a few days ahead of time by purifying and charging your water can be helpful. Leave the water out in the sun or under the full or new moon for 1-3 days before cleansing your house. If putting water directly onto the floor or windowsills isn’t conducive to your home, you can easily turn your blessed water into a spray!
The final step is actually going through the act of spiritually cleansing your home or space.
First and foremost, set your intention. Clear your mind and focus on the fact that you are demanding the negative energy leave your home and that only peace and love be left in its place. With every movement, every stroke of the broom, everywhere the smoke touches, intend to free the space from negativity and leave only your good intentions. Your home is your responsibility to take care of and cleansing is an act of love. Set your intention with confidence, knowing you are in control, and this is your space, and these are your boundaries. Set your intention mentally in stone, water, fire, or air and then start your cleansing process.
If you are using smoke to cleanse your space, craft or purchase your herb bundle. Light the end of the herbs and let the flame burn bright for a moment before blowing it out. This should leave your bundle burning silently, producing smoke for you to use throughout the house. (You may have to light your bundle more than once.) You can waft the smoke over yourself and throughout the space, or you can sit for a moment in each room, letting the smoke travel as it pleases.
With any cleansing ritual, you typically want to work from the front of the house towards the back. Push any negative spots of energy you feel towards the open back door or open windows. Sending negative energy out the front door can invite it back into the house which is why we move from back to front. This is also in correlation with the Feng Shui method.
If you are using the sweeping method, then you are literally trying to sweep the bad vibes out of the house! Make sure to stop in all corners and crevices of the house as energy can become stagnant in spots you don’t move through often. And pay attention to any closets, the laundry room, the basement, and even the garage! (If you have wall to wall carpeting, sweeping might seem pointless. Fear not! We can use a vacuum cleaner here, but intention is key. Make sure to imagine vacuuming up the negativity and unwanted substances, and then empty the container out the back door when you are done!) Leave your broom at your front door to ward off any negative energy that might try to come back. Final tip here: never sweep under someone’s feet! It’s considered bad luck. If you accidentally do, say “I will dance at your wedding” to break the curse.
With salt or water, you want to purify by setting boundaries. Utilize the four corners of your home and any entryways you may have (I.e., windows and doors). Sprinkle the salt or water in each corner in a counterclockwise motion and line each entry way. Leave the salt or water in place for 1-2 days before sweeping or cleaning up. Here is where you would substitute that spray instead of sprinkling water. Spray every room thoroughly, repeating your intent with every spritz. Still work from the front to the back of your house. You can also leave bowls of salt and blessed water throughout the house between cleansings to absorb any negative energy. Place crystals like tourmaline and clear quartz in the bowls to kick up the protection a notch.
Moving counterclockwise will banish negative energy, while moving clockwise will welcome fresh, positive energy while strengthening wards already in place. You might find that making a lot of noise helps to break up the negative energy as well. Clap your hands, sing out loud, bang a drum – anything to get the vibrations in your house moving again and responding to your intent.
Conclusion: Using Your New Space
Congratulations! You have successfully cleansed your home or space. Now you can take a deep breath of that fresh air and feel peace knowing that any negative energy, leftover sickness, or general bad vibes have been expelled from your home. Place any wards or protective totems you may have in their proper place and carry on enjoying your day or spell craft.
Placing selenite or black tourmaline in the corners of your home can add a boost of protection and increase the longevity of your cleansing. Or, try placing house plants near your entryways to absorb any negative energy that might be sent your way.
Create a routine from here on out where you clean and cleanse your home regularly. Maybe it’s a weekly maintenance task for you, in which case I suggest making Fridays your cleansing day for the best effect. Or maybe you move with the seasons, finding the last full moon or first new moon to work on. Your cleansing ritual will be unique to you and your space. Don’t be afraid to try new things or add your own flare. Spiritualism is a personal and deeply intimate endeavor, so listen to your body throughout this process. You should feel better at the end and, if you don’t, perhaps more cleansing and new methods are needed.
Esty Shops for Herb Bundles:
romaincrisis
snowghoul
titsay
pixelskylines
andulkaphoto
turnnoffyourmind
tangentwithtanner
germansingergirl
