The Pagan Experience: "House Cleansing"

Wk 4 - Apr. 29 – Any writing for the letters G or H -I am keeping this familiar format on week 4 for those who have joined me from the Pagan Blog Project.

Be sure to check out my previous post on the importance of cleanliness!

Here is the House/Property Cleansing ritual that I use.  It is thorough and a bit long (if you have a big house and/or a big property) but it has proven to be most effective.

Anoint yourself with holy water and/or protection oil before you begin.  You can also wear hematite or obsidian, or something protective like a holy symbol or amulet.

Start in the center of the home.  State your intention to cleanse your space, such as “We are here to cleanse this home and property and anything within this space. This space will be cleansed of anything baneful, harmful, negative, or evil.  Anything baneful, harmful, negative, or evil will be banished from this person’s home and from this space. As I will it, so mote it be!”

Going counterclockwise, sprinkle salt, burn sage, sprinkle holy water or khernips, bang loud drums or bells or pots and pans, or spray Florida water diluted with pure water.   Do this around the home going counterclockwise.  Get every single nook and cranny.  Be certain go get every corner, closet, doorway, mirror, window, etc. Say “out out out out out” while you do it.  Do this until you’ve gone in every nook and cranny around the house, paying special attention to any type of entrance or exit.  Go counterclockwise until you’ve gone back to where you started.

Repeat the above outside.  Pay attention to outside windows, doors, ditches, trees, dark areas, etc. Do it especially at the driveway and the fence-line of the property, going counterclockwise.  Do this in both the front and backyard.

Once back inside, state your intention:  “This house is cleansed. This space is cleansed. Nothing baneful, harmful, negative or evil is in this home or on this property.” Or say something similar.

Next, after you have cleansed the space, bless the space. Start at the center of your home and with sage, holy water, bells, protection oil, holy items, or religious statues go clockwise. Repeat what you did above. Get every single nook and cranny and corner. Pay attention to entrances and exits.  Anoint the oil or holy water on every doorway, mirror, closet, window, etc. Say or think or chant “bless bless bless bless” or something similar.  Do this both inside and out, front yard and back yard.

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Set up a barrier at the corners of the property.  I use quartz crystals, but you don’t need it. (It just really amplifies the work you’ve done, and can be re-charged later, too.)  At the corners of the property say: “this is a barrier. None may cross this barrier that is baneful, harmful, negative or evil. Only that which exists for my highest good and the highest good of the occupants in this space may cross this barrier.” Place crystals and state your intentions at every corner of the property.  Place another crystal in the center of the home, and imagine the barriers connecting like a protective grid, going all around, above and below. Do this clockwise.  This is a protection shield and when you are feeling under attack you can recharge it with your mind. About once a year or so you can re-do this whole ritual, or if you need a quick recharge, just repeat the actions or words in your mind as a creative visualization.

Once you are done, declare “this space is cleansed. This space is blessed. Nothing baneful, harmful, negative, or evil may enter this space. As above, so below, SO MOTE IT BE” or something similar.

Take a GOOD LONG shower after. Use sage or eucalyptus or mint in the shower. Cleanse and recharge any amulets or stones you have used. Wash your clothes.

Another thing I like to do after the completion of this ritual is give offerings to my house wights and land spirits.  I like to thank any deities I might have called upon, or spirit allies or ancestors.  I even like to give an offering outside of the barriers to the energies I have banished – “you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”

How do you spiritually, magically, and energetically cleanse yourself, your space, your home, and your property?  What works for you, and what does not work for you?  Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments!

Don't forget to check out my previous post on cleanliness!

The Pagan Experience - "Cleanliness and Godliness"

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Wk 5 - Mar. 30 - Any topic of your choice! Have fun with this one. Prose, poetry, fiction, art work or any other creative format are welcome!

"Cleanliness and Godliness"

I’ve been studying a little bit of hoodoo while working at a local occult and conjure shop.  My boss is a little  very obsessive about cleanliness, which has been a bit of a challenge for me.  I’m not a dirty person, but I am a messy/cluttered person.  Also, a little dust doesn’t really bother me; it flies right under my radar.  My boss would like me to sweep more, I’d like him to pay more attention to the inventories I do.  You give, you take, you win some, you lose some.  C'est la vie.

In the tradition of hoodoo, however, cleanliness is very important.  Though I’m no expert, it seems as if hoodoo is heavily reliant on sympathetic magic.  That is, imitation and correspondence are very important.  Phallic-shaped items are good for male virility, green items are good for money, walnuts are good for the brain because they resemble little brains, and a cluttered and messy home attracts a cluttered and messy life.  So, if you have dust bunnies and clutter all over your living space, lower-level entities and spirits will be attracted to those spaces.  These guys, while not necessarily evil or anything, aren’t really good, either and they can really muck stuff up.  (Not to mention, if you have a lot of low-level bad stuff around you, that in turn may attract other stuff, which will attract other stuff, which will attract other stuff.  Not good!)

I’ve seen it recommended that before doing any magical working one should clean their whole space.  This would include your house, your room, your altar, and yourself.  Magical baths are incredibly important in hoodoo, too, both to banish energies away and to draw them into your life.  Pre-ritual baths are popular in Neo-Paganism as well, though most often for a body/mind/spirit cleansing.

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About a year ago I came down with a bad case of the flu.  I was sick for about a week, being able to do little else than sit around, sleep, and watch terrible 80s movies all day.  I was in graduate school at the time, and I didn’t even have the energy to catch up on homework or reading.  After a few days of Gatorade, pajamas and soup, I decided I had just enough energy to clean up my room a bit, to air out the stench of sick and illness.  I rearranged things, cleaned up any piles of clutter, dusted, lit incense, smudged, and wiped down surfaces… until my whole room was perfect.  Even though I was exhausted from working so hard, I felt so much better, and the flu cleared the next day.

So, my challenge for all of my readers right now is to go clean something!  It doesn’t matter what it is.  Clean your body, clean your desk, clean your room, clean your whole house from top to bottom, clean one room, clean one closet – just go clean something.  I promise it won’t take as long as you think it will, it will be painless, and you’ll feel good after doing something so productive.

Go!  Go do it!  If you don’t clean your house, at least go clean your altar.  It will feel wonderful!