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!

Take It Home

We moved into this house in August after being at a place for nearly seven years. It had been really hard for me to leave that little witchy cottage, but after a whole plethora of very serious structural problems and an absentee landlady, we knew it was time to go.

Our new place is pretty great, but as a busy graduate student I haven’t had a lot of time to do work here. I started the semester just as soon as we were moved in and unpacked, so there has been very little settling in time in this new place. In a lot of ways, I feel like it’s been a very nice, comfortable hotel stay, and not a “home.”

On top of that, my pride was pretty insulted when another witch came by and said “how long have you been here?” and then went on to tell me how the place didn’t feel very magical and was I sure a witch really lived in this place?

Ouch.

I did a pretty intense ritual cleansing and blessing of the home and property before we moved in, and we have a little household altar in a communal space with gifts and offerings from all who live here, so it’s not like no magic has been done in this space. And these things like building relationships and energy take time, right?

After a series of plumbing problems (clogged drains, replacing water pumps, broken water heaters) I gave a few frantic prayers to Cloacina, who is the Roman goddess of the sewers. After a month of water issues I began to wonder if all of the problems we had been having weren’t just bad luck, but perhaps I had made some land, local, and house spirits feel angry or neglected.

Now that my semester is over I have some more time and I’m trying to be very aware and intentional with how I spend that time. Yes, I have to write holiday cards and my report for my volunteer work is overdue and my bathroom floor needs to be scrubbed, but on Saturday I decided to do some much needed yard work. Seriously, I’ve been looking forward to this for months, even going as far as buying bulbs about a month ago in anticipation for my free time in December.

It’s hard for me to do a lot of yard work because I have tendonitis in my wrists from when I was a barista in my past life. Despite the pain I knew was to come, my sister and I raked the front area in front of the house, where a flower bed should be. Before we moved in this house had some heavy-duty work done to it (all the stuff our old place needed). When the foundation and plumbing were fixed, all of the plants and bushes right out front were torn out. So all that we have right now is dirt and rocks and roots and random sheets of black plastic.

It was hard work and we were out there for hours and my arms and hands hurt for two days and my knees are bruised, but it felt very, very good to be out there, getting dirty and sweaty and making my space look nice. It’s not perfect because it’s December and there are limits to even my magic, but it looks much cleaner, and maybe feels a bit happier. And I’m really hopeful for hyacinths and daffodils next spring, and I have plans for some wild flowers and maybe even a tomato plant or two.

But really it’s not just about the yard looking nice, but about me seeing the worms and spiders and the little tiny salamander, and getting dirt in my hair and under my nails and my sweat in the soil and really touching the land, feeling the land. And it’s about spending time with my sister and not sitting in front of the computer, worrying about class or my clients or anything else.

It was me and my sister, and the dirt and the rocks, the land spirits and the bulbs. It’s about making connections and putting down roots, because these things take time. But when the time is there it’s good to use it because the results will be satisfying and hopefully, I’ll have flowers in the spring.