Today is the first day of the New Year for any of those folks who identify themselves as Pagan. Our Wheel of the Year has turned fully and we begin anew today.
Everything we have experienced for the past year is officially in the past now! We are free to begin planning for the new year, for new experiences, setting dates to do rituals, see friends, attend events.
With that in mind, you can see why this is a good time to think about cleansing your space – whether that be your room, your home, your office or your creative space (a den, workshop, garage, etc.). It is time to get rid of the influences of the past year, to shake off the negativity that has built up, to dust the unseen places, to unclutter yourself and your space both physically and spiritually.
The veil between the worlds, that we talk about bringing our ancestors so close to us at Samhain, is still very thin – hey – they’re not Cinderella! They didn’t go “poof* at midnight! This is a great advantage to do this kind of work. Your loved ones, your ancestors are here and can help you gain energy and strength for the year ahead. They can assist in cleaning! Think of them as your personal spirit cleaning crew!
I’m going to talk specifically about cleaning the house, but you are welcome to use any of these ideas for any space you need to clean! These are my ideas, and methods, and some may work for you, while others may not. Please feel free to use my suggestions as a guideline to form your own way of working this special cleansing magic! I would love to hear from folks on how they did theirs, and how it went!
So, I start from the top. We all know energy tends to reside up ^. Hence why we use incense smoke to bring our wishes upward towards the Gods. Why we raise our hands during rituals. We look to the energy created by the Sun and the Moon. We are always looking up. How many times have you heard “Keep your head up”, “Keep looking up!”, “How uplifting!”, “Look on the bright side!” (the sun!) – all these are sayings that bring us back to my point – energy bundles itself up high – like hot air rises. Start from the top. For me that means the second floor of the house.
Magical cleansing for me goes hand in hand with physical cleaning. When you un-clutter your space, when you make things neat, when you dust away the cobwebs, and vacuum up the crumbs, you clear space for a peaceful spirit to reside in you, with you and around you. An uncluttered space allows you time to breathe. Instead of being confronted with “all these things to do/take care of/organize/work on”, you now have time to think them through, time to decide for yourself, without guilt, what you will use your time and energy on.
I start in the second floor bathroom – a good straightening up (three girls live here – do you know what that bathroom looks like after one day of makeup and hair!?), and then a nice wipe down. Everything gets it – toilet, sink, tub, vanity tops, window sills, molding, picture frames. Now I’ll light a nice candle, to scent the air, to give me calm vibes, and to celebrate the freshly cleaned space! For my second floor, I don’t do the girls rooms. That is their personal space and I don’t invade it in this manner. But I do the front hallway a bit in the same manner as the bathroom. Then I move to my bedroom.
Bedrooms are very important. They are the most personal room in your house. That room is the last thing you see as you close your eyes to rest, the first you see when you open your eyes from dreams. This is where you go to lie down when you are ill, where you make love, where you conceive your children (well, lets just go with that ok adventurous ones?), where you give birth (if you lived some time ago or if you are doing home births…) and welcome new life, where you go to cry in your pillow and where many of us hope to pass on in our sleep. This room carries so much energy! If you could see through glasses that display energy patterns you would see zig zags of multi-colored energy zipping all over this room! If you could see it, it might look like this. Although even that gives an illusion of order and calmness – which no bedroom energy, without regular cleansings, is!
What you will be aiming for is more like this.
So, a good cleaning in here as well.
I work my way down stairs and do the same in each room; straightening up, putting things away, then dusting, vacuuming, mopping, etc.
Now comes the magical side of the process. Again, I start upstairs. My personal altar is upstairs, next to my bedroom in the hall. It faces East, the direction of the Sun Rise, the direction of the new day, the direction of the air. I stand here and meditate for a few moments. I try to clear my mind of anything that is cluttering it up that might deter me from my task at hand. Now here you may personalize this step – some may want to cast a circle – but I don’t feel that is necessary for this. I am not doing craft work that requires focused energy to one item or working, but of course, that is for each of us to decide. I will light a brand new white candle. I will ask my patron Goddess, Diana, to assist me in preparing my home for the new year, I will ask her to assist my ancestors to be near me and help me in this task. I’ll ground myself and begin visualizing a ball of white energy within me, starting at the lower belly – the womb, the area that brings new life and holds our creativity (even if, like me you do not have a uterus any longer – this energy still resides there). This area is commonly known as the Second Chakra. This is the seat of energy and the Chi. I allow that ball of white light to grow and glow within me, and it is this energy I’ll use to do all the rest of the work.
Now, there are a number of ways to do this cleansing depending on your circumstances. I have to use a few different methods in my home.
These are the tools I use:
A Besom (broom for magical work) –
Three of my besoms
Ceremonial White Sage for smudging –
my abalone shell and white sage
A white feather for wafting the sage smoke upwards and out –
My feather smudger
An all natural magical spray for the areas I can’t use the sage in (I have birds, and any kind of smoke can kill them quickly) –
Wee Witches Magical cottage Wash
And lastly, some black salt to seal in the cleansing and afford some protection from anything coming back in that is negative –
Wee Witches Black Salt
If you are looking for black salt to purchase, I suggest Mrs. B’s Brews and Baubles. I do make black salt for home use, and I do sell it as well, but only in Wee Witches Cleansing kits, so I don’t step on my friends toes! She puts alot of work, energy and love into her items, and you can be sure they are powerful!
You may want to use moon charged water, or your preferred incense over the sage. It really is up to you.
From here the method is pretty simple, I’ll tell you how I work. I put on some music I love. Depending on how I’m feeling it could be something soothing like a Jenna Greene cd, or it could be something that will get me moving and almost entrance me with the beating of drums, such as The Gypsy Nomads . Both, admittedly, recent acquaintances and friends.
Once my energy is glowing and my ears are filled with the sounds I need, the process moves quickly; each room, starting from the top of the house down, gets a sweeping from my besom. Always outwards at the doors and windows – it is important you sweep in this manner – broom down, sweep out, pick up broom, touch down again and sweep out – never back and forth! As I do this I am saying something like; ” I sweep out all things negative. With this action I clear my home and make room for light and love and peace. So mote it be!” Then each room gets a smudging at the door ways and windows (or a quick spritz of the cleansing spray and a wipe), working backwards toward the doorway when leaving a room. After each smudging I sprinkle a small bit (it goes a long way – remember this is magical salt – each grain is infused with power) of black salt in the window jams, or at doorways that lead outside. “With this salt I protect this house and the people who reside here. Only those with love and peace in their heart may enter, only light may stay!”
When you are completely done, you will want to cleanse yourself in case you’ve picked up any of the negative energies as you swept them out. Smudge your tools, or set them out to be cleansed by the moonlight. (This coming Saturday night is a New Moon – which would be a great time to do this).
Ground yourself again, and then give thanks to your God or Goddess and your ancestors for helping you today.
I like to make a nice dinner on the day I do this, and try to get the family to sit together for it. If that is impossible, at least make sure they all have a plate and know that the food you made is filled with your love.
This New Year cleaning can be done anytime of course, but it is especially powerful right now, and for the next few days. I hope you’ve found this helpful!
Brightest Blessings for a wonderful New Year!
Misty Words 