Section C.) Cleansing with Incense and Smoking

[Teresa]

At this point I do want to say there are certain types of negative energy that a spiritual bath will not remove from anyone. As a result, most practitioners will follow up a spiritual bath with a fumigation or smoking of the person's body and this is done right after they get out of the tub, so to speak, while the bath water is drying on their skin.

To Smudge Yourself


You may either light the end of the smudge stick itself or you can make a mound of the smudging herbs in a fireproof dish. A feather fan is used to keep the herbs burning. Offer the smoke to the four quarters in order; east, south, west, and north. Then offer the smoke to the sky and then to the earth. This is a preliminary offering to the directions and the spirits, purifying your area. The smudge is then held up high, at the level of your head. With the feather fan, begin to draw the smoke over yourself and down your body toward your feet, then offer more smoke to the earth. Then begin at the feet and direct the smoke toward your body again, going upward to your heart area. Next, pass your hands through the smoke and direct it over your head three times. You may put down either the bowl or the smudge stick, or change hands as you direct the smoke over your head.


Smudging Others


Before you begin to smudge another, it is important to smudge yourself. The person whom you are going to smudge should stand in front of you. Begin at their feet, fanning the smoke up their body to the top of the head. Then hold the smoke at the person's heart level and allow the person to pass the smoke three times over his or her head with both hands. If the person does not do this, simply and quietly ask them to do so. With the feather fan, begin to fan the smoke, going down their body toward their feet and to the ground. Then ask the person to turn around and fan the smoke, beginning at their head and going down toward their feet, then to the ground.

It is important that the smoke touch each part of the person's body and that they feel and smell the smoke.

The combinations of herbs used to create smudging blends are designed to serve specific purposes. Cedar, cypress, and juniper are used to consecrate or make sacred. Pine, fir, and spruce are burned for their purifying and cleansing effect. The resins such as benzoin, copal, dragon's blood, frankincense, and myrrh make up the four elements when used as smudge or incense.

Sage is used to clear away all negative and foreign energy or entities from oneself as well as from another, one's environment, or one's ritual tools and sacred objects.

Sweet grass is used for grounding, protecting, and making sacred as well as for calling in spirits.

Tobacco is burned whenever sacred energy is needed.

[Teresa]

Smudge your Home



Take 3 deep relaxing breaths (inhale and exhale) for grounding
Begin smudging at the front door or front entrance doorway.
Standing inside the house face the opening to the front door.
Fan the smudge or smoke half way across the opening and work your way to the left. Always walk around from left to right when smudging in a house, room or business. (Or walk counter clockwise.)
Fan the smoke with your free hand or feather sweeper around the walls moving slowly counter clockwise.
When we approach our first doorway stay to the left and enter the room.
Work your way around the room by following a continuous circle formation. Do NOT cross your path and work backwards.
When that room is completed work your way out of the opposite side of the doorway and hug the wall that you are following.
If you come to a stairwell, follow the stairwell up doing the one side, keeping the circle open.
Work around the upstairs from room to room in a counter clockwise manner until you get back to the stairwell.
Work your way down the stairwell smudging the other side, finish the lower level of the house continuing in a counter clockwise manner until you get to the front door again.
When you get back to the front door, visualise that any energy within the circle of smoke are being pushed out the door.
That is where the circle gets closed, keeping all the positive vibrations within the house after the negative got pushed out
Take 3 deep relaxing breaths (inhale and exhale) for grounding
Your Done.

[Teresa]

Space Clearing: Clearing and Blessing a Home

Many people have written me over the years to ask how they can clear a dwelling of negative energy, either in terms of entities or the residual energies of previous occupants, and how to perform a blessing on the home.



Space Clearing: Clearing and Blessing a Home
By Julia Jablonski




Many people have written me over the years to ask how they can clear a dwelling of negative energy, either in terms of entities or the residual energies of previous occupants, and how to perform a blessing on their home. Following is a very simple house clearing and blessing ritual.



Of course, it's not the specific words or actions that are magical; it's the energy and intention and focus that are put into it. The energies that are to be cleared are "non-physical," and can be affected through the similarly intangible energies of thought and will. A ritual is a symbolic process that serves as a vehicle through which to channel our desires and intentions. I urge you to be creative and allow for your own inner guidance to lead you through impulse and inspiration.



This kind of energetic ritual really does work! Some great women friends of mine and I performed a similar ritual on my own house, and over the years, nearly everyone who has stepped inside has remarked on the great energy there. My plants thrive, my children are jolly, healthy and happy, and a sense of clarity and peace suffuses the atmosphere.



It's best to have more than one person performing the clearing and blessing, for the synergy makes the process exponentially more powerful. You'll no doubt have lots of friends about over the holidays, so ask if they would help you to prepare your house for the new year! This ritual is best undertaken when moving into a new dwelling, or in an existing dwelling if such a ritual was never undertaken when you moved in. Over time, your own energy will naturally charge the things and places that you are in continued contact with.



The more adept your friends or partners are at working with energy, the better. The women who helped me, for instance, were artists, healers and spiritual counselors. They wove powerful magic! If you don't know anyone who would be good for the job, you might try calling up an energy worker or healer and ask if they provide this kind of service.



Begin by sitting in a circle and discussing your intentions. Talk about what you desire to achieve, and how you plan to go about it. (Read through the ritual and make sure everyone knows the plan!) Establish a sense of cooperation, love and harmony.



Take white rags, natural brooms, or anything else that you feel drawn to as a symbolic cleansing "tool," and walk all through the house, chanting or singing about how you are clearing away the old. Visualize this old energy returning to the earth or to the sun to be recycled. You can prepare something to read in advance about this, or you can simply allow everyone to contribute as they feel moved. It might sound something like this:



"We clear this home of all that has gone before..."

"We clear away the old, we wash away all that lingers here..."

"It is blank, and clear, and rich with potential..." etc...



You can have one person drumming a beat as you go along, and everyone singing or chanting or talking out loud to get the team focused on the same intention in a powerful way. Move through the house, pretending to "clean" the energy, and then after you've gone all through the house, go to a door and pretend to sweep out all you've collected, and to shake out your rags and otherwise "cleanse" your tools. Wipe your hands, and affirm that now the space is clear and clean, it is done.



Walk through the house a second time celebrating the clean energy, appreciating how clear your home now is. Feel the difference, and affirm it. Imagine this clarity and pure potential expanding out past the four walls, into the yard, and to the edges of the property. Imagine bright white or iridescent light filling the property, and breathe deep of this pure potential with gratitude and satisfaction.



Now walk through the home a third time singing a song of love, joy and appreciation. You can make up your own song as you go along, or sing a song such as "Amazing Grace" or any other uplifting and inspiring song. Sing or chant of all the things you wish in your home: of abundance, love, good friends, good health, warmth, and comfort. Do not focus on protecting your home or on anything you don't want. Simply establish that this is a safe, warm, secure home, and only those people or influences in harmony with this love and joy will enter, and they will enter abundantly. Sing, dance, and celebrate this overflowing positive energy as it swells and fills the dwelling. You can tone, dance or drum to raise more energy to feed this fire. The point is to get everyone powerfully focused upon and feeling this joyful energy.



When this part of the ritual naturally dies down, gives thanks, celebrate, break bread, drink wine or pure water, and smile with the knowing that your home is newly invigorated with beautiful and joyful energy!



Julia Jablonski is an ordained Spiritualist minister, medium and clairvoyant. Please Visit Julia's website here: http://www.muse-net.com/

[Teresa]

Rae Schwarz
BellaOnline's Pagan Editor

Hearth and Home Blessing

The hearth and home are often safe, sacred spaces in pagan traditions. The home can be a private retreat, a place to recharge, and a blessed spot to gather. A house can be just a shelter, but the concept of “home” implies nourishment, abundance, strength, community, and more. Energizing and tending to one’s home can enrich daily life and lay a foundation from which greater magickal workings can flow.

The greatest attention to house energies often come when moving to a new residence. This is often a special focus of apartment dwellers, where the tenants not only turn over more often, but the previous residents are rarely met and are assumed to not have the same respect for the space as an actual owner might show. Many new homeowners would like to not only honor their accomplishment at purchasing a home but bless their new space and having a small ritual often brings that essential feeling of “mine.”

If your moving pace isn’t the hurried rush that seems to accompany many house moves, you may get a chance to be in the space while it is empty of possessions and furniture. If you do, take a short time and just walk through the apartment or house. Notice how the space feels to you. Notice where it is light and dark, and see if you can feel how air currents flow in the residence. Does the house make noises as you walk around? Can you hear sounds from other nearby residents or from outside?

Clearing Energies
Many people feel a new space should have its energy refreshed and cleared after the old residents have moved out. This can be in a new residence or, more frequently, after a change of housemate in a shared home. Burning sage or another smudging herb and fanning the smoke around is the most common method for a quick fix. Misting or glittering are good options for when an environment needs to stay smoke-free.

Blessing The Home
Many people like to set up a few blessed objects or a small altar when they first start moving into a new space. Making a small focused area with a spiritual focus is much like carrying an ember to start a new fire. Moving into a new residence is also a good time to honor any new changes you are attempting to manifest along with other new beginnings (starting a new family, a new job, living in a new city, etc.)

Some people verbally say hello to the new space and offer peaceful greetings to the energies that are present. Other people perform rituals with the intention of asking older energies to move along. This will vary with your own spiritual tradition and intention, and how the space “feels” to you. Touring the entire property or residence is often done during a house blessing. Any specific cleansing and prayers can be done in one area, or repeated throughout the various rooms as you feel necessary.

Protection and Warding
There are occasions when it is appropriate for a home or residence to receive a blessing of protection. For those who have had to leave a home under duress or those leaving an abusive situation, blessing the new house can help restore the feeling of home as a safe haven. Again, with varying traditions, the intention of the protection spell can be quite different. Words and prayers can be spoken inviting only friendly and helpful spirits and energies. For extreme situations of unrest, some may chose to use words that banish or ask that opposing energies be blocked or barred from the home.

Content copyright © 2007 by Rae Schwarz.

[Teresa]

Natural Magic - Cleansing

Energy is supple and can be changed and refined with intention. Your home provides an environment that optimally should be conducive to your well-being. A positive environment can help you in your relationships, wellness, and prosperity. You can improve or change the energy in your home and sacred space be using various simple, yet remarkably effective, cleansing techniques. Here is a listing of some of these techniques:

Cleaning- Clutter reflects disorganization, and in a practical sense, makes things difficult to find when you need them. If you're always looking for things, you need to begin organizing the spaces in your home so that items are easily located. Also physically cleaning the dirt, mold, and grime from your home helps to energetically cleanse it. For instance, the windows of your home are your eyes to the outside world, and when they are dirty, your vision becomes muddled and blurred. In addition, the scent of your home needs to be pleasing for it to be a harmonious living environment.

Rituals- Rituals invoke divine energy and can be used in conjunction with blessings and prayers. You can also use your ritual tools, such as candles, smudge, salt, and water in the cleasing and purification process.

Salt- One of the oldest and best methods for cleansing your space of stagnant energy patters. The crystals of salt absorb and neutralize any energetic paterns that they come into contact with. I recommend using sea salt and pure water mixed together and sprinkled on the four directions of your sacred space or home in a clockwise pattern. If you like, you can dip a sprig of greenery in the salt water and wave it slightly to sprinkle the mixture. Avoid sprinkling salt water on anything that it may damage such as furniture, clothing, silk flowers, or house plants.

Smudge- Smudge sticks are a traditional Native American techique that utilizes the cleansing properties of certain herbs, such as cedar, sage, lavender, and sweet grass, as well as resins such as copal. When lit, the smoke cleanses the energy of a room as well as any unpleasant odors. For best resurlts, smudge your sacred space and home every day.

Drums- Another traditional Native American technique, pounding on drums enlivens the energy of a space and naturally clears out any negative energy. The rhythym, tone, and cadence of the drum create an altered state of consciousiness especially conducive to ritual, mediation, and prayer.

Bells and tones- This is an Eastern techique that uses sound to purify the energy in a space. In addition to regular bells, you can use Tibetan Prayer Bells, also know as Ting Shaw Bells, and Tibetan Bowls to cleanse an area. Bamboo flutes, music, and wind chimes can also be used to cleanse your space. Or you can use your voice and tone an "Om," or sing or hum a beautiful song to create positive energy in your sacred space and home.

For more information on cleansing and energizing your personal space, consult Sirona Knight's book, Empowering Your Life With Natural Magic.



Below is a short list of herbs and essential oils and their magical properties and other reasons to use them in magical cleaning.

Lemon – Purification, Longevity

Lime – Healing, Protection

Grapefruit – Detoxifying, Invigorating

Tea Tree – Antiseptic, Antibacterial, Refreshing

Lemongrass – Freshness, Psychic ability

Rosemary – Purification, Protection, Healing, Mental abilities

Sage – Purification, Cleansing, Wisdom, Wishes

Thyme – Health, Healing, Purification

Cedar – Purification, Protection, Healing

Lavender – Peace, Relaxation, Calming

Pine – Protection, Prosperity, Healing

[Teresa]

by Emer

Although we might not always be able to sense an energy imbalance; we are nevertheless affected by it. Some areas/buildings feel comfortable to us, while others may make us feel edgy, depressed or anxious to get out. After there has been a heated argument in a room, the atmosphere may feel heavy and dismal. You may even begin to feel irritable yourself. This negative evergy, if allowed to exist and even grow (like attracts like), can adversely affect all the inhabitants in that area. In your house, it can even make you, your family, your pets and your plants sick. It will actually make your house sick. Animals are especially vulnerable as they act as buffers for us, and will absorb this negativity until they get physically sick.

There, I've said my piece about the importance of cleansing your environment/home.

When we cleanse, we're replacing undesirable energy (aka negativity) with desirable or positive energy.

Anything can be cleansed and probably should be from time to time. Your car, house, yard, farm, things, your aura. Anything.

If you do a cleansing ritual or procedure with anger or fear of the negativity you are trying to release, you will only exchange one kind of negativity for another. You gain nothing.

Always enter into any cleansing process with an attitude of love. Negative energy is not bad or evil; it is simply energy that does not sustain you. Nothing is inherently evil --- it is our judgement of it that labels something good or bad.

Now for a method. I will discuss one of the ones I use for I can speak from experience on these, although there are many other methods to achieve the same end. Use what works for you.

Smudging

Smudging, (passing through smoke,) is an ancient method of cleansing that works quite well. I've used it to cleanse my house, and it's very good for smaller items and for cleansing your aura.

When smudging a room, work in one direction, spiralling to the center. Which direction you use is up to you - try both. Counter clockwise is usually considered banishing; clockwise is invoking.

I usually use Ceremonial White Sage, but garden sage works equally well. Pinon Pine, if you can get it, is super. Pine, of any kind, is generally thought to bring in desirable positive energy; while the sages are more for banishing the negative. Both can be used during the same smudging ritual.

You can use powdered sage or pine on charcoal, or a smudge stick. I prefer a small wad of the leaves. Carry a heatproof container (ashtray) in your left hand; the smudge in your right.

For a room, try to start near, but not in front of the door, sweeping the smoke into all corners; up to the ceiling and down to the floor. If you use leaves or a smudge stick, knock the ashes off often, so you won't catch anything on fire. It's a good idea to keep a container of water close by, just in case.

Repeat the following, if you wish, during the smudging:


***From the Element of Fire
Comes this smoke, which is Air.
From the Element of Earth
Grows this plant, which is Water.
I call upon the Elements and the Blessings of Spirit
To please cleanse this (area, space, being, etc.)
For the good of all.***
Continue until every inch of the area has been touched by the smoke and you feel that you're done.

As with any magickal rite, intent and visualization are important. Visualizing the movement of energy adds a lot of power to the cleansing procedure.


©1999 Ambrosia. All Rights Reserved. You may copy this text for your own personal use or for your personal web pages; however, you may not sell or otherwise use part or all for commercial or monetary gain without written consent from the author. This copyright notice must remain attached to any copy of this text. http://ambrosiasrealms.tripod.com

[Teresa]

Holistic Housekeeping: Spring Cleaning With Intent
By Deborah Redfern

Whistling while I work does not come naturally for me, how about you? Especially during those repetitive tasks -- like washing dishes and sweeping floors. This is a pity because simply put, cleaning shifts energy. Making each room sparkle has an uplifting effect. Consider that if house cleaning alone shifts energy, cleaning with intent has an even greater effect. Put this theory to the test to make your spring cleaning more meaningful, enjoyable and uplifting this year. Let me know what you discover. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

1. Set your Intent while you clean. Take some time to consider your Life Vision and hold that thought as you go about cleaning. To set your Intent, hold a vision of how you want your life to be. That vision might be a home that exudes love and harmony. Or perhaps you want your home to be a creative sanctuary. When you clean with your Life Vision firmly in mind, the energy this creates actually goes into your living space.

2. While you clean try using these affirmations, or write your own.
With each window I clean, my inner vision becomes more clear and focused.
As I polish and dust my furniture, I give thanks for the blessings in my life.
As I wash my dishes, I let go of any self-limiting thoughts.
As I sweep the floors, I affirm that this work creates a sanctuary for all who enter this house.
3. Use imagery to psychically clean your house. For instance, imagine a column of pure white light from the stars (moon, sun) that comes through your roof and fills your home until it glows. Imagine this cleansing, renewing and healing light pouring in until you can sense a shift in the energy.

4. While you clean, invite the healing forces of the four elements into your home - air, earth, fire, and water. Not only will it help you clean your home, but it has a powerful cleansing and renewing affect on your body, mind and soul.


Air (Sound and Scent)
Did you know that sound waves pass through physical forms and change the vibrational frequency of your home? As you clean, choose music to suit the mood and make your task lighter and mood brighter. Especially effective are recorded bird song; classical and baroque music such as Bach, Mozart, and Brahms; and human voice such as Gregorian Chant. For scent, try aromatherapy. I have included some recipes in the list below to show you how you can make your own natural cleaning products using essential oils.

Water
Water is essential for our survival. It is obvious that we use water when we clean, but how often do we take it for granted? To give water its rightful respect, consider making 'special' water. Pour a pitcher of water and send it prayers. Add a few drops of flower (or environmental) essences to create elixirs with healing properties. Ceremoniously drink the water, or use in it in special cleaning rituals. However do not use essential oils for drinking purposes since some are toxic.

Fire
The main source of fire in our lives is sun, and the sun governs the cycles of nature and the changing of seasons. Spring was historically a logical time to clean because homes heated by coal or wood were coated with smoke and grime by the end of winter. Spring brought warmer weather when the hearth fire could go out and everything in the home given a thorough cleaning. Still today, the associations of spring and spring cleaning bring a sense of renewal and new beginnings for many of us.

Earth
The energy of Earth provides us with an important source of belonging and grounding. I believe it anchors the energy of the other elements. To work with the energy of the earth in your home, try a salt ritual. Salt is cleansing and grounding, and believed to have the ability to neutralize negative energy. To begin, toss sea salt around the room on the floor, especially in the corners. Leave to sit for several hours or overnight and then sweep or vacuum it up.

Smudging
Aromatic plants can also be used to shift energy. The Native American space clearing technique of smudging uses aromatic herbs that are lit and allowed to smolder. This is done to remove negative energy fields around people, or to clear undesirable vibrations out of homes, to promote health and to give a blessing. Different dried herbs and plants are used such as sage, tobacco, cedar, juniper, sweet grass, pinon, red willow and mesquite. The herbs are bundled and tied (called a smudge stick), or braided in the case of sweetgrass, or they can be used loose.

The smudge is lit and as the herbs begin to flame brightly, the fire is blown out and the smoldering end is blown on gently to encourage the herbs to smolder. The smoke is brushed all over the body, front and back, with your hand or sometimes with a feather. You can pass the smoke over yourself or have a friend do it. You can then proceed to clear your entire house by brushing the smoke around the parameter of the room, paying special attention to corners. Needless to say you should always use a heatproof dish to hold the herbs, even with a smudge stick, and make sure they are completely extinguished when you are through. Also disconnect your smoke alarm (although there may not be enough smoke to actually trigger it, it definitely breaks the mood if it does - and remember to reset the smoke detector when you are through). To smudge with Intent, hold the outcome firmly in your mind and recite (or mentally repeat) words such as "I am a sacred child of God (the Creator, the Universe)" and picture yourself and your home surrounded by golden, protective energy.

Cleaning with Essential Oils
The aroma of essential oils can influence the state of mind, most notably they can reduce stress and induce relaxation. Less known perhaps is that essential oils are antiseptic and kill germs and microbes on surfaces, making them ideal for cleaning and disinfecting your home. You can use any essential oil you particularly like since almost all essential oils have germ killing properties, however I rarely use more than 3 in a cleaning blend. You do not need to use top grade oils for cleaning purposes. Always keep in mind the general safety considerations of essential oils: keep out of reach of children, and be aware that cats and birds are very sensitive to essential oils and should not be used directly in their environment. Some of my favorite blends are:

Blend suggestions:
Tea tree, lemon and lavender
Lemon, clove, and cinnamon
Pine, eucalyptus and orange


Good Chi Spray
I use this as a room spray to instantly lift the energy in a room. It is also a disinfectant, targeting airborne and surface bacteria, viruses, fungus, yeast and mold. Shake often during use.

Per 4 oz (120 ml) water in a spray bottle add 80-100 drops of essential oils. For a smaller bottle, adjust the number of drops of essential oils accordingly.

I hope these ideas get you started in creating balance, harmony and renewal in your home and life this month. Happy spring cleaning!


Copyright © 2005 Deborah Redfern.

Deborah is a certified Practitioner and Master Teacher of Interior Alignment ©. She is the creator and instructor of the Self-Healing Expressions e-course Healing with Feng Shui and Color.

[Teresa]

Okay this should give enough information and some different views other than mine for everyone to digest and take something away from. Enjoy reading, copy and save or take notes etc.

[Willow Rosette]

Is there anything you dont know??? You are a wealth of information!!!!!!! Thank you sooo much!!!

[Sage]

The European smudging method is just like my son's grandmother's way of smudging and she is Sudanese. How great, and that experience was a true treat.

Ok, off to finish reading.

Sage

[Mordaen]

Well I always smudge myself sunward. California white sage ftw :) Best gathered by oneself. Smudged my truck a while ago, runs better now ;).

[Restless Willow]

Thank you...I am moving into my new home in a few weeks and you have given me some great things to do !

[Aina]

I sneeze whenever I smudge myself...lol. Great info~ Going to copy and paste if I can get my comp to run again...I'm on my fiance's right now :p

[Amilee]

Common fact actually, a lot of people are allergic to smudges! So, Aina you could in fact have an allergic reaction to smudging.

I love fire so this stuff has way more meaning for me. Tis me element dontcha know. Though technically it involves both fire and air elements. :boing: I shall start taking notes immedietly.

[Branwen_Yr_Hardd]

I have not used smudging for personal cleansing in the past but have done so for space cleansing :). Thank you for the interesting ideas.