Spiritual Cleaning

          Many partake in a yearly ritual called spring cleaning.  However, some of us look at the seasons a little differently.  While I usually do some spring cleaning, it’s the fall season that grabs all of my attention.

            As the sunlight begins to wane, I prepare my home for additional indoor activity and get it prepared for the short days of winter.  Since much more time will be spend indoors, it only seems logical to put everything in its place to prepare for the months ahead.

            The first thing to do is to rid your space of clutter.  In the Western world, we are consumer-driven economies and it’s easy to accumulate goods that play no part in our life or goods that we really don’t need.  I always begin fall cleaning by taking a long hard look at the products in my house.    

            This year, I began clean-up by giving a friend a bread maker.  A year ago when I purchased it, I thought it would be a great investment.  I always make homemade bread and this would allow me to do so in a jiff.  Then, I realized I never opened the box because it took away all of the labor of break making and that is what I most enjoy.  There would be no kneading and I simply cannot break bread without feeling the dough in my hands.  So, off to a friend the bread maker went as my hands continue to partake in the meditative task of kneading dough.

            If you survey your home, you’ll find plenty of items that you can give to others or to the less fortunate.  This gives you more open space and less clutter and that’s always a good thing.

            So, after all the goods that you haven’t used in a year are gone, start by partaking in a good old-fashioned scrubbing of the house.  I use lots of ingredients found in my fridge to clean my house, such as lemons and vinegar and it leaves a fresh, natural scent and keeps my house as chemical free as possible.

            After the unused goods are gone, clutter is to a minimum and the house is clean, I begin the most important cleaning task there is:  spiritual cleaning. 

            Spiritual cleaning can be performed in many ways and by anyone of any of the various faiths practiced in the world.  One can simply walk through the house asking for peace, or create an elaborate ritual to get rid of the old and negative and bring in the new and positive.  There will be some additional clean-up after the ceremony if completed, but it will be well worth it.

What I use:

1 Large Sage Smudge and a smudging pot

A Bowl of Sea Salt

A Bowl of Blessed Water

            Keep pets and small children away while you clean. Place the items on your altar or your kitchen table to work.  Start by lighting your sage smudge walking through the house and saying a prayer such as:

Bless this house and keep it safe for my children and I.  Creator, watch over all who live and enter here and keep us from harm.  I make it so by my will. 

So It Shall Be.

            Walk into every room in your house and allow the sage smoke to fill the air.  Sage smells wonderful and it also a natural disinfectant.  Be sure to get the smoke into every nook anc cranny and pay particular attention to the areas of doorways and windows.  Many use a smudging feather to move the smoke around the house but I simply use my hand.

**Please remember sage burns very hot and the embers will stay lit for a long time.  If you do not have a smudging pot, please extinguish your smudge safely outdoors by sticking it into the dirt.  Do not place in glass!

            After the sage smudging is complete, take your bowl of salt and say a prayer in every room as you sprinkle the salt into corners, onto window sills and across doorways.  Pay special attention and all entrances and exits into your home and that include wood stoves and fireplaces. Ask to cleanse all of the negativity from the air and from your home as you do so.

            After you have sprinkled your salt around, repeat the same prayers asking for all negativity to leave as your sprinkle the water in the same place as the salt.  Dip your hand into the bowl and flick your fingers to spread the blessed water.  Repeat with the same prayers and cover every area of the home. 

Clean up and know that your home is ready and spiritually cleaned for the upcoming winter season.