I know its not 'springtime' quite yet, even following a pagan calendar. Yet this is a perfect time to 'clean' the energy in your home or office. You see, just like our physical space can get a bit stagnant and 'old' when items or things we no longer need start to pile up and become clutter, so does the energy in our living and working spaces.
Just as opening the windows on a warm day in early April, sweeping away the sand and dirt that has accumulated during the winter and cleaning, tidying and organizing can bring a sense of peace, balance and accomplishment to our critical mind, so it also does to our soul energy.
This is the perfect time to cleanse the energy of your space especially after the energies of the holidays, when often some strong emotions or feelings are lingering. Of course we will assume that the space is physically clean. Now don't confuse clutter with unclean. You may have many objects around your personal space that make you happy, or have stacks of books you are currently using for research and this does not make for an unclean space but it may help capture and hold onto the energies that have come around. Of course in the case of an unclean environment, that situation will just add to the discord and discomfort in an area, so if this is the case, a throughout cleaning is required before we start.
What's so important about this type of energy cleaning? Stuck energies can make communication difficult, attitudes may become more sensitive or illogical and people can tend toward unhappiness and irritability. There is a belief amongst those who believe in energy fields and the energy that affects us, that an area with stuck, stagnant energy can turn harmful and eventually with enough exposure, can cause emotional, mental and perhaps even physical maladies. I am not making any such claims as I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on T.V.! Yet I believe in the energy field which surrounds us all and I personally feel better when the energy around me is balanced and clean and fresh.
Let me show you how I do it! First a short shopping list, and you may already have these items around. If not, its worth going out and picking up the following:
a bag of fresh lemons, or hand pick approximately 6 - 12, enough to fill up a pretty bowl, or a practical bowl if that's more your style.
a bottle of apple cider vinegar and a small glass or ceramic bowl that will hold 3-4 cups of liquid.
a smudge stick made from desert sage
a wind chime or a chain of tiny chimes or bells often called prayer bells,or a small bell will work
After you've placed the lemons. Sit in each room of your area for at least five minutes without doing anything except look around the space. Look around and see where energy may become stuck. Large areas of clutter should be put away if possible. Collections of objet d' art should be dusted or cleaned and replaced on cleaned surfaces. If using a wet solution to clean the objects use a solution with a splash of lemon juice in the water.
Neaten up, organize and make presentable the room you are in. Then place a cup or two of apple cider vinegar into a small ceramic or glass bowl. You need a bowl big enough that the vinegar sits on the bottom and can't slosh out. Place this in the center of a room and leave it for 10 to 20 minutes, then remove it and place it in another room. All rooms in a space whether a home or work environment will benefit from the powerful absorption qualities of vinegar. It absorbs and holds stagnant energy as well as any stronger energies that may have been released into the area such as anger, rage, grief and intense sadness or depression.
Vinegar is also excellent for absorbing the energies found in a sick room or area where someone has been ill for a prolonged period of time, two weeks or more.
Another excellent treatment for cleansing and lightening up an area is by using a smudge stick. But please!! Use the correct sage, and NO, not all sage is created equal! Let me explain. This next photo is a bundle of desert sage or sagebrush and this is the legendary sage used to cleanse the energy in an area.
This magickal concept comes from the Native American culture when for hundreds or thousands of years the prairie would be set on fire by originally, natural occurrences such as lightening, and the indigenous peoples, we can assume, noticed the resulting clearing of the dead and stagnant plants of the prairie and deserts. They would have noticed the resulting re-blooming and 'coming back to life' the prairie experienced. Over time the process of smudging came to symbolize this clearing which brought renewal, regeneration and rebirth.
Although Sagebrush also known as desert sage was the sage credited with this cleansing ability, somewhere over the last fifty years or so it has been confused with typical garden sage that when dried appears very white. Here this is a photo of garden sage dried. Can you see the difference?
It is at first hard to tell the difference if you're not familiar with the two varieties. Yet there is far more difference in magickal usage. For desert sage, of the gentle cleansing abilities, has a sweet smoky smell that so many people have proclaimed "Smells like marijuana". To me it smells like burning fresh, dried green hay. But that's the farm girl in me. You'll need to decide on the smell for yourself. I can only assure you it is legal and has very powerful abilities.
Garden sage on the other hand, frankly smells funky and a bit nauseating to me. No offense true garden sage lovers!! I love it also, in many applications, but I don't burn it. Magickally it has the properties of Immortality, Longevity, Wisdom, Protection and Wishes. According to Mr. Scott Cunningham, in his book "Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs" it is Sagebrush that has the properties of purification and exorcism, the elimination and cleansing properties we've come to expect from burning sage. I believe Mr. Cunningham to have been truly one of the great magickal masters, especially when it comes to understanding the magickal properties of natural things.
So when buying sage to burn for cleansing beware to purchase the correct material. You will find garden sage more easily available in the magickal markets as its cheaper to purchase and sell. Plus the misconception over the years has seen a proliferation of the mistaken belief to such an extend that even at Enchantments we carry small bags of garden sage to meet the demand. We label it with its correct magickal properties and will explain to those who care to listen the difference so they are aware of what they are purchasing.
When you do have your smudge stick in hand, I recommend taking a pair of snips and cutting the yarn or thread wrapped around the bundle, but only at the end. Use your fingers to gently separate the ends of the smudge stick so a bit of air can get to the inside. Then wrap a cone of aluminum foil around the base of the herb bundle. Cup the foil outward and upward to create a 'moat' around the smudge stick, to catch any stray embers that might float off the stick.
Then using a lighter, hold the flame to the ends of the bundle holding the foil wrapped base securely. Once the dried herb bundle catches on fire, allow it to burn for maybe 10 seconds no more than 15 seconds at most. It will often go out by itself, or you can gently blow the flames out allowing a stream of fragrant smoke to release from the stick. Walk through your house or area and wave the smoking herb stick around the doorways and windows. You can wave it around a room for just a minute or two, no longer as its is not the case of "the more the better".
Now, now my witchlings, no reason to fumigate the place!! Once you've smudged all rooms, and the openings and entrances, wrap the cone of foil around the stick wrapping it tightly. Place the foil wrapped stick in a dry sink or on a fire proof surface, maybe the cold burner of a stove until cool to the touch. Then you can store it where you wish until you want to do this again. Once a month is usually enough for a residence, though in our shop we do it every week as we are a retail business catering to the public.
You will definitely feel a difference once you smudge an area. Speaking of smudging an area, I would hesitate from using this in a business. I have been employed to smudge many businesses over the past 20 plus years, but its usually by very innovative and cool business owners who recognize the benefits of magickal smudging, especially as it aides financial draw and gain very strongly. Yet, that's a decision for the individual boss to decide, asj perhaps not all clientele will be good with the concept, and oh yes, I wouldn't recommend smudging your office or business work area without permission, if you're not the boss! Try explaining that one!!
Another concept you might like to try is a strand of tiny bells. Sometimes called prayer bells, celestial bells, and other names they are small bells strung on a strand or string of either chain, yarn or brightly colored thread. I hang these across doorways and stairways and I make a habit of touching them, just once lightly as I go down the stairs or when I pass by them. They 'clean' the air. Bells have magickally affected the air by their sound for thousands of years.
Some cultures felt our prayers were delivered to heaven on the vibrations of their sound, others felt that the ringing of the bells could bless an area, cleanse or promote a specific feeling by their very sound. An example are bells rung for a funeral, which are much more somber and almost tear inducing by their mournful tone as opposed to the gay ringing of marriage bells. As we are also affected strongly by sound and vibrations it causes, make sure the sound of the bells are pleasing to you and if you like the sound of wind chimes these can also be used. By hanging them inside you control when they ring, a nice alternative for those who like wind chimes yet don't or can't have them outside.
These are just a few of the tried and true cleansing methods I've used for years and I can recommend them to you. Try one or all if you wish to affect the energy you surround yourself with.
Peace and Happiness
© 2010 Enchantments, LLC Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website.
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