Unsure of the best way to rid your home of negative or stagnant energy? We've got you covered
There is about a week left in Virgo season before we make our way into the autumn time of Libra season where the focus will be on harmony, balance and prioritizing the relationships in our life. So let’s not jump ahead – Libra’s time to shine will come, but not a minute too soon and until then, the glorious spirit of the maiden is with us, flying high.
Virgo is all about organization, routines, health, healing and analyzing. This is the best time of the year, astrologically speaking, to deep clean your space, reorganize things and create new routines to maintain what you have done. So in the spirit of the last week of this season, here are some ideas on ways you can clear your house of unwanted energy.
Clearing your house is simply a good hygiene practice – it doesn't necessarily mean there are spirits in your house, (though there may be!) but it is totally normal for us to pick up energy as we go through our day to day and this can gather like dust in our homes. Every once in a while, especially if you feel like something is off, you can reach for one of your tools and do a quick clearing ritual. Of course, as with any ritual, this can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like.
Clearing Your Space
Spending time with our home – cleaning it, blessing it – is a beautiful way to connect with our living space and its energy. If you don't have a go to practice for this work, keep on reading! And if you do, leave us a comment and tell us what you do to clear your home of unwanted energy – we’d love to know!
Witches’ Broom
Besoms, a word derived from the old English word for broom, have been used since the old days to protect and clear the home of unwanted spirits. At some point, they became associated with witches and flying ointment – a potion that made the witches broom fly, according to historical beliefs and lore. Now, besom refers specifically to small brooms used for ritual magic. Besoms can be used to purify and consecrate spaces as well as to clear away negative energy. They are usually made of wood, traditionally using birch twigs with willow or hazel for the handle. You can make your own or check out the beautiful artisanal ones we have in our store.
To clear, you want to sweep the air just above the floor or space you are clearing and sweep in a circular, counterclockwise motion. You can hang your besom over your door or place it under your bed for protection or leave it near or on your altar. For added seasonal magic, consider placing a cinnamon broom on your door as they are thought to bring good luck and prosperity into the home during the autumn season.
Floor Wash
If you are feeling like some deep cleaning is in order, it may be time to get into the crevices of your home with a magical floor wash to clear away and protect. This is something that I recommend doing when you first move into a new place as well. You can make your own floor wash using protective and cleansing herbs but if you are not an herb witch or if you are just busy and in need a of a shortcut, here it is: Myers's lemon verbena dish soap. I promise, this is not an ad; I got this amazing idea from an incredible witch and medium named Sterling Moon and have used it ever since. Pour a little bit of the dish soap in a bucket and mop those floors. This soap is of course plant based and biodegradable but it also has an herbal formula of lavender, basil, geranium, honeysuckle and lemon verbena as well as olive oil and aloe – all of which is already a witchy concoction of protective, cleansing and purifying ingredients. Amplify the energy by adding your own magic through a spell or the addition of essential oils. If you feel like you need to be really thorough (maybe the energy feels particularly weird or it's a new space to you) then clean the window frames with this as well.
Smoke Cleansing
Smoke cleansing is a practice in which dried herbs are burned, allowing the smoke to clear and consecrate the space it fills. For many of us, Palo Santo and White Sage are not in our practice as they belong to closed practices and are in severe danger of being overharvested, but there are other wonderful herbs to use instead. Rosemary is my all time favorite as it is fiercely protective and an equally powerful cleansing agent. Juniper as well is a wonderful protector and is adept at specifically ridding negative energy. Cedar is another one and is additionally great for healing. Bay leaves can be burned to bring good luck.
Salt and Herbs
This is not so much for clearing as it is for protecting. Salt has been the go to for protection since ancient times. You can leave salt lines on your windows or doors to keep unwanted energies out. Cascarilla, which is dried eggshells that have been crushed into a powder, works in the same way. You can use them in spell jars to place around your house or at your door with the addition of other protective herbs such as juniper, rosemary, eucalyptus or banishing herbs such as rue or elderberry.
Invocation
My favorite way to clear the energy in my home is by using an invocation. You can create your own but if you’d like a guideline, here is an excerpt of a clearing invocation from the Lightworker Oracle Deck and Guidebook by Alana Fairchild:
"...I ask the for the orbs of light to bring peace and blessing to this space, to consecrate it as sacred and to protect it so that only energies of light, love and higher consciousness may enter. May the unconditionally loving orbs of light bless all those who can benefit from their presence. Through divine love and my own free will, so be it."
Pentacles and Talismans
Last but not least – because I am a witch, I feel the need to throw a pentacle on everything. For me, no spell or magical working feels complete without it. After I do any sort of cleansing, or even if I haven't and just want to feel extra protected, I visualize and/or use my finger (as if it were a wand) to create a pentacle in the air over the area or thing I want protected. In pagan practice, pentacles are symbols of protection and balance. In the tarot, they are the suit that brings material abundance and security. (And, if you were wondering about the difference between a pentacle and a pentagram, the difference is simply a circle. A pentagram is the five pointed star and it becomes a pentacle when it is placed inside a circle. I always draw the circle around my pentagram, for me it is the seal of protection that binds the spell.)
You can use talismans or drawings on your doorways if you’d prefer something more tangible, and of course it doesn't have to be a pentacle – it could be anything from your culture or practice that resonates with the energies of protection and consecration.
A New Cycle
Now that Mercury retrograde is over, we can really lean into the end of Virgo season without restriction. Soak up the last bit of these energies and surrender to the support they are providing – soon we will be in Libra season and in the start of fall, making Virgo season our last touch of summer. This represents an end and the start of a new cycle; so without rushing too quickly into the new, utilize the helping hand of Virgo to lay a solid foundation for the season to come.