How To Cleanse Your Space
Let’s talk about how to spiritually cleanse your space, yourself and your tools!
Now, what on earth do I mean by this?
Cleansing or clearing is the act of removing unwanted or harmful attachments, emotions, energy or psychic debris which can build up over time depending on the type of work you do and how empathic or psychically open you may be.
Those who work in really negative environments such as toxic workplace culture or high emotion places like hospitals, funeral homes & wedding venues will definitely benefit from a cleanse and clear regimen.
Folks who work in care related industries like nurses, child care workers, therapists and psychic mediums are often subject to taking on the emotions and worries of their clients whether they mean to or not.
If you work with crystals, tarot or oracle cards, divinatory tools such as divining rods or pendulums or spirit boards then you will DEFINITELY need to cleanse your space that you use them in, your self by which I mean your entire body and your tools that you have been using to ensure your readings are accurate and unaffected by outside energy.
What Is Cleansing & Clearing, And Why Does It Matter?
Just as you sweep the dirt out after walking mud into your home, you too need to sweep away any excess energy that may have attached to you, your tools or your space.
No, I’m not talking about entities and ghosts (although cleansing can be useful with that too).
I’m talking about;
Taking on the emotions of those around you accidentally.
Not effectively disconnecting yourself from others energy.
The lingering feeling after an argument or illness in the home
But why do it in the first place?
Why we cleanse absolutely depends upon each individuals belief system and is highly personal but I will tell you what I believe and why I recommend this practice.
Personally, I’ve felt the difference between cleansing and not cleansing and it’s significant enough that I’m a convert for life.
We obviously now understand Germ Theory and why personal hygiene and hand washing is so crucial, but did you know many religions required these practices well before Germ Theory was established?
Did they know something we all didn’t?
Maybe originally that knowledge was known, & now only the rituals remain… but this does make me wonder when it comes to the other ritualised practices such as what I’ve mentioned above.
I believe that everything is energy.
I also believe, that there is a lot that happens in the energetic space that almost everyone is unaware of.
There are so many colours we can’t see, frequencies we can’t feel and sounds we can’t hear. There is so much going on that escapes our awareness.
Now let me be clear though… There isn’t necessarily good and bad energy, it’s more of a scale of polarity. Negative doesn’t always equate to bad and positive doesn’t always equate to good so throw that binary thinking away.
There are people who are on a different level to you, in a way that isn’t beneficial. These are generally toxic people to be around and will leave you feeling really emotionally and physically drained.
There also have places that hold a not so nice residual energy due to acts that have occured there; think prisons and murder scenes that hold onto that residual energy from the act.
Along with the not so nice energy, there is also just the unwanted energy of another person. For example, after using my tarot cards to read for a lot of people in a row, I routinely cleanse them of my clients energy using a selenite wand, or by knocking on them, so that they are clear and ready for the next client. This helps me to not get mixed signals when it comes to my readings.
There are a few people who are energy sensitive such as psychics, mediums, energy healers and empaths who will feel and recognise stuck or unwanted energy, and we can all tune in to our sensitivities with practice.
How to Cleanse
The following examples will give you a rough idea of different ways to cleanse.
We can use water, smoke, sound, crystals and visualisation!
Basically, trial and error will tell you what feels best for you personally .
How To Cleanse With Water
The practice of spiritually cleansing oneself with water has been used by many religions and cultures across the world for thousands of years.
This is most commonly done in the following ways.
In bodies of moving water such as a stream or ocean
In a pool (like with christian baptisms)
With blessed water that is sprinkled upon the person (like with a Catholic christening)
Cleansing physically through bathing, steam rooms and hand washing
Florida Water
Florida water is a popular product from the USA in the early 1800s. It is an alcohol based cologne crafted with a blend of essential oils such as Lemon, Orange & Lavender. Some people replace Holy Water with Florida Water.
It gets its spiritual cleansing rep from the Hoodoo/Vodou and Santeria communities.
How to use Florida Water?
Spritz or spray florida water over yourself or your space
Use it to wipe down your altar or workspace
Add to your floor wash
This clears the energy of the space, making way for new, fresh energy to come in. Many folks will also use Florida water in spell work to remove heavy energy and to allow for clear readings in their divination.
If you wish to use Florida Water to cleanse a new home or office space you can mix it with some Basil and Rue and then dilute in water to annointing or washing your floors, doors and windows.
Holy Water
Often the most well known water for cleansing is Holy Water, specifically of the Catholic variety. It is often used in cases of paranormal events, to clear entities and protect the space. Holy water is water that has been blessed by a religious figure (usually catholic but not necessarily).
Depending on what you wish to cleanse and clear you can sprinkle holy water over an object to cleanse, or keep a bottle on your altar for sacred cleansings. Holy water is also great for blessing a new house before moving in, or a room before bringing home a newborn baby.
How To Cleanse With Smoke
Smoke cleansing is another very common form of spiritual cleansing.
In some groups of Indigenous people in North America, they use a ritual of smoke cleansing called Smudging, often done with White Sage.
This is not the same as standard smoke cleansing and is a closed practice. Please do not smudge with sage unless you are indigenous to those particular traditions.
The Catholic church is another follower of smoke cleansing, utilising the incense of frankincense and myrhh for ritual use. Eastern Religions also commonly use incense, candles and other forms of smoke or flame cleansing methods.
Herb Bundles
My personal favourite when it comes to smoke cleansing is to use a herb bundle. Simply select your favourite herbs & plants such as Rosemary, Mullein, Eucalypt, Rosewood, Juniper or Yarrow and tie them in a bundle.
Allow to dry, and then light over a candle flame or with a lighter (it will self extinguish but it’s helpful to have a bowl of sand or salt to catch the flame and ash).
Waft the smoke around your body to cleanse your aura, and around the space to cleanse your room. You can hold tools over the smoke like your pendulum or crystals or even tarot and oracle decks.
Simply allow the smoke to flow over the item or area, carrying with it the excess energies. Don’t forget to keep your doors and windows open for this one for ventilation!
Charcoal Disks
Charcoal discs are lit carefully over a flame (hold it with tongs) and placed into a small cauldron or fire proof bowl or plate.
I personally add a carpet of sand to the base of my cauldron so it doesn’t get as hot.
Then add dried herbs, or resins to the hot disc. It causes a lot of smoke so it’s wonderful for cleansing whole houses at a time and is what I take with me to cleanse my clients houses when necessary.
Incense
Yes! You can cleanse with incense! It is a smaller amount of fragrant smoke and perfect for a quick cleanse. Wave it around your body, or waft your deck through the smoke for a swift cleanse.
How To Cleanse With Crystals
Many people utilize crystals to cleanse & clear blocked or stagnant energy. Crystals are an easily accessible and low maintenance way to cleanse energy. You can wear a crystal, hold a crystal, meditate with a crystal or swipe one over your aura.
White Selenite
White Selenite is a soft gypsum stone, it is beautiful and light and comes in a range of shapes. I generally opt for a wand, which is a long column of the stone or a disc which acts as a ‘cleansing station’ for my jewellry or pendulum.
It’s a very affordable and easy stone to find and a great tool especially for cleansing your own aura, simply sweep the wand down your body from head to toe. Visualise this cutting through any attachments and sweeping away the energetic build up of your day.
You can also sit this crystal on top of your tarot deck, or spirit board and leave overnight (in the moonlight perhaps) to cleanse the item itself.
If you love crystals, try incorporating selenite into your cleansing and clearing regimen.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. Give it a go and have FUN!
How To Cleanse With Pendulums
Crystal Pendulums can be a handy tool to cleanse energy in a space or in your chakras. Not an ideal tool for a large space I might add.
Probably suited for a more experienced energy worker or Witch, or at least someone who has used a pendulum for some time and knows how it works.
Take your usual pendulum (my preference is for black tourmaline) and let it hang over the item or area that needs to be cleansed.
The pendulum will begin to move in ways it doesn’t usually when asking simple questions, mine swings quite wildly. Once the space is cleared, it reverts to the ‘yes’ position before standing still.
How To Cleanse With Sound
Lastly, sound cleansing can be very effective. Some of my favourite sound cleansing methods are the following;
Tibetan Singing bowls
Crystal bowls
Ting Sha (Tibetan hand gongs)
Bells
Clapping my hands loudly
So why not give cleansing a try, or try a new method of cleansing and take note of how it makes you feel.
Use the items you already have at your disposal. The key takeaway here is to go with what feels right to YOU. If a meditation makes you feel clear and ready to take on the day then do that, there are tonnes of amazing guided cleansing meditations on YouTube.
If you still feel stuck, and know there is some energy blockage that you simply can’t figure out on your own, book a session with me. I offer guidance calls for 30 or 60 minutes and we can dive deep into what’s going on for you and how to remedy it.
Brightest Blessings,
Hana
Meet Hana
Hana O’Neill, the Suburban Witch is a professional Tarot & Astrology reader, Intuitive Coach and the host of the Witch Talks podcast.
