Cleansing Routine 2010
December 30th, 2009This is a cleansing ritual for anytime you wish to change the energy in your home. Rituals are simply ways for you to refocus the most powerful energy you possess – your mind and your intention.
The days before New Year’s, go through your home and remove any plants that are not thriving, clothes that do not fit, anything broken, and any items that remind you of negative or depressing experiences from the past. Purchase a sage burning stick (or incense stick) and a container of sea salt (Wild Oats, Whole Foods and the Sunflower market carry these items, as do most metaphysical bookstores).
When you awaken on New Year’s Day strip your bed and take a salt bath – one cup salt to a tub of water. After five minutes of soaking, lather up as usual, finish your normal grooming routine, dry off with a freshly laundered towel, and get dressed in freshly laundered clothing. Make up your bed with clean sheets.
1. Light your sage stick and blow out the flame so that the stick smokes.
2. Beginning at your front door, make a counterclockwise circle around the perimeter of the door with the smoking stick. Then going to your left, (again counterclockwise) walk the entire inside perimeter of your house. (If your house is two-stories or more, begin at the floor your front door is located and then go up and circle each next floor counterclockwise. If there is a floor above and below the level of your front door, do the main level first, then the next level up and then the level below the main entrance.) This counterclockwise circle releases any negative energy in the home.
3. Once you are back at the front door, still keeping the sage stick smoking, make a clockwise circle of the perimeter of your front door. Then turning to your right, (clockwise) walk the entire inside of your home again. When you’re back at the front door, do one more clockwise circle of the front door. The clockwise circle seals in positive energy.
4. The very last thing you do with your burning sage is step outside your front door and place the burning sage on the ground. Allow the smoke to cascade up your body and imagine your being cleansed by the smoke. Imagine all the possibilities that are now open to you and that THIS new beginning allows you the perfect experience for your spirit.
5. Then go to the kitchen and pour water on smudge stick, or incense to make sure it’s no longer a fire hazard before you throw it away. Open every window in your home and turn on the fans for about 5 minutes. That will clear out the smoke and bring all fresh new air into your house
6. While the house is airing out, go to your freezer and dump out all the ice into your sink.
7. Close all your windows and turn off the fans. Your house is now ready for a new beginning.
8. If you are performing this ritual on New Year’s Day, have the following four items at the same meal before midnight:
a. Black-eyed peas – this is for luck in the New Year.
b. Some sort of leafy vegetable: spinach, collards or even lettuce – this is for money in the New Year.
c. Meat from an animal that doesn’t scratch backward (chicken and turkeys scratch backward): pork is a good choice – this is so you don’t go hungry in the New Year.
d. Something sweet: cookies, candy, cake, or ice cream – so you can count on sweet surprises in the New Year.
e. Lastly, be with someone you love (or really like) on New Year’s Day. Who you are with on the first day of the year sets the tone for whom you’ll tolerate or celebrate for the entire year.
*If you think the burning smoke might trip a smoke detector, it’s okay to open a few windows as you go around the house. You don’t need a lot of smoke to accomplish this cleansing task.
I wish you all the blessings of all things in the New Year. Mona