Here’s the number one most important thing you should do when you move…perform a house clearing ritual and smudge your new home.
Moving…
One of the biggest “pains in the butts” of life!
Considering the fact that we’ve moved 8 times in the last 13 years…
1. Yes, that is not a typo.
2. No, we are not a military family
3. Yes, we lived in California where the real estate market is CRAY CRAY
it would make you think I’m a bit of an expert at the whole moving process, but there has been one crucial thing I’ve been neglecting that I had no idea I should be doing before I move to any new space!
I finally did it for the very first time and realized that it is as important or maybe MORE important than how you unpack and organize your new place, so I’ve just gotta share with you!
I highly recommend doing it…
A HOME BLESSING and HOUSE ENERGY CLEARING RITUAL…to cleanse any negative energies, rid your new home of any “bad vibes”, and create a new intention for your living space.
Honestly, it was such a powerful experience, and I wish I would have done it in every home we’ve lived in!
So if you are thinking of moving, or know someone who is, be sure to pass along this little bit of wisdom. I promise (Girl Scout Honor ), that you’ll be so glad you did!
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I can already hear a few objectors out there…
That sounds like some weird New Age mumbo jumbo…
I don’t have any extra money to pay for that, I just paid the movers…
Do I need a Minister or a Shaman…I don’t know anyone to do that
Yikes – Sounds time-consuming and I’m still unpacking…
What in the world? There’s no way on earth I know how to do that!
I’ve got way too many other things in my life that need to be done, heck I haven’t even found my box of underwear yet!
Listen, I completely understand your concerns because I had the exact same thoughts until I was gifted with a free home blessing by a friend.
After my recent experience, I will now never move again without doing a home blessing. I think it is so vital that it will now become a must-do tradition.
The best way I can put your worried mind at ease is to walk you through the process that we did at my new house as an example of how easy it truly is and exactly what materials you will need to do your own cleansing ritual.
Before we begin, keep in mind, there is no “right way” to do a home blessing, and the cool thing is that you can customize the process to fit whatever religious or non-spiritual beliefs you have.
So, let’s dive right in, shall we?
Before we moved into our new home, we knew there had been several tragedies for the families who had lived there over the past decade…health, financial, and relationship.
But through a series of events we were led to move there and felt like the home needed some healing and light to help let go of that past negativity and pain.
It was our intention to create a beautiful family space filled with love and positivity. (I know it sounds “cheesy” but it’s true!)
When I had mentioned to a friend the circumstances surrounding the emotional history of our home, she immediately recommended a smudging ceremony and gifted us with this energy cleansing ritual.
Okay, I’m going to shoot it to you straight (like I always do)...before the woman who was going to perform the smudging ritual arrived to do the energy clearing ceremony, I was a bit anxious.
I really didn’t know what to expect, and let’s be candid, I get anxious about most things…unfortunately, it’s my go-to emotion in new situations. (I’m a work in progress)
But as soon as my friend and the home blesser “Darlyn” arrived at my door (yes that’s her name – pronounced like “Darling”- with an awesomely positive name like that, it couldn’t be too scary right?) my body relaxed and my nerves were put to ease. Ah, I immediately felt a shift in my energy.
I could immediately tell she was warm and kind, and just had a loving, healing, and accepting vibe.
So, let me share with you the exact steps we used to clear negative energy in our home in case you too want to perform smudging ceremonies for yourself or others.
These sage-burning rituals (also known as smudging) are a powerful way to bring light and love into any space that needs to release negative energy.
How to Smudge Your New Home
1. Open Up
The very first thing we did before we started to purify our home space was to open all of the windows and doors in the entire house. It makes the energy clearing more thorough if you have a good flow of air in the home.
Luckily for me, we have lots of windows and doors, and we are located on a hill so the air was really moving the day of the blessing.
2. Sound the Bell
Secondly, Darlyn, aka our smudging expert, took a handbell (kind of like the ones an old schoolmarm would ring) to each room to wake up the old, stuck stale energy in the house.
I’m sure you can use any kind of bell, gong, or chime to do the trick, but I thought when I do this blessing again (Spoiler alert: which I will be doing!), I will use a meditation bell like this one because I love the way it looks. Don’t ya think it has the whole “energy clearing” vibe all over it!
3. Bless the Space
Next, she stood inside the front door of our home and read a beautiful blessing that she brought printed copies of with her. (If you want the blank template, you can find it here!)
I joined in reading the printed blessing sign aloud too, and at this point, I actually got a little teary.
The words really touched me and it truly hit home just how important our “home space” is to our lives…it’s our safe place, our haven, our refuge from a busy (and oftentimes CRAZY) world.
I just felt an overwhelming sense of what kind of place I hoped our new home would be…fun, inviting, carefree, inclusive…a sacred space for our family and friends, and hopefully, anybody who entered our front door.
Here is the Blessing that we read – I actually typed it up and personalized it for our family (and added our dog Harper, of course!)
4. Sage the Space
After we read the blessing together, my friend had a little smudging set comprised of a sage bundle, lighter (or you can use any fire source like matches or a candle flame), a feather, and an abalone shell that she used for this portion of the cleansing ritual (similar to this set).
She lit the sage stick with the flame of a lighter and gently blew on it until there was a steady stream of smoke and there were orange embers to ensure that the smudge stick would stay burning.
We then walked around every room downstairs, using the feather to disperse the smoke from the sage and the shell to catch any ashes (if you don’t have abalone shells, you can use another type of fireproof container).
She was very diligent about getting the whole room well saged by keeping the smudge stick on fire with plenty of smoke to purify and release negative ions in the entire space.
The interesting thing for me was that my friend paid special attention to the corners to be sure they were well saged with extra smoke because according to Darlyn, energy can get caught easily in the corners.
I guess I had never really thought about that before, but it definitely makes sense!
If burning sage is not optimal for you, you can also use a sage spray or burn Palo Santo wood to have a modified version of the smudging ritual.
5. Ring Again
Lastly, after the smudging of each room, Darlyn rang the bell around each room of the downstairs again as a final sound cleanse.
6. Repeat Process on Other Floors
When we were done with the downstairs, it was time to duplicate the same process upstairs, starting the home blessing/prayer at the top of the staircase and repeating steps 1-5 again in every room and walkable space (closets, bathrooms, utility spaces, etc).
7. Let the Energy Flow
At that point the home blessing and energy clearing were complete, and I was encouraged to leave the windows and doors open for the rest of the day to keep the new energy flowing throughout the house.
Honestly, the house blessing smudging ceremony was such a great experience that really helped me feel like the home was now ours, and that there wasn’t any residual past energy lingering around.
I so wish I would have tried it sooner, and will definitely encourage anyone I know to smudge your home.
How about you?
Have you ever done home blessings or smudging rituals similar to the one we did?
What did you think?
Did you incorporate anything else??
I’d love to hear all about it!!
Spill all the deets!
Until next time…cheers to happy home energy and cheers to you!!
XOXO,
Magan
PS – Got more question about how to sage your home?? Check out these FAQ of the Home Blessing and Smudging Ceremony
