Spring is almost here and you can see it everywhere! The daffodils are starting to break through the cold, tamped ground, the light lingers as we travel home from work, and the birds have started returning and singing in the morning. Spring brings in new opportunities and renews and refreshes set commitments. Now is the time to start cleaning and spiritually cleansing your home to welcome in new opportunities and blessings with the Season.
Here are some of the areas you should concentrate on for a spiritually spic-n-span clean:
OUTDOOR AREAS: Cardboard boxes that held items shipped to the home should be torn down and recycled to be used again. Sweep old leaves and debris off your porch and steps. Trim out dead branches from your planter boxes and ceramic urns in front of the house. Sweep down cobwebs in the upper corners of your porch or walkway. On a good day, rake up small branches and any leftover leaves from Winter’s storms. Get some Holy Water from your local Catholic church and add a pinch of Kosher Salt and a splash of Florida Water. Flick over the swept area with the fingertips of your dominant hand and bless the area to keep negativity away.
CLOSETS: It’s time to start considering changing out your heavy clothes for lighter-weight ones. Look over all clothes before packing away for next year. Donate any ill-fitting or gently worn clothing to the shelters or thrift store. Clean all winter boots and store in boxes or bags and placed in back of closet. Smudge with a sage wand or bundle and place a square of camphor or a moth ball to keep the negativity away.
GENERAL AREAS: Old magazines, newspapers and brochures should be tossed. Sort through mail and eliminate any unwanted sale papers and offers in envelopes. Take throws and pillows off sofas and give them a good wash with your favorite laundry soap, adding 1/2 cup clear ammonia to the wash water. Clean window and window sills. Move furniture and vacuum up those “dust bunnies.” Change out your vacuum cleaner bag. Sprinkle baking soda or table salt lightly over your carpets and wait a bit, then vacuum. Salt is a natural for absorbing unfavorable energy, and ammonia and epsom salts are the dynamic duo of negative cleansing.
KITCHEN: Organize under your sink and toss out any old household cleaners. Recycle any grocery bags and organize your other ones, too. Look through the Tupperware and Rubbermaid containers and match them up, tossing anything that does not have a lid. Store away any Christmas plates, cups, or servicewear until next year. Organize your pots and pans area. Go through your pantry and toss/donate any food items you are no longer interested in consuming. Combine your half-used bottles of spices and half-opened boxes of teas sections of your cabinets. Using traditional hoodoo cleaners such as Chinese Wash that is “fixed” to clean out negativity and usher in Good Luck can be used here and throughout the house. You can find Chinese Wash in many spiritual candle shops and botanicas.
BATHROOM: Combine your various conditioners and shampoos and use them up before buying any more. Organize under your bathroom cabinet and medicine chest. Check dates on cough syrups and pills for health so you do not take outdated medicines. Toss anything that is outdated. Keeping a box of Epsom Salts under the bathroom cabinet for your own personal spiritual baths makes it easy to reach for when you encounter negative situations or need to remove any “funk” you’ve been in.
BEDROOMS: Deep clean and move furniture to capture those “dust bunnies,” and look for stray socks and other things under the bed. Take heavy blankets to the wash to clean and add the clear ammonia again to wash water. Change the sheets and wash the pillows or take them to the bulk dry cleaner for same day service. Clean out closet, donate clothes if needed. Organize your bookshelf and dresser tops. Clean windows and window sills. Sprinkle salt on the floors and sweep from the back to the front of the room. Place a square of camphor in each corner of the room to keep the room spiritually ‘clean.’
Dissolve a cup of Epsom Salts in a basin of water, adding a capful of ammonia. Wipe down everything possible with this solution. Take a white tea light candle in a fire-safe container, and add three drops of Banishing Oil or White Sage Essential Oil to the top of the tealight. Set in the center of each room (or as close to center as possible). Light the candle and Pray the 23rd Psalm (“The Lord is My Shepherd”). Smudge with a sage bundle, making sure you move through the room and get the smoke into all four corners of the room — and in the closet, too. After the candle finishes, take a small amount of Florida Water in a small dish and, dipping the fingertips of your dominant hand, flick Florida Water over the entire house, making sure to protect any antiques or treasured objects. Consider buying some fresh white flowers (carnations or roses are fine) and keeping one or two in a slender vase in each room, as white flowers are said to absorb negativity. Other beliefs say to place salt in the corners of all rooms and a lighted candle with a square of camphor in the center, to “seal” the room and retain it as “spiritually clean.”
Once a deep clean like this happens, keep the positive vibes up by doing this same ritual once a month, so that your home will be organized and spiritually cleansed for new changes and blessings to come your way.
