Smudging a new house

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 17 Nov 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

jlbvt	17 Nov 2002
My Fiancee and I just bought a house which was previously lived in by some not so great people. There is a lot of heavy energy in the house, and the whole place feels, hmmm, sluggish? I have never done smudging but I think it would help here. Does anyone have tips on how to go about it? Thanks for any imput!

faunabay	17 Nov 2002
There's quite a few ways to go about it. But one of the easiest is to use sage (which you can get at most metaphysical stores). Burn it through out the house. This can be done a couple of different ways, but the one I've used in the past is to light the sage and walk through the house (though each room) holding the intent in my mind to clear out the negative energy. I usually would start in the back of the house and work my way to one of the doors. That way the negative energy is "swept" out the door.

zorya	17 Nov 2002
you've got a full moon coming up, and that is the best time to smudge. before beginning, i smudge myself and anyone with me. then i start in the east and move around the room clockwise, wafting the smoke with a feather. pay special attention to the doors and windows. after showing gratitude to the spirits, i ask each direction (as i smudge it) to please remove all evil and negativity from this house and do not allow any in. be sure to complete a full circle and come back to the point you started. as i finish, i again thank the spirits before putting out the smudge stick.

Violet Gargoyle	19 Nov 2002
My personal confusion was to always remember to go clockwise and not windershins....but that is a personal preferance. Incense after your smudging is done is nice too.

Sorceress_Jade	19 Nov 2002
Would this help rid a not so kind ghost? The house I plan on buying has got an unseen tennent that I would like to be rid of before I move my stuff in. Not to mention getting rid of all the residual of the current living tennents. oy

emily2otters	19 Nov 2002
re: exorcising spirits i think there's another thread on that topic somewhere? really, your best bet (IMO) is to hire a professional, if you can find one. sometimes spirits don't _want_ to go. re: smudging i recommend _sacred space_ by denise linn and _creating sacred space_ by karen kingston. they've got tons and tons of wisdom about how to get a space in shape to move in. i like to do a really thorough cleaning (vacuum, dust, sweep, mop, de-cobweb, and scrub walls if necessary). then take a nice bath, get into some comfy clothes, ground and center. then i start clearing the energies out with sound: i clap crisply and loudly in all the corners, paying special attention to door and window-frames and elecrical outlets. then i smudge with sage, then i burn a little sweetgrass in each room, too (sage to clear out the negative, sweetgrass to bring in the sweet). you don't need much sweetgrass to give a room that nice ready-to-live-in feeling. then i touch all the walls and tell them i love them (or something to that effect :) ). it's best if you can get all that done before you move your stuff in, but either way is fine.

rostie	20 Nov 2002
emily: what is sweetgrass??? i don't find it in my dictionnary ;)

rostie	20 Nov 2002
to ask something else, a time ago there was something in my room at home by my parents, something really negative but i cleared my room and then everything felt positive again... ...but now, my sister stays a lot at my room through the week when i'm staying in the city where i study...she's very intuitive, the following thing happened: she heard some smack against the window, really loud, she went looking because it was so loud and saw nothing, no-one, nothing that could have hit the window and it was windstill, she became a little scared: she felt something strong, maybe evil...at the window...because i love fairies i have put some little ones in my flowers (plaster ones), one of them, my sister was on the bed again, grow and had at that moment a really scary evil face looking at her (before: all the fairies had a lovely, kind, friendly, happy face otherwise i don't think i would put them in my room ;)), it only was one of them, the other two not, she ran away from the room because she was so scared... i have to say: a few days before she felt something evil following her and her friend to the house but it didn't enter, maybe it will her attention, what can we do: maybe do a good cleansing especcialy the window that it can't enter??? i hope you can help me, i don't want something negative again in my room, i have to sleep there you know ;) thanks a lot with love, sara.

zorya	20 Nov 2002
rostie; sweet grass can be purchased in bundles or twists, at most of the same places you can find sage smudges. sometimes you can find smudge sticks that contain both. after smudging, you can sprinkle salt around your doors and windows. if you can find any mugwort. (very easy to grow and i recommend it for every 'magick' garden.) hang a sprig over your door. i suppose if you can only find it in dried and crumbled form, you might make a small bag and hang that.

rostie	20 Nov 2002
thank you very much for your help zorya! but: do you now the latin name of sweetgrass because i really don't know what is meant with that name, my first language isn't english and i don't find it in the dictionnary :( , sage in contrary i know very well wich plant this is, i have it in the garden at home, love that plant! thanx!!! with love, rostie.

amyel	20 Nov 2002
Rostie, Sweetgrass (sorry, don't know latin name) is a native American grass that grows on the prairies. You probably don't get it in Belguim. Here in North America, it is often mixed with sage to produce a sweeter smelling smudge stick. To smudge your house, a sage stick will work just as effectively.

rostie	21 Nov 2002
aah, thank you very much amyel for the info!!! i'm gonna try the tips this weekend or this week... with love, sara.

jlbvt	29 Nov 2002
Thanks so much for all the info, we will be moving in at the end of December, so I will do it then.

The Smudging a new house thread was originally posted on 17 Nov 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.