This week’s Witchling turned out to be a really great one, Sanctuary. With a calm, focused mind and enjoyment of each moment, you create your very own sanctuary. Sanctuary is a very important thing that we overlook quite a bit, but this week we’re going to put our focus on creating some sanctuary in our lives and homes!
So the first thing I want you to do is look around your space – or if you aren’t at home right now think about what it’s like there right now. Are there piles of books and papers at your desk or office? Is your bedroom full of piles of clothes, some clean and some dirty, that haven’t found their way home yet? When you watched the episode of Parks and Recreation where Leslie had all the community center teachers to her house and Ann came over to help her get ready you couldn’t figure out why Ann was horrified by all the stuff Leslie had {spoiler alert: Leslie’s a bit of a hoarder}. Does your kitchen look like Guy Fieri came by like a bacon wrapped tornado through Flavortown?
Don’t do things that make it look like this guy was in your house.
If you answered yes to any of these questions chances are that not only is the space a bit of a mess but the energy of your space is a little messy too! This doesn’t give us the feeling of sanctuary that our homes should. When we go home at the end of the day we want to feel relaxed, safe, comforted, and stress free.
This week our magic is going to be simple and practical. No burning things, no big ceremony set ups or chants. Just three little things you can do to instantly shift the energy of your home and space while working with a clear intention to create a sanctuary that is all your own.
3 Instant Magical Sanctuary Tips
1. Clean Up!
Yes this may feel like stating the obvious, but cleaning in the mundane sense is a huge part of creating an energy shift and energy clearing in your space. Put things away, dust surfaces, open the windows and let fresh air and light in. Dust and clutter hold on to positive ions {which aren’t actually a positive thing} while the fresh air, water for washing, and light from the sun bring the negative ions that help to neutralize the heavy positive ions. Together they cleanse the air and energy. In other words, negative ions mean good vibes in your sanctuary. You can also introduce more negative ions by adding things like small table top water features or Himalayan salt lamps to your home.
Extra Tip: To add a little magic to your cleansing work start with your own personal chakra cleansing. Then, as you’re doing your work, work from top to bottom, and back to front {energetically this supports removing and clearing}. Wash the walls, windows, and the floors while you’re at it using a lemon based cleanser. You can make your own or buy something commercial. You can also use something like Chinese Wash, which I use when I do things like this. If you do use a bucket of cleaning water don’t dump it down the drain in your home. Pouring dirty water with unwanted energy down the drain in your home doesn’t actually take it all the way out of your home. Take it outside and dump it off your property {at the back of your house, in the stress…get creative if you have to but get that energy out of your space}.
2. Use Black Tourmaline and Smokey Quartz
You know I love my crystals, and crystals are a great way to have a 24-7 energy clearing device in your home. Black tourmaline and smokey quartz are two of my favorites for energy clearing and grounding. Begin by deciding how you want to do this – do you have a specific room that needs work or do you want to do the whole house? If it’s an option for you, burying larger pieces {palm sized or bigger, preferably} of black tourmaline at the corners of your home will help protect, ground, and clear your whole house all the time. But the same process is used indoors. Place cleansed pieces of black tourmaline in the corners of the rooms that need clearing, but then you can add a piece of smokey quartz somewhere in a central part of the room, essentially creating a giant crystal grid that you can live in. Here is a time that size does matter because the bigger the room the bigger a crystal it will need. The size of the crystals energy field is determined by the size of the crystal itself, so bigger rooms will need bigger pieces.
3. Use a Liquid Smudge
While you can certainly burn herbs to help clear your space, like sage, lavender or sweetgrass, there are other alternatives that are easier and safer, but most of all better in a quick pinch. To do a smoke smudging right it takes some time. You may not have that kind of time every time – and my motto with anything in the mystical and spiritual realm is that if you can’t do it right then find a different way. Liquid smudging is the “different way” alternative.
You can purchase liquid smudges online {if you go this route, please buy your smudge on Etsy and support independent crafters}. But you can make your own. To make a liquid smudge you’ll need… a small 5-10 ounce spray bottle {check the health and beauty section of a health food store} along with distilled water, sage essential oil, and a small piece of clear quartz to keep everything fresh. You can add other essential oils like lavender, ceder, and hyssop if you wish. In a clean, empty spray bottle add about 10 drops of oil, drop in the crystal, and add water to to about the bottle’s neck. Close, shake, open and sniff. Add more oil to get a desired scent. When you are ready to do a smudging just hold the intention for cleansed space and spray away! The sage and water will do the work.
