Ex Penna

There are witches out there who do house cleansings on a regular schedule--like at the New Moon--but, as is standard practice for any busy mom, I do it when it needs it.  And today it really needed it.

For those of you who may not know just what that would feel like (and, honestly, most books don't explain), I'll give you the situation here at my house.  It all starts with irritation.  Everything irritates--not a lot, just little by little, like an itchy sweater.  I notice it in our kids; they fight over senseless things, they bicker and hit out of nowhere, doing routine things (like getting a shower) makes them super cranky, they cry and want nurtured while also pushing everyone away.  I notice it, too, in my husband; strange pains out of the blue that lessen outside our home, being both very tired and also sleepless, short-tempered, strange dreams.  And in me, naturally, it's easy for me to notice; I am anxious and tense over nothing, I anger quickly and tire quickly, I ache all over, I become overly critical of everything, and the house feels incredibly dirty to me.  It's this last one that really sets me off.  It's like the baneful influences are so thick on the walls that I can see them!  Then I know it's time to do something drastic!

Today was perfect timing since Gigi was doing all the standard chores (vacuuming upstairs and down, washing dishes, cleaning out the pets' homes, etc.) so once we were both done the house would be both physically and spiritually clean.  In the spirit of her new lessons on magic, I showed her how I make a wash (note: check the BONUS page for more on making washes!) and how to wash the walls.  I was using one to drive away evil.  She was very curious about where evil comes from so we talked about the Evil Eye and other ways that regular (non-witch) people can cast spells, plus spirits and other things that create bad luck.  I was quite proud to overhear her later that night as she perfectly answered her little brother's questions about the Evil Eye! 

While I washed the walls, I threw open all the windows in the house and burned a big batch of newly ground Clearing Incense.  I was sure I'd set off the smoke alarms, but somehow they remained quiet.  I usually pop out their batteries before burning a large amount of incense but since I often forget to put them back in until a few days have gone by (bad idea!), I would rather disable them only if necessary. 

With the incense burning away on our house altar, I also lit some white candles rubbed with Van Van Uncrossing oil.  On my personal altar, I also stood the Sun card from one of my tarot decks.  I was in full-out cleansing mode!

Hey!  I didn't get any cookies!

Stopping for dinner, I noticed how nice everything felt.  My husband always feels it first thing in the door, so I'll be watching him when he gets home from work in the morning!  After getting the kids to bed, I decided to finish the job right.  I scrubbed the floors with a bucket of washwater to which I added Van Van oil and Cascarilla powder.  All throughout the house I sprinkled the last of my saved Rose of Jericho Water and then put my dried rose in water to open again on a table in the living room.  The last step for me was to clear off my altars and wash everything before replacing it.  I rubbed the candles with special oils I got just for that purpose on my last trip to Salem and burned Offertory Incense for my Patron Gods.  I cleaned and spruced up the house altar and got out a new set of candles for my husbands' Gods. 

Now it's done.  Sometimes it's more elaborate than that, other times less.  But, to me, the job is done when it feels done, and not before.  If you're experiencing something big, by all means, go big when getting rid of it!  I once had a neighbor (who was a witch as well) and she gave me a whole laundry list of woes, from rampant illness to no income to mysteriously unfixable vehicles--and never thought of using magic before that point!  Please don't wait that long!  You're not over-reacting by cleansing when bad things happen--you're under-reacting when you wait for some critical point.

And P.S.--my neighbor's story has a happy ending.  I made up a kit for her out of the same things I use in our house.  Did the trick right quick!  And (prepare for the landing of a shameless plug for my shop) you can order that same kit (and many more) from Quill's Occult Supply.