The House Witch: Your Complete Guide to Creating a Magical Space with Rituals and Spells for Hearth and Home - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2018

Purification Techniques
Using Hearthcraft to Protect Your Home

There are dozens of ways to purify a room of unwanted energy. But first, let’s talk about negative energy versus unwanted energy. There are times when an energy is positive but not wanted in a specific place. For example, energy that soothes and promotes sleep is a positive kind of energy, but it is not desirable in a home office where you want to be alert and productive. Of course, the unwanted energy may be negative as well.

Generally you’ll strive for as positive an environment as possible in your home. However, there are also energies that can be classified as “neutral through positive” that for some reason may not be suitable for the atmosphere you are seeking to create in a specific space. For this reason, the term banishing isn’t used here. Banishing something creates a vacuum of sorts, an empty space that must and will be filled with something else. If you consciously banish something, then logic dictates that you should be prepared to consciously replace it with positive energy. But banishing neutral through positive energy doesn’t make sense, and for that reason the terms transform or reprogram are more appropriate.

If the negative energy is occupying a space that has a natural positive vibration to it, then absorbing or removing the negative energy will generally result in the return of the natural positive balance.

Some of the following techniques are more active than others. For example, smudging with chosen herbs is a more active process than leaving a sliced onion in a room to absorb unwanted energy.

While at heart most of these techniques address the removal of negative energy, most can be consciously programmed to affect other energies as well.

Sage and Herb Smudging

Many cultures employ a technique of purifying via smoke created by burning plant matter considered sacred or honored in some way. Incense is one such example. Smudging with sage is a Native American technique that has proven very adaptable and effective for people of any tradition and spiritual path. Essentially, a bundle of dried herbs is lit and the flame is extinguished, leaving the dry plant matter to smolder and produce a smoke that has the qualities of the plant matter itself. This smoke is easily wafted around a room or other space, can insinuate into nooks and crannies, and has the ability to surround objects. It is also less likely to damage objects, whereas water or flame (two of the other popularly recognized purifiers) can damage things. The bundle of herbs is referred to as a smudge or a smudge stick and is easily carried in the hand. The act of surrounding someone or something with the smoke is called smudging. Smudging may also be done by crumbling dried plant matter on a charcoal tablet.

Sage is the original and most popular herb to use in this respect, but there are other popular herbs commonly used such as cedar, sweetgrass, and lavender. These four herbs generally encourage a calm atmosphere with positive energy. Sage and cedar in particular are considered sacred herbs in the Native American traditions.

There’s no right or wrong way to make a smudge stick, but here’s a general guideline.

To make a smudge:

1. Lay several dried stalks of your chosen herb(s) together.

2. Slip a length of natural undyed cotton string under one end of the bundle and begin wrapping the stalks, crisscrossing the string over and under the bundle, tying it at various intervals. Wrap it firmly but not so tightly that the stalks are completely crushed together; air needs to circulate through the bundle in order to maintain the smoldering process.

3. Tie the ends of the string firmly at the other end of the bundle. Wrapping and tying the smudge in this way allows the bundle to stay tied when you begin burning it and when the string at the end burns through. Don’t worry if bits of the dried herb break off as you wrap the smudge.

Other things to remember when making a smudge:

✵ Stalks that are too thick will not burn well; stalks that are too thin will snap when you wrap the bundle.

✵ Don’t make a bundle that is more than 1¹/₂" in diameter once it’s wrapped and tied; it will be difficult to keep smoldering.

✵ A smudge smaller than ¹/₂" may be too fragile.

✵ If you prefer, you may harvest your own fresh herbs and wrap them while fresh, then hang the bundle up in a well-ventilated place to dry thoroughly. The bundle must be completely dry before you use it, or it will not burn properly. Watch it carefully during the drying process to ensure that the bundle does not grow mildew.

How to Use a Smudge

When you smudge, do so with awareness, sensitivity, and respect for the act while visualizing your goal. You may say a short prayer or invocation before beginning or not, as you feel necessary. Something as simple as “Sage (or whatever single herb or combination of herbs you are using), I call upon your sacred energy to cleanse this space” can work. Light one end of the smudge by touching it to a flame and make sure the smudge has caught well before gently blowing the flame out. The ends of the dry herbs should still glow red and give off smoke. Air needs to move through the smudge to keep it smoldering, and you can facilitate this by fanning the smoke gently with your free hand. This movement also allows you to direct the smoke into corners and around objects. You may also use a feather. If you carry the smudge around the room in your hand, bits of burning plant matter will fall onto the floor. Smudges are often laid in a heatproof container such as a shell, earthenware bowl (unglazed ceramic or clay works well), or a rock with a depression in it, to catch these bits.

Smudging may also be used to purify an object before use or to clear accumulated energy from a tool.

The entire smudge need not be used. You can extinguish it in a bowl of salt or sand, making extremely certain that it has completely gone out, and wrap it in aluminum foil or store it in a paper bag until your next smudging.

Burning Incense

Like smudging, burning incense releases smoke that carries the energy of the incense’s ingredients. The point of this is to get that energy moving around in an easily dispersible way. You could sprinkle the actual herbs around, but gravity will probably make it difficult to access higher pockets of the energy you’re trying to move.

You can use preprepared incense from a retailer in a scent or formula specifically prepared for purification, or you can use a pure scent that is associated with purification. Cedar, sage, lavender, and frankincense are single scents that are often used to purify; blends labeled “Purification” often include these. Preprepared incense usually comes in stick or cone form.

Stick incense can be made in one of two ways: rolled (a wet mixture of ingredients is rolled into a thin cylinder and dried, sometimes around a thin stick to give it support) or dipped (a blank stick with a neutral paste molded around it is dipped into a solution of oils). Cone incense, like rolled incense, is made from a paste of ingredients, then shaped. Sticks and cones are usually self-combustible, meaning they do not require a charcoal tablet to burn them. By lighting the end of a stick or cone, waiting until the tip glows red, then gently blowing out the flame, the incense will burn on its own. Sticks and cones are convenient and do not require anything other than a bowl with salt or sand in which to burn them and catch the ashes, although censers (also known as incense burners) are easy to find. Censers for sticks are usually long curved flat pieces of stone or wood, with tiny holes at one end into which the sticks are inserted, which hold the stick at an angle so the ash falls onto the burner.

Loose Incense

Loose incense is literally that: a blend of roughly ground or chopped plant matter and/or resin that must be burned on a charcoal tablet in order to release its energy in the form of smoke. This is the easiest kind to make at home, and it can be made in almost any proportion, mostly from ingredients in your pantry or spice cabinet.

Here are some commonly found kitchen herbs that you can use in a purifying incense:

✵ Cinnamon

✵ Clove

✵ Rosemary

✵ Sage

✵ Thyme

You can also find things in your garden like lavender and rose, which you can dry and then add to the incense. Alternatively, you can use the essential oil of any of these ingredients and add a couple of drops to the dry ingredients and mix it all together well.

Burning dry herbs never smells like the essential oil or the dry herb itself in a bottle. In fact, it can smell pretty much like burning leaves or grass, which isn’t always pleasant. To offset the burning-leaf smell you can add resins, as resins tend to have a sweeter smell than dried plant matter does. You’ll have to purchase resins like the following, but they can really make your incense extra special:

✵ Frankincense

✵ Benzoin

✵ Golden copal

To test the incense, you’ll need a charcoal tablet and a bowl filled with salt or sand in which to burn it. Light the charcoal tablet by holding the edge of it to a flame. (Be careful; it can ignite quickly. You may want to use tweezers or small tongs to hold it safely.) When the charcoal begins to spark, put it down in the salt- or sand-filled bowl. When the sparks have finished traveling across the surface of the tablet and the charcoal begins to glow red in patches, it is ready. Take a pinch of your incense and place it on the charcoal. Observe how it reacts so that you’ll be prepared for it when you first use it in a larger quantity. Don’t put more than a teaspoon of loose incense on the charcoal tablet at a time, or you may smother the charcoal as well as have to open a window to clear some of the smoke! It’s a good idea to have an extra bowl of sand to dump on top of the charcoal tablet if you need to extinguish it quickly. Be careful; sometimes charcoal will continue to smolder. To make sure it’s really out, pour water over it.

Purifying Incense

Blending your own purifying incense means you’re using exactly the kind of energies you want to use in your house. And when you do it with clear intent and awareness, you’re adding an extra dimension of personal energy to the process, keying it to your home and family and spiritual practice. Here’s a basic recipe for loose purifying incense.

You will need:

✵ 1 teaspoon frankincense resin

✵ 1 teaspoon copal resin

✵ Mortar and pestle

✵ Small bottle or jar with lid

✵ ¹/₂ teaspoon dried lavender

✵ ¹/₂ teaspoon rosemary

✵ Pinch ground cloves

1. Place the frankincense and copal resin in the mortar. Gently crush the resin with the pestle. Transfer it to the jar. If there is any residue left in the mortar, scrape it out gently and add it to the jar. Resin tends to melt under enthusiastic grinding and can gum up the mortar. Be gentle, and don’t feel that you have to reduce the fragments to powder. Chips that are smaller than the granules the resin arrived in is fine.

2. Place the lavender and rosemary in the mortar. Grind them into smaller pieces and transfer to the jar.

3. Add the pinch of ground cloves to the jar.

4. Cap the jar and gently shake it to combine all the ingredients.

Folk Techniques for Purifying

Tradition and folklore provide dozens of ways to clear bad luck, negative energy, bad feelings, and unwanted nasties from rooms and other places. Common and popular purification techniques include:

✵ Burning candles

✵ A slice of onion left on a saucer in the center of the room to absorb negative energy

✵ A slice of lemon left on a saucer in the center of the room to absorb negative energy

✵ A bowl of water left to absorb unwanted energy

✵ Stones programmed to absorb unwanted energy

✵ Asperging with salt water

✵ Asperging with herbal water (herbs left to soak in water for a specific time, drained, then dispersed via fingers or spray bottle)

✵ Sprinkling salt around a room (and vacuuming it up later)

✵ Sprinkling powdered or ground herbs around a room (and vacuuming it up later)

✵ Dispersing essential oil into the air via an aromatherapy jar

✵ Hanging strings of garlic or onions in the kitchen to absorb negative energy