7 Ways to Clear Your New Home of Old Energy
How to make a home QUICK, according to a Cancer sun
I’ve changed apartments 5 times in the last 27 months.
Yes, you read that correctly. That means I’ve packed up, physically moved my entire life from one place to the next, made myself at home, and then repeated the process an average of every 5 1/2 months for almost two and a half years. Granted, the actual amount of time in each apartment varied.
I moved back to Chicago from Los Angeles and signed on a sublet in a building I’d lived in a decade earlier and loved; that lease was 3 months.
Then I got the inside scoop that an even better unit was opening up across the courtyard as my first lease expired, so I jumped at the chance to transfer. The only catch was that, after decades under the same management, the building had just transferred owners, and I was only being offered a 9-month lease “to stagger the lease endings.”
Whatever, I’ll sign a year lease after that and cozy up to my new long-term home, right? Wrong.
The real reason for “staggering” the lease endings: management had plans to renovate the entire building. Syncing up the lease expirations by stairwell ensured tenants in all reno-ready units would be required to vacate on the same date.
What? Vacate? But I like the apartment as it is and want to stay here forever! Too bad.
So I started looking for another apartment, but with only 60 days notice and my heart still set on staying in the building, I instead hopped over to a unit further down the renovation schedule…and then I did the same thing again 9 months later.
Which brings us to the fifth and final move that happened just this weekend. I finally ran out of unrenovated units in the building, which pushed me to look for something more, something closer to work, something that I could make a home for at least 12 months, but ideally longer. And I found it. The perfect home…but more on that to come in future posts.
My point, dear reader, is this: after all of that moving, I’m an expert at making myself at home QUICK. Plus, I’m a Cancer sun sign, so doing so is imperative to my ability to function in the world. And while furniture and decor are a big part of that home-making process, I always start by aligning any new place with my own energy, by clearing out the old and inviting in the new.
Whether you’ve recently moved or just want to reset the energy of your current space, here are 7 of my favorite ways to clear the air:
1. Smudging*
This one’s a classic for a reason. Smoke cleansing is not just about the metaphysical benefits, studies have shown that burning medicinal herbs can have an anti-microbial effect on the air, thus preventing the spread of bacteria (an enticing bonus for those of us who are witchy, yet germaphobic).
Not sure which herb to use? Here are a few of my personal favorites:
White Sage - Good for overall cleansing and a fresh start, smells amazing IMHO. This one’s known in the witchy community as “spiritual bleach,” so while you may not wish to use it after building up your own good vibes in the space, it’s great for the reset needed between residents.
Palo Santo - Cleanses only the negative energy, good for spiritual environments, smells of a fall walk in the woods IMHO. This one’s great if you want your next chapter to be open to divine messages or if you’ve already built up a collection of fond memories in the space that you want to keep around.
Cedar - Cozy and purifying, hard to burn, but smells of a Grandmother’s hope chest. My personal favorite for housewarmings, cedar feels like a gentle hug for your space, but doesn’t seem to cut it if there’s a specific icky, sticky energy you want to cleanse.
Yerba Santa - Hyper-spiritual and best for ritual work, but not my favorite for new home clearing. Use if you’re REALLY looking to make the space exclusively a conversation pit for you and your spirit guides.
*Always source your herbs from ethical and responsible suppliers, please!
2. Music
An often overlooked spiritual tool is music. Not just Gregorian chants or crystal bowls, but literally any music you enjoy can be used to cleanse the space and build up good vibrations. Just be sure your favorite tune of choice is one that makes you feel the way you hope to feel most often in the space. I love a good sing-along and cry it out as much as the next Pisces moon placement, but this is not the time. That said, don’t pick something just because someone else tells you it’s the best mood music; trust your own instincts.
3. Clapping
So simple, yet so satisfying. Clapping is super old school and akin to old wives’ tale traditions like banging pots and pans on New Year’s Day. The concept stems from many intentions. Some think the noise scares bad spirits away, some say the vibration of hitting your hands together activates lesser-known chakras in your palms, and still others say it’s the sound vibrations clearing the space just like crystal bowls or gongs would do in a sound bath setting.
The mindset is that negative or heavy energy affects the resonance of sound, so as you wander about your new space, clap a few times in each room. If the clap sounds clear and strong, the energy is clear. If it sounds muffled, the energy is heavy, but clapping a few more times should clear it up.
Could this just be an exercise in clapping with strength and confidence to create the desired audio effect? Sure. But isn’t strength and confidence energy worth cultivating as you enter into your new space?
4. Visualization
If you’ve taken my Become Your Own Healer energy protection class, you know I’m big on cleansing practices that require no tools or tasks. If you’re short on funds or just exhausted from moving boxes all day, you can sit in meditation and visualize a clearing of your new home.
The sky’s the limit on how to do this, but since UV light disinfectants started trending a few years ago, I’ve gone high-tech with my energy-clearing imagery:
Sit in stillness and picture your home in your mind, then visualize a strip of UV light shining down from above and scanning through the space, “disinfecting” all of the bad vibes, negative energy, or anything that isn’t yours. Once you’ve pictured the UV light scanning every inch of your environment like a super thorough security system, close out your meditation and enjoy your spiritually “germ-free” home.
5. Fresh Air
Open the windows! It’s that simple. Sometimes all a space needs to feel better is to air out a bit. Bonus points if you let in a hearty dose of sunlight in the process, as it’s a natural physical and energetic disinfectant.
6. Reiki/Energy Healing
If you are a healer or know a healer, you can use energy healing to cleanse the energy of a space just as it would cleanse a person. Not into the healing arts personally? Invite some friends over for a house witching party and hire a healer to guide you through a cleansing ceremony that may involve anything from special symbols to sigils to a guided meditation to help raise and clear the vibes.
7. Cleaning
Honestly, I saved the best for last because you’re likely doing this already during your move-in. It baffles me to no end that every apartment I’ve ever lived in has asked that you leave things spotless at your departure, yet every apartment I’ve ever moved into has had at least 3 areas that seem to have been left untouched by any cleaning product for at least a decade. Physically cleaning your space can be a spiritual cleansing as well, you are literally clearing out the remnants of another person’s life. If you’d like to make this standard practice more powerful, state to yourself before starting the process that you are ready to rid the environment of all lingering energy and invite in clear, clean vibes for your new beginning there.