Space Clearing: A Fresh Look at a Classic Tradition

Author: Tess Whitehurst

Clearing physical clutter out of your space is like taking a wrecking ball to everything in your life that isn’t working, and to any obstacles that may have been holding you back from living your greatness and manifesting your dreams. Space clearing, on the other hand, could be compared to airing out a stuffy room, steam cleaning a carpet, or tuning a piano. It removes lingering negative and/or stuck energy from your space while lifting and fine-tuning vibrations in order to summon positive energies and conditions into your life.

For most of the time that humans have been alive on this planet, we’ve lived outdoors, or in temporary or natural shelters. Nowadays, our indoor areas are raised above the earth, which naturally absorbs negativity; from water, which washes away negativity; from a free flow of air, which blows negativity away; and from full sunlight, which purifies and disinfects negativity. Negativity accrues not only from our negative thoughts, words, and feelings, but also from the stagnation that’s a natural byproduct of modern indoor spaces. This is why all spaces can benefit from regular space clearings.

To keep your vibes clean and clear, to feel happy and harmonious in your home, and to feel completely safe and protected, I suggest doing this simple visualization every day:

Sit with your spine straight, take some deep breaths, and relax. Call upon Divine White Light to powerfully enter your home as a huge vacuum tube of white light. See it moving around the entire interior of your home, simultaneously burning and suctioning away all dark, heavy, stagnant, or negative energy. See it penetrating all the darkest corners rapidly and effectively.

Once this feels complete, ask the Light to fill your home completely. See it extend outside, under, and above your home so that your home is completely encompassed in and surrounded by a huge sphere of Divine White Light. Ask the light to raise the vibrations of every item and area in your home to a very high and clear degree.

After that, ask for a circle of angels to surround your home, preserving this sphere of light and directing the positive energies of love, serenity, and happiness inward. Then, ask for another circle of angels to surround the first circle of angels, and ask them to face outward, directing all negative energy outward and keeping you and the other inhabitants totally safe and protected. Thank the Light and the angels, and open your eyes.

(Please note: instead of just calling on the White Light, you can call on a divine being such as The Goddess, Merlin, or Archangel Michael to cleanse and encompass your space with the White Light if you prefer.)

For us magical folk, space clearing is important because we have to create the space for magic and miracles to occur in our lives. Before we go around doing money spells and such, we must make sure we have a clean, clear, magical space to do it in. We have to release the energies and conditions we don’t want in order to make the space for the energies and conditions we do want. Not to mention, clearing clutter and space clearing alone, when done with intention, can often be the most powerful magical acts we could possibly perform when it comes to creating joyful and harmonious conditions in all areas of our lives.

And, one of the cool things about starting a regular space clearing practice is that it’s a very effective way to begin to exercise and strengthen your psychic and intuitive abilities. Most people, whether they think they’re psychic or not, can pick up on “vibes.”

You know, we say things like, “the place had really good vibes, ” or “I got a weird vibe from him, ” etc. Space clearing is a way of clearing out bad vibes and creating good ones, so when we notice this happening, we’re actually using our sixth sense: and every time we use it, it gets stronger.

While the visualization above is great to do every day as a maintenance measure, it’s also good to do the methods I’m about to describe on a regular basis to really keep the energy healthy and vibrant in your home. You might do one or several of them every couple weeks or so, as you see fit. They can be done alone for a quick clearing, or in combination with each other.

I’ll begin by discussing each one individually, and then give you some ideas for how to put a few of them together if you want to do a more thorough clearing.

Please note: cover food and beverages before you begin to clear so that the negativity does not enter them. (Water and salt are particularly absorbent.) Remember to do so for pet food as well.

Oh! And make sure to drink water before and after.

Clapping

Clapping is a quick and easy way to break up and dissipate stuck or stagnant energy with sound. Simply move around the perimeter of each room and area in the space, clapping loudly. Pay special attention to corners, areas behind doors, or anywhere else where you might imagine that energy would stagnate. (Think of energy as flowing like a brook or a stream though the space. Areas where energy might get stuck would be the areas that would accumulate leaves or trash on the surface of the stream. Areas that are usually dark are also spots with slow-moving or stagnant energy.)

If you clap a few times in an especially stagnant area, you can usually hear the claps getting clearer as the energy dissipates.

White Sage

Burning white sage powerfully removes negativity and lifts vibrations to a very high and clear level. To do this in your space, open the windows and light a bundle of dried white sage so that it’s burning like incense.

As you do this, say, “Spirit of Air, I call on you.” Move around the perimeter of each room/area, letting the smoke move around the space. (Carry a dish under the bundle to catch ash and embers.)

When you’re finished with the room, move the smoke around your personal energy field to cleanse away any negativity that you might have absorbed. Then, thank the Spirit of Air and extinguish the bundle by sealing it in a jar.

Fire

Have you ever felt a bad vibe in a room with an actual wood fire burning in it? Probably not. This is because fire powerfully burns away negativity like old, dead wood. If you don’t have a fireplace in every room (which I don’t assume you do) , you can place a large red candle on a plate (ideally soy or vegetable wax) , and surround it with a ring of sea salt.

Place the candle near the center of the room or area and light it as you say, “Spirit of Fire, I call on you.” Close your eyes and visualize the fire from the candle filling the room, burning away all negativity. When the visualization feels complete, carry the plate with the salt and lit candle to the next room or area and repeat.

When you’re finished, extinguish the flames as you say something like, “Fire, you were a great help to me, and I thank you.”

Sea Saltwater

Salt water powerfully neutralizes negativity. Fill a clear glass with spring or well water and dissolve one teaspoon of sea salt in it. Hold the water in both hands and visualize very bright white light coming down from above, entering the crown of your head, moving down to your heart, out your hands, and into the water.

Visualize the ocean as you say, “Spirit of Water, I call on you.” Pour the water into a mister (it’s okay if it doesn’t all fit) . Now, move around the perimeter of each room or area, spraying the mist lightly throughout. If you like, you might imagine a powerful ocean wave moving through your house as you do this.

When you’re finished, pour the remaining water down the drain and say something like, “Spirit of Water, you were a great help to me, and I thank you.”

Table Salt

A dish of non-iodized table salt, placed in a central location in a room, is a great negativity absorber. To cleanse your entire home with salt, get a dish for each room and area and fill each with a substantial (yet not necessarily large) amount of salt.

As you pour the salt, say, “Spirit of Earth, I call on you.” Then place one in each room or area. Each time you place a dish, hold your hands over it and empower it with the intention to draw all negativity from even the farthest corners of the room. Leave the dishes for 12-24 hours.

Then, thank the Spirit of Earth, flush the salt down the toilet, and wash the dishes thoroughly.

Quick Clearings

It’s good to perform some sort of clearing at least once a week or so, and any of the above methods can be done independently or paired up for a quick and informal clearing. But to perform my favorite quick-yet-effective space clearing, just clap and then burn sage. You might want to finish with a quick prayer or visualization to empower the space with harmonious energy: just ask for or envision all the conditions and feelings you’d like to experience in the space.

Thorough Ritual Clearing

Once a year or so, and during special circumstances like when your home changes residents or you move into a new space, it’s good (and fun!) to do a thorough ritual clearing. This is a great one.

Begin by creating an altar in a central or otherwise convenient location. This can be on a table, desktop, or countertop, or, if you already have an altar, you can use that area if you like. On the altar, place a mister of sea salt (created as above) , a dish for each room and/or area, non-iodized table salt, a plate or large candle holder with a large red candle on it, and a bundle of dried white sage. Also place an incense holder on the altar, and any kind of incense that you like.

Now, sit or stand in front of the altar and take some deep breaths, relaxing every muscle in your body. Feel the weight of your body on the earth and focus on this until you feel really grounded and solid. Close your eyes, hold your hands in prayer pose, and say a prayer.

Acknowledge/summon any helpers or deities you’d like, or just pray in order to clearly state your intentions to yourself and the Universe. Pray from your heart, and state in simple and clear terms what you’re about to do. You might say something like:

“I now ask for the help of my guides and angels as I perform this space clearing. It’s my intention to clear all negativity from this space in order to experience sparkling vibrations and harmonious conditions, and to create the space for happiness, joy, love, abundance, success, and all the desires of my heart to flourish. Because I have asked for divine assistance in this endeavor, I know that I am perfectly receiving it now, and for this I give thanks.”

Light the candle and the incense to signify that the ritual has begun. Begin to clear the energy by clapping loudly in each room and area as described above.

Now, light the bundle of sage so that it’s smoking like incense. Face east and say, “Spirit of Air, I call on you!” Now, cleanse with the sage as described above.

As you do so, continually chant, “With the help of the power of Air, I cleanse this house.” Extinguish the sage, or if it’s only smoking a little, you can let it continue to burn as long as it’s in a jar or somewhere safe.

Next, light the candle and surround it with a circle of salt. Hold the lit candle and plate in your hands, face South, and say, “Spirit of Fire, I call on you!”

Cleanse with the candle as described above, and as you do so, chant, “With the help of the power of Fire, I cleanse this house.” When you’re finished, place the still-lit candle back on the altar.

Pick up the saltwater mister. Hold it in both hands as you face west, and say, “Spirit of Water, I call on you!” Mist each area as described above while chanting, “With the help of the power of Water, I cleanse this house.” Set the mister back on the altar.

Put some of the table salt in each dish as described above. Hold one dish in your hands, face north, and say, “Spirit of Earth, I call on you!” Place a dish of salt in each room and area while chanting, “With the help of the power of Earth, I cleanse this house.” Return to the altar.

Put your hands in prayer pose and empower the space with your intentions by chanting aloud all the conditions you’d like to experience. You might say: “Love, Harmony, Success, Abundance, Peace.” As you vocalize each word, envision the energy of the word resonating throughout the house, shifting the molecules to match its vibration.

When this feels complete, face north. Say, “Spirit of Earth, you were here, and I thank you!” Face west and say, “Spirit of Water, you were here, and I thank you!” Face south and say, “Spirit of Fire: you were here, and I thank you!”

Face east and say, “Spirit of Air: you were here, and I thank you!” Now thank any of the forms/facets of the Divine that you summoned during the opening prayer. Then, say “Thank you, thank you, thank you. Blessed be. And so it is.” Extinguish the candle and incense to symbolize that the ritual is complete.

Now, I am really serious about this: immediately after the ritual is complete, you must lie flat on your back on the ground. (If you have a private yard area where you can lay outside on the grass, this would be best, but if not, the floor to your house or apartment will work just fine.) This is because space clearing rituals raise and shift energy in such a major way that you have to get your equilibrium back ASAP. Even if you think you feel fine, please do this. It’s important for re-establishing rhythm and coordination in your mind, body, emotions, and immune system.

Once you’re lying on your back, envision/feel/imagine your personal energy field. It will naturally have a lot of excess energy in it. Imagine also that you’re lying on the earth, and allow the excess energy to grow heavy and fall downward where it’s absorbed by the earth like rain (even if you’re not on the ground floor, this will still work) . Your personal energy field will remain, just the excess will move downward into the ground.

Once this feels complete, get up and eat something nourishing and substantial like some sort of grain or a root vegetable. This will help to integrate you and restore your balance and connection to the physical plane.

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Footnotes:
Kingston, Karen. Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui (Broadway 1999) .

Kingston, Karen. Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui (Broadway 1997) .

Lin, Denise. Sacred Space (Ballantine Books, 1996) .