BY MACEY LAVOIE
The start of the year consists of bubbling champagne, countdowns and the seductive promise of something new. With this being my first New Year’s living away from home, I wanted to start a new tradition. I read up on the practice of cleansing one’s home of negative energy. The idea is to get rid of the negative and encourage the positive energy to take its place. As a writer, I am very serious about my creative space and wanted to encourage positivity.
Now there is no wrong time to cleanse your home; it doesn’t have to be the start of a New Year, it could be when a negative influence is leaving your life or simply because you feel the urge to do some cosmic cleaning. Either way it’s simple, it leaves an exotic smell and it helps relax the mind.
Start by making sure you have all the proper tools. Sage, the main ingredient, sounds fancy but can be found in most grocery stores. It can be mixed with lavender or rosemary for extra intention. I mixed lavender in with my herbs because the smell has a relaxing effect. Just be sure that whatever mixture you make is safe for the familiars you share your home with.
You can bind the herbs as a stick, light the end and then promptly put it out so the end is smoking. The process is called smudging and you direct the stick in all corners of the house. Imagine the negative energy is being blown out of the house. If it’s not too cold, throw open the windows and watch the smoke drift out the window. Say some positive words as you do this, either out loud or in your head.
If you have a small pot, cast-iron or another fire proof material, you can replicate the process but only keep it in one place. You can use this method to focus on a certain area of your life. This year I want to focus on my work, on my career and on my writing. Therefore, I smudged around my desk and writing area. I focused on my creativity. You can focus on any aspect of your life you want. Place it in the bedroom or next to pictures of family that you want to reconnect with.
As the year continues just remember the smudging you did and all the intent you put into those words and I hope you have a blessed year.