PDA

View Full Version : Lesson 9 Home and Space Blessings



~Elise~
February 18th, 2007, 08:37 PM
The hearth and home are often safe, sacred spaces in pagan traditions. The home can be a private retreat, a place to recharge, and a blessed spot to gather. A house can be just a shelter, but the concept of “home” implies nourishment, abundance, strength, community, and more. Energizing and tending to one’s home can enrich daily life and lay a foundation from which greater magickal workings can flow.

The greatest attention to house energies often comes when moving to a new residence. This is often a special focus of apartment dwellers, where the tenants not only turn over more often, but the previous residents are rarely met and are assumed to not have the same respect for the space as an actual owner might show. Many new homeowners would like to not only honor their accomplishment at purchasing a home but bless their new space and having a small ritual often brings that essential feeling of “mine.”

It doesn't need to be a new, recently purchased house or apartment for it to warrant a home blessing ceremony.... You may love your place, have no reason to move, but you just ended a relationship and want to clear the space....
Maybe you threw a big party and people were smoking, or perhaps some of the guests weren't welcome....
This can also be done on your office space--you just have to be a little more discreet, (or sometimes a LOT discreet)

No matter the reason, whether to clean up, shake things up, open up new possibilities, or close yourself off from unwanted energies, a home-blessing ceremony will make it easier for you to connect with your space, and to help transform it into your special sanctuary.
To create a joyful and loving environment; to infuse your home with feelings that evoke peace, refuge, comfort and harmony; to bring in new energy, a home-blessing — performed alone or with friends — is all you need!




Try This...

Fill a plate with freshly picked red rose petals, which serve to generate warm, joyful, abundant vibrations in the home. Place a white candle in the center to invite clarity, spiritual guidance, and the brilliant light of God into your household. Set it on the altar in a spot of your choice and light the candle.

Many people like to set up a few blessed objects or a small altar when they first start moving into a new space. Making a small focused area with a spiritual focus is much like carrying an ember to start a new fire. Moving into a new residence is also a good time to honor any new changes you are attempting to manifest along with other new beginnings (starting a new family, a new job, living in a new city, etc.)
Tradition in my household for moving into a new space is to have all members of the new household cross the threshold first. We bring in three items: a container of salt, a loaf of bread (or its equivalent), a bottle of wine. (PS…you need have something to open the wine with and glasses to drink out of…voice of experience here)
The salt is for protection--I keep this container of salt on a high shelf and it is never opened. I have moved this container through three households now. We break the bread saying May we never hunger. We drink the wine (or sparkling grape juice) saying May we never thirst.
The house is then smudged opening all cabinets, drawers, etc making sure that smoke gets into every corner. The chant/spell that is used is one I got from Francesca DeGrandis in Be A Goddess:

Goddess within,
Goddess without
Make a circle all about
Bring love in; keep evil out

Here is another blessing/ritual that I’ve not tried, but looks decent:


First, mix equal parts of
Thyme
powdered garlic
rosemary
sage
cloves
After you have mixed the above well sprinkle it around your home while chanting:
Magic wheel twist magic wheel turn
round this house this spells begun
all fights against evil my battle be won
mother goddess shine your light on this place
this (day) night protect the occupants protect this home
with harm to none this me will be done.
The following two were taught by Selena Fox:

A home blessing meditation for charging a room:
Sit Straight with palms on lap, take deep breaths, relax, and move into a mental space where you activate your intuitive senses,
Imagine a cord of energy from your spine connecting you to the Earth, and channel energy from the Earth through it,
Silently ask for divine protection, guidance, and blessing,
Direct your psychic sensing outward, and feel lines of force coming out of your aura,
Note where the strongest energy is (check out the floor, ceiling, directions, etc.), Note spots that feel empty or dead, note places that feel full alive, focus on where you are sitting and how you feel at that particular spot,
Imagine a sphere of light and love energy at your heart, feel it pulsing outward with every breath.
Feel the radiance increase with every breath, feel your self as a star, continue to breathe deeply and send out the energy, letting it pulsate in the room,
When ready, start making power sounds representing the love and light you are channeling; use it to amplify the light you are weaving; and fill the room with the energy,
Then shift focus to sending a probe out into the room, and note the differences in the quality of energy and how you feel about it,
Repeat if necessary,
When done, feel the completeness of the work. A room blessing involving elemental quarter invocations:
Face each direction (with arms out in appropriate elemental invoking gesture), and say, while channeling and visualizing elemental power: Powers of (say direction),
Powers of (say corresponding element),
We great you, we honor you, we welcome you here!
Watch over and bless and protect this place.
After each invocation, shape the energy into columns of light by sweeping ones arms together until they are parallel and sweeping them up and down while channeling and shaping the energy,
When the energy is properly shaped, say so "mote it be."
After you have done all four quarters, channel in spirit energy. To return the energy to a more mellow state while energizing yourself, put your hands out and take in a bit of the energy into your self from each direction, going widdershins, hold hands to your heart and take in the energy (techniques also exist for bringing it into a stone and retrieving it when needed).

Here is another one:
Take white rags, natural brooms, or anything else that you feel drawn to as a symbolic cleansing "tool," and walk all through the house, chanting or singing about how you are clearing away the old. Visualize this old energy returning to the earth or to the sun to be recycled. You can prepare something to read in advance about this, or you can simply allow everyone to contribute as they feel moved. It might sound something like this:

"We clear this home of all that has gone before..."
"We clear away the old, we wash away all that lingers here..."
"It is blank, and clear, and rich with potential..." etc...

You can have one person drumming a beat as you go along, and everyone singing or chanting or talking out loud to get the team focused on the same intention in a powerful way. Move through the house, pretending to "clean" the energy, and then after you've gone all through the house, go to a door and pretend to sweep out all you've collected, and to shake out your rags and otherwise "cleanse" your tools. Wipe your hands, and affirm that now the space is clear and clean, it is done.
Walk through the house a second time celebrating the clean energy, appreciating how clear your home now is. Feel the difference, and affirm it. Imagine this clarity and pure potential expanding out past the four walls, into the yard, and to the edges of the property. Imagine bright white or iridescent light filling the property, and breathe deep of this pure potential with gratitude and satisfaction.
Now walk through the home a third time singing a song of love, joy and appreciation. You can make up your own song as you go along, or sing a song such as "Amazing Grace" or any other uplifting and inspiring song. Sing or chant of all the things you wish in your home: of abundance, love, good friends, good health, warmth, and comfort. Do not focus on protecting your home or on anything you don't want. Simply establish that this is a safe, warm, secure home, and only those people or influences in harmony with this love and joy will enter, and they will enter abundantly. Sing, dance, and celebrate this overflowing positive energy as it swells and fills the dwelling. You can tone, dance or drum to raise more energy to feed this fire. The point is to get everyone powerfully focused upon and feeling this joyful energy.
When this part of the ritual naturally dies down, gives thanks, celebrate, break bread, drink wine or pure water, and smile with the knowing that your home is newly invigorated with beautiful and joyful energy!


http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art34628.asp (http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art34628.asp)
www.spellsandmagic.com/Home_blessing.html (http://www.spellsandmagic.com/Home_blessing.html)
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Space_Clearing/id/35197 (http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Space_Clearing/id/35197)

~Elise~
February 18th, 2007, 08:38 PM
Perform a home and/or space blessing. Tell us what you did and what you feel the results were.

All homework from this and ALL previous lessons needs to be complete and posted here in the appropriate threads by Mar 1, 2007 to graduate with honors from this class.

It has been a pleasure teaching you!

Elise

Against The Tide
February 19th, 2007, 01:33 AM
Posting to acknowledge new lesson. Will try and start reading proper tuesday and complete by friday.

Fencai
February 19th, 2007, 09:56 AM
I'll second that!

TheRiverDaughter
February 19th, 2007, 10:38 AM
<thirded!>

TheRiverDaughter
February 22nd, 2007, 12:12 PM
Ok - I live in an apartment, so I wanted to focus on wiping out any negative energy and allowing positive energy from my husband and myself to fill the place. So I did a few things last night and this morning.

First - I cleaned up a bit (it's not great, but it's better - wedding gifts everywhere!). Last night I first smudged the kitchen with a burning sage leaf (that I dried myself), then roasted some garlic - using the smell to push negative energy out of the kitchen. Then I cooked a healthy meal from scratch and thought about bringing good energy into the kitchen. My husband and I ate it and enjoyed each other's company and feelings of "home".

This morning, after grounding and shielding, I burned some incense so that the smoke would absorb what negative energy remained. I used cinnamon incense, both because that's what I had on hand and because I didn't feel like smelling burnt sage again. Then I opened up all the doors and some of the windows, turned on the fans and blew it all right out of the apartment.

The place smells and feels fresh now, and like a mixture of sunshine and incense (which I think is decidedly yummy). I'm hoping to bake bread later as well, both because it's fun, and because I think of bread as a way of baking blessings into food.

Against The Tide
February 25th, 2007, 05:26 PM
Done my assignment today rather than earlier this week. Just letting you know pearl, will write up in full detail later on.

Fencai
February 27th, 2007, 01:07 PM
When my hubby and I moved into our new place, we actually did the blessing with the wine, salt and bread. Its a wonderful feeling. We did it before we moved anything into the space.

Since we did that, I did the meditation blessing (the second one listed) to try something new.

It was great! I could feel every nook and crany in my house! It was really a great experience!
The "deadest" space I noticed was the crawl space above our bedroom. Im not really suprised by that, since its a rarely used space. The most charged was the kitchen! Again, not suprised sicne I am in that room most, and where I cast quite a number of my spells.

And as for the results, i think my husband said it best "if you dont stop all the blessings and cleansing, Im never going to be able to leave this house! Its just much too warm and inviting and protecting!" :)

So, i'd say it is going well!

~Elise~
February 27th, 2007, 09:27 PM
When my hubby and I moved into our new place, we actually did the blessing with the wine, salt and bread. Its a wonderful feeling. We did it before we moved anything into the space.

Since we did that, I did the meditation blessing (the second one listed) to try something new.

It was great! I could feel every nook and crany in my house! It was really a great experience!
The "deadest" space I noticed was the crawl space above our bedroom. Im not really suprised by that, since its a rarely used space. The most charged was the kitchen! Again, not suprised sicne I am in that room most, and where I cast quite a number of my spells.

And as for the results, i think my husband said it best "if you dont stop all the blessings and cleansing, Im never going to be able to leave this house! Its just much too warm and inviting and protecting!" :)

So, i'd say it is going well!


That's awesome! Glad he said that--let's you know that it is going well and you're doing your job correctly.

Good work!!

Elise

Against The Tide
February 28th, 2007, 02:10 PM
When I had the house to myself I locked the dog out and cleaned the place top to bottom. While reciting this diddy I pulled of the interweb..

"Touch the lintel and touch the wall,
Nothing but blessings here befall!
Bless the candle that stands by itself,
Bless the book on the mantle shelf,
Bless the pillow for the tired head,
Bless the hearth and the light shed.
Friends who tarry here, let them know
A three fold blessing before they go.
Sleep for weariness - peace for sorrow
Faith in yesterday and tomorrow.
Friends who go from here, let them bear
The blessing of hope, wherever they fare.
Lintel and windows, sill and wall,
Nothing but good, this place befall. " (Anon)

Once it was done I smudged myself to clean the grime I had cleaned from the house and followed that meditation (also chose it because it was different) blessing...

Since then the space has been more welcoming. When I come home I feel like I'm comming to something good and warm.

The Panther's Dream
February 28th, 2007, 10:48 PM
I used sandalwood incense, salt, rosemary, and powdered sage to bless my room. I cleaned it all first, dusted, vacuumed, etc. Then I relaxed and meditated for a bit. I pictured the whole room being cleansed in a bright, white and gold light. I pictured it touching everything within as well as myself. I sprinkled a bit of the herbs around my room for cleansing and protection. I focused on cleansing the area and keeping it safe and blessed. I kept picturing the herbs giving off pleasant energies and the room began to feel so much cleaner. I didn't really chant anything, I just focused on white light and positive thoughts for bringing good energy into the space. I vacuumed the herbs up once I had finished the cleansing and blessing and I felt they had served their purpose.

elizabeth ratliff
March 1st, 2007, 03:19 PM
I did smudging with sage/sweetgrass combo, its wonderful, and then i made a herbal combo and sprinkled the house with it, house feels very good, but I find i have to do this twice a month, there always seems to be some bad vibes trying to get in...but certainly feel safe at home. What I do find interesting is that there is one lady who will only stand at the door, she wont enter the house, or she talks to me on the phone..interesting...

~Elise~
March 2nd, 2007, 07:13 PM
Except for the one person I gave an extension to, class is complete - at least for the Graduates With Honors. I'll get your banners out to you at some point this weekend.

You can still complete the class homeworks in the appropriate threads and get a graduate banner. Get it to me by the end of this month.

It was great teaching you guys this round... awesome work you did too. Hope you learned something from it!

Elise

~NightFire~
March 8th, 2007, 06:34 PM
Sorry I'm a bit late with this, but this is what I did...

First I made sure that my room was tidy, organised, dusted, & hoovered.

Then I smudged the room (making a pentacle shape where I felt it was needed), making sure I went into every drawer, cupboard, & space possible.

Then I did the space/room blessing meditation. I let the incense carry on burning, & I sat on the floor in silence, & went through the (posted) meditation for about half an hour. I found that my senses were 'fine tuned' & that I could hear something that I couldn't explain-which was wierd-it was like the wind, but it wasn't..._inabox_

My room felt really inviting & cleansed afterwards, & every time I step foot in there now, I can feel the positive energy.

I will have to carry on doing this every now & again.

Thanks alot for the class Pearls59-I have learnt aot from it. :fpraise:

~Elise~
March 8th, 2007, 07:52 PM
great work! Banners just sent out via PM to all Honors Graduates

Elise