Welcome to my second blog, if you read the first, I hope it resonated with you.
This month I’m in a little fight with myself as to what to write about. I know what I want to say but it’s going to be controversial to the people who don’t know this information or choose to ignore it and carry on with their practices as “normal”.
If you know me personally you know I find learning new things important for my lifestyle, I mean, don’t get me wrong, my memory is horrendous and I have to write notes everywhere.
Anyway, I want to chat about cleansing this month and why it’s so important to do it.
Cleansing in a practice that has been used for thousands of years, dating back to 2000 to 3000 BCE.
Back in that time it was very similar to practices still used today. It would have included ritual bathing, fasting and smoke cleansing.
Body and Hygiene Practices date back to Babylonians and the Egyptians who created early soap like pastes from animal fats and alkaline salts around 2800 BCE.
Early Hindu texts like the grihya sutras dating to 500 recorded elaborate daily bathing rituals that are still practiced today.
Energetic Cleansing practices, practices like smoke cleansing using sage, cedar and other herbs, have been practiced by indigenous communities worldwide to purify spaces and ward off negative energy for centuries.
The Romans elevated cleansing to an engineering marvel. They developed elaborate public bathhouse, aqueducts and lead lined water systems.
Today cleansing is a broad term used which can be to describe clearing the energy from a person or space, hygiene, to detox diets and holistic regimens.
So, the question is, why do we feel the need to cleanse?
This is going by my personal practice and opinions as well as factual on some.
The reason I cleanse regularly is because I feel the need to remove stagnant or negative energy, I’ve picked up throughout my day or week.
I am an empath which mean although I ground and protect myself daily, I am still very susceptible to other people’s energy around me or even nasty people throwing negative energy my way (yes this happens more often that you would think!)
You may ask how this manifests and how I know.
So, I tend to click on pretty quickly these days because of the psychic attacks I’ve had to deal with.
Although as you probably know I struggle with my health as I have chronic illnesses, however a psychic attack feels totally different. I’ve had moments where I’ve been projectile vomiting, I’ve had all sorts of issues, but I can feel it’s not my illnesses causing it so can cleanse myself and rid it within a short space of time.
The way I work with cleansing on a psychic attack is different to how I cleanse every day, obviously it needs to be a lot stronger.
Everyday cleansing that I do in stages.
1st Stage of Cleansing
I close my eyes and imagine myself on a cliff edge with a waterfall. I stand under the waterfall as ask spirit to cleanse me. I open my Crown chakra and allow spirit to send a white light through my body and allow it to come out of my feet. The water is removing the negative energy and filling me back with positive energy.
2nd Stage of Cleansing
I then use selenite or satin spa to help me. These are both crystals part of the gypsum family.
I keep Satin Spa above my doorways both in The Practical Magick Emporium as well as at home. This then changes the energy from negative back into positive. People who are negative tend to walk away if they don’t want any help with it. So, it does work.
I always keep selenite from desert rose on my shelves at The Practical Magick Emporium too as it helps the energy of all the other crystals on the shelves. Everyone who comes to The Practical Magick Emporium says how beautiful the energy is and how welcoming it is.
3rd Stage of Cleansing
I use salt water a lot. I bath in salt water; I cleanse home and The Practical Magick Emporium with salt water too. Salt is renowned for its protective properties. So, when I feel someone negative has been around or the energy is stagnant, I put salt into a small dish of water and sprinkle into the corners of the rooms with my fingers.
When I get the chance, I do like to be in the sea too, connecting back to nature, even if it’s only my feet. Remember our roots from our feet help to ground us.
When you are in salt water it cleanses your whole body, takes that energy away from everywhere and refills you with positive energy. If in a shower or bath, imagine the negative energy going down the drain as the water leaves you.
The 4th Method of Cleansing
I use which is a personal favourite of mine is sound. Sound frequencies are highly effective. Specific high-pitched tones create powerful micro- vibrations. This changes negative vibrations and stagnant energy into more positive energy. This form of cleansing is not suitable for everyone, and I would recommend avoiding it if you suffer with seizures, have metal implants, are pregnant, have PTSD or severe mental health conditions, we wouldn’t want to cause you any extra issues.
The frequencies that remove negative energy are 417hz, this is used to clear blockages and reverse negative events. You can also use the common frequencies of 111hz which is for spiritual calm and 528hz which is for stress reduction.
I use my singing bowl as well as my Tingsha around the home and around The Practical Magick Emporium. I also use both during holistic therapies both at the start and at the end. Although this is what I use at present, I will be adding to my collection as there’s so many more instruments to use. I recommend Buddhist Bubble if you would want to purchase any kind of instruments for sound cleansing. Remember I only recommend those I fully trust and have used myself.
The Last Method of Cleansing
This is widely used, although there are a lot of other methods I could write about, is smoke cleansing.
People use dried herbs to smoke cleanse their properties and themselves. This can come in various forms, from incense sticks, smudge sticks, incense cones, Palo Santo (a tree) stick, resins and lots more. Remember when you smoke smudge to open doors and windows, you want to be able to have somewhere for the negative energy to leave and allow the positive energy to come in. Also remember to smudge right into the corners of each room too, energy builds up in the corners and can take over a room.
The best herbs to use to smudge with a smudge stick are locally grown herbs. Remember we are about doing as little damage to the environment as possible.
If there is a lot of rosemary growing in your garden or nearby (make sure you always ask permission first) harvest it and allow it to fully dry out for at least 10 days by hanging it up, then use some woollen string to bind the smudge stick. This can be nearly any herb local to you:
- Lavender
- Hot lips sage
- Rosemary
- Mugwort
- Yarrow
- Thyme
Personally, I don’t like smoke smudging, but I know a lot of people love it. Which is why it’s so important that if it’s what you love, its done with ethically sourced products. Knowing where a product has come from is key.
In America the white sage is being overharvested and causing all sorts of environmental issues. As white sage is native only to specific regions in Southern California and Baja Mexico, there isn’t much of it. On top of people poaching, it for selling to countries all over the world, it’s also continually threatened by the over development of properties and the wild fires.
White Sage smudging is a sacred ceremonial practice belonging to various Indigenous tribes. Many Indigenous practitioners view its commercialisation by non-natives as exploitation of their heritage.
Until 1978, it was illegal for Native Americans to practice their traditional religions, meaning they were punished for using the very plants that others now casually burn. You can see why they get so upset.
In the Practical Magick Emporium, we have Lavender Smudge Sticks available for £3.00 each. The lavender has been grown in Heacham and I harvested it myself and dried it out myself. This is totally ethical because the plants are being given the chance to grow and flower again this summer.
I also mentioned about Palo Santo, Palo Santo is a tree found in Mexico. It is known in Spanish as the “holy wood”. It is a wood which the tree dies naturally and falls to the ground. It should be left on the ground for 4 to 10 years to allow the essential oils to cure and saturate the core. This tree has been used for centuries by Indigenous people to help aid with colds, headaches, inflammation and pain. They used the bark, oil and resin.
It, again, is a product that is over harvested due to its high demand and has driven illegal loggers to cut down live trees rather than wait for them to die naturally. This unethical practice destroys fragile tropical dry forests and yields poor quality wood devoid of its signature, resin rich aroma. With this in mind, both Palo Santo and White Sage are products I do not and will not stock, I also will not use them in my personal practice.
Other forms of cleansing can also include:
- Meditation and breath work
- Decluttering (getting rid of what you no longer need)
- Ventilation and light (opening curtains/blinds and windows)
- Digital Detox (take a break from screens and social media to help reset your mindset)
I hope you’ve found this blog interesting, and you’ve learnt a little from it. I would be interesting to hear your views and if you will be changing your practice or adding anything to it.
Until next time, look after yourselves.
With love Claire xx
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