It has been a long winter and your home has held you well. Now, as the days warm, you are inclined to open the windows wider and invite in the freshness of renewal. Now is the time to clear away and make room for what will grow in your own life this season. Spring is the perfect time to cleanse our personal space to eliminate old energies and make way for the fresh and the new, to give love and intention to your beloved house and home. It is a time to clear out the old, clear out that which does not bring you joy (as Marie Kondo has made popular) and with that allow space and room for joy to grow. It is a time to love what you have and re-use it instead of consuming and buying new. It is time to appreciate the preciousness of what you have, get rid of what is not precious. To live more wild and free.
Weave through this ritual, engaging the Elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, to invite peace and abundance into your homes, with Brighid as your guide.
This is a blessing I recite as I light a hearth candle at each ritual I facilitate and each class I teach. It is a blessing that my teacher in Ireland, Gina McGarry, shared with me and so I share with you. Use it when you light your own hearth or altar candle. Use it to bless your space and hear the voices of your ancestor’s mingling with your own.
“To the Sacred Three,
To Save, To Shield, To Surround
Your House, Your Home, Your Household
This day, this sacred day and each sacred day.”
House Blessing Ritual
AIR: Blend your own loose-leaf incense or use a sacred smoke stick, ideally of mugwort, which is sacred to our Native European tradition. If you have a garden you could create your own smoke wand using stems of lavender and thyme which are still aromatic, even at this time of the year. Both lavender and thyme smell divine when burned and have cleansing and disinfectant properties.
As a side note, keep in mind that as we have appropriated other traditions we are over-using white sage and palo santo and both are endangered. Use what you have or what is available to you, with intention and, as you can, shift your practices to honour our own indigenous traditions.
Recite the following House Blessing as you take the incense/ sacred smoke to each room of your home, beginning in the East and moving in a sunwise direction (east, south, west, north)
May Brighid bless the house wherein you I (we) dwell;
Bless every fireside,
Bless every wall and door;
Bless every heart
That beats beneath its roof;
Bless every hand
That toils to bring it joy’
Bless every foot
That walks its portals through-
May Brighid bless the house that shelters me (us).
FIRE: Light a new white candle or a tea light and allow the flame of warmth and light to cleanse the space with all of the blessing of fire including transformation, courage, strength and warmth.
Take the candle to each room reciting “We kindle the light of Brighid’s protection” and adding your own words as you would like.
Place the candle in a safe place and allow to burn, preferably, overnight or, in the case of a tealight, until it burns itself out.
WATER: Add 10 drops of basil essential oil (for protection and good fortune) to 1 ounce of purified water or use holy water or water from your tap, blessed by you, or a lunar water. With a sprig of herb (rosemary or lavender or a rose are lovely options) or your own hand, sprinkle each room of your home with this herbal water as you recite or chant:
Deep Peace of the running wave
Deep Peace of the flowing air
Deep Peace of the quiet earth
Moon and Stars pour their healing light Deep Peace, Deep Peace
EARTH: Select a new houseplant and nurture it as it nurtures you with clean, fresh air in your space. Leave an offering to the nature spirits, fairies or the Divine who protect your space. Fairies especially love whiskey, honey, butter and chocolate. They will very much appreciate an earthy treat.
