Spiritual Hygiene- A Word About Cleansing

   It's time for everyone to sit back in their desk and pretend to pay attention to the annoying and embarassing grainy public service announcement that the teacher is about to play- but hey it's better than algebra right?
   Ok so it's not that bad, lol. We here at Witchy Thrifting take our Spiritual Hygiene very seriously. While we're out there hunting for those special pieces we need to remember that we can bring home more than just a bargain.
     Just by living we imprint ourselves and our spiritual energy on our belongings every day.  This is not a bad thing, and many items you find out there will be filled with some awesome energy from it's former owners. These are usually the objects that I'm most drawn to, and if I'm looking at using them for a decoration or a furniture piece for the house I find that it's nice to live with different flavors of positivity. But if I'm planning on using it for a ritual item, or it has a negative vibe but I find I just have to have it I've found a good cleansing before I start to work on it makes a world of difference.
      There are a lot of cleansing spells and rituals out there, and a quick google can give you a whole bunch of them to choose from. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me I've found them pretty similar and generally whatever feels right to you will be the most effective. I am really rather minimalist in my workings so my cleansings tend to be pretty utilitarian. I am definitely a function over form girl and while I love the odd pretty thing, generally I want things to do a job as well as look fabulous. Therefore a lot of the things that I would need on hand to do a cleansing are pretty innocuous or dual purpose.
     These are a couple of my cleansing rituals that I do for any items that I bring home and think need a little spiritual hygiene.
       Cleansing smaller items can be done singly or in a batch, it really depends on how many pieces you have and what method you use but I would suggest cleansing larger pieces or ones with large doses of negativity seperately. Take a moment to look at what your items are made of. Not all methods work well with different materials. For instance if you're cleansing something painted then (depending on the type of paint or finish) salt may damage your item. Same goes with smudge smoke and fabric. It is no fun to get your new beauty's energy all nice and clean only find that it got damaged in the spiritual wash. Once you know what to avoid for your particular items it's time to rub a dub and scrub that energy clean!
     This is my quick go to for items that only need a cursory cleansing. That's items that either have a really weak energy residue or are not strongly shooting off negativity.
      One of the first things I do is set my spiritual boundaries. For me this is a the space that I want to keep separated from the rest of the world for however long it takes me to accomplish my task. Many people and traditions consider this their circle and have a casting ritual that they follow. The following is my method and it works for me but to each their own.
     To begin this I start a light meditation. Once I feel comfortable and relaxed I envision a circle surrounding myself and the objects I will be working with. Then I picture the circle turning in to a sphere, kinda like the dome on a space helmet clicking in place (that's the best way I can describe it, lol). Now I'm in my own little ball of protected space that keep the energies I want in but lets the negativity out. It's very important I tell myself the properties of my little spiritual 'hypershield' so that it knows what I need it to do. Now that my area is prepped I need to start focusing on myself. I need to 'feel' myself in every part of my body. In every cell. I always feel like I'm humming all over during this part.
      Next I focus on the items to be cleansed. I don't tend to be specific about night vs. day so I work with whatever astral being is in the sky at the time that I am doing my cleansing. For descriptive purposes we'll go with daytime for this. The first step I need to take for this part is to keep a picture of these items in my mind. Sometimes I stare at the items for a while memorizing their shape and coloring, or I'll pick them up and turn them this way and that taking in all their angles. Now I visualize a waterfall of golden fiery liquid pouring out of the sky and directly onto my head. This liquid pours into me like I'm an empty vessel and I see it filling me up to the top with a golden glow that spreads out to the very tips of my fingers and toes. I fill up on this liquid until I can't hold anymore then I let it leak out through the center of my chest until I have a good amount of it gathered. Then I mentally 'flow' the liquid to the object that I want to cleanse. I pool the golden energy around the item until it is submerged completely. Now to get 'clean' the object I start pushing the golden liquid into the item. I push the liquid in until it pushes all the negativity or spiritual residue out and there is nothing left but the golden glow suffusing the item. Then I release the golden energy to go back to it's source. I repeat this for as many items as I have with me, constantly refilling myself with the golden liquid as it drains out, creating a circle of energy passing from the sun to me, to the item, and back to the sun.
     This is the basic cleansing I do on a regular basis not just for items that I pick up but for myself and my house. Sometimes I substitute the moon's silver energy for the sun's golden energy. Sometimes I add special stones that I charged the last cycle of the moon to have on hand, or some toilette water made with cleansing essential oils. Depends on my mood and how much cleansing I think an object needs.
    A good rule of thumb for telling if your work has been successful is to put the object in a place that you'll come upon it while going about your daily business at home at odd moments and after a couple days see how you feel about the item now. Really negative things will feel that way right away, so you'll be able to work on those again right away. If you can't wait to work on that project you picked the item up for you can always finish up your project and if it needs another cleansing you can cleanse an charge it again at any time whether you've altered it or not.
    Homework is due on Friday, remember to keep your energy nice and clean, and their will be a pop quiz on Wednesday. Class Dismissed!