A Latina Bruja's Guide to Spiritually Cleansing Your Home of Negative Energy

‘Tis the season to be jolly with friends and loved ones. The holidays are a time for gathering, which is why energetically cleansing your home before and after this festive season is of the utmost importance for good spiritual hygiene. Not only will it help to preserve the beautiful memories you created in your space, but it will also prepare your home to welcome a new year filled with new possibilities and expansion.

“It’s always important to keep a spiritually clean home because it keeps our vibration dialed into where we want it to be,” said Rebecca Gitana, a transformational guide and home healer who hosts the TV show Healing Through the Home. The native New Yorker added that keeping our homes spiritually clean is a “forever cycle of cleansing and regeneration” that helps us have a clear mind and move the energy around our space.

“If you never open the windows, then your home is going to be stagnant, stuffy, and funky,” Gitana told POPSUGAR. “It’s the same when we spiritually cleanse our home. When we open up that energetic window for new energy to come in, we also invite the energy that’s been stuck and stagnant to go out as well.” But before the first jingle bells ring and you raise your glass in a toast, remember to set healthy boundaries about who you allow in your space. This feels especially important now, during the ongoing pandemic.

“The people that you’re inviting into your home should be people you feel safe with,” Gitana said. “If you’re not feeling energetically safe, then maybe you really shouldn’t be inviting those people into your home.” She even recommends giving your guest list a spiritual cleanse. “Now is a good time to reset your guest list,” she added. “Everybody has been separated for so long, and you don’t have to have everyone in your space. Honor your feelings.”

What Do You Need to Spiritually Cleanse Your Home?

Your spiritual cleansing list doesn’t need to be extensive. In fact, you might even have many of the items you need already. Gitana said to begin by focusing on the four elements – water, air, earth, and fire. So crack a window open, and let that air element flow and begin.

“Water is the magic that we have here on planet Earth,” she said, which is important when mopping floors and cleaning throughout each room. “So, communicate with your water. Ask your water to reset your environment. And ask your water to infuse compassion and healing into the space.” For the “earth medicine,” Gitana said strategically placing crystals throughout your home, especially in the four corners, is a way to call in that element. She also recommended inviting your plants to “work overtime to recycle the energy.” Burning sage or palo santo and smudging your home is another great way to call in the earth and fire element. Gitana recommended, “Go into every room, every corner, or even a place where guests might rest their belongings.”

Why Is Cleansing Your Home Especially Important During the Holidays?

Many Indigenous traditions believe that the home has a soul, and as we care for it, the space cares for us in return. Preparing it for guests and their energy is a gift, not only to your space and yourself but also to anyone entering your home. When this is done mindfully and with intention and heart, your guests will feel it, too. This ritual cleansing is especially important during the holidays when the foot traffic in your home may pick up more than any other time throughout the year.

“Our home is a living, breathing extension of us,” Gitana said. “In preparing the house before people come over, it can really help to receive those energies.” It’s as if your home were the first to offer a loving embrace when guests arrive.

How to Prepare Your Home Before the Festivities

The home cleansing and purification ritual starts when you mindfully begin moving with the flow of intentionally removing any negative or stagnant energy from your space. By playing music, opening the windows, lighting incense or a candle, and preparing your cleaning solution, you are showing your space gratitude. Add some Agua de Florida to your cleaning solution for mopping floors, cleaning around windows, and cleaning countertops. And don’t forget to communicate directly with your home as you cleanse.

“Let the house know, ‘We need to move the energy during this time,'” Gitana said, adding that you can even speak names out loud of guests you want to focus on who may need some extra blessings. Gitana also speaks to her plants, stones, and crystals and other items around her home as she cleans. “I love to tell the plants, ‘People are coming,'” she said. “If somebody is going through a hard time, I tell all the stones. Your home can really work with you with its own spiritual filtration system.” This system is beneficial to you as well. Gitana said it can prepare you to receive all the energies coming to your home.

But before the party even gets underway, Gitana said, there are some important points to consider the moment guests arrive. “Please don’t let people put their coats on your bed,” Gitana warned. “Every single coat has been in a million places, and then you’re throwing it on your bed.” Gitana recommended having a little folding table in the corner if you don’t have enough closet space to accommodate all the coats. This way you avoid sleeping in all the residual energy left behind after your guests leave. She also recommended keeping shoes outside to keep a spiritually clean home. “You can even prepare people, like, ‘Hey, bring your favorite house slippers. We don’t invite the energies from outside in,'” she advised. Giving folks a heads up should help alleviate any surprises when they arrive. If you’re feeling extra festive, you could buy all your guests some cosy winter slippers or slipper socks as a holiday gift they receive at the door. If asking guests to remove their shoes isn’t an option, be prepared to put some extra elbow grease into your postparty house cleanse.

How to Cleanse Your Space After Guests Leave

Cleansing your home after the party ends is similar to the preparty preparation. But the intention is different. Now, as you cleanse your space (the morning after is fine), you can speak affirmations and prayers for the people who entered your home. You can give thanks for their presence in your life. Cleanse the home from your heart’s centre like you’re giving it a loving embrace. Thank your home for its security, safety, and comfort.

“Burn a candle, and set the intention for giving thanks for your family and everyone that has entered your home,” Gitana said, adding that it’s important to “send everyone’s energy back with them. And for you to call back in all of your energy.” Using sound to break up the energy is another option. Whether you choose a sound bowl, chimes, a rattle, or a bell, the sound clears the space. The Latinx spiritualist urges everyone to use their intuition during every step of the home cleansing process. “You may decide to stand in the middle of your living room and say, ‘Thank you, Great Spirit, for my family and everyone that was here today. I invite all of their energies to follow them out the door and follow them back to their homes. And I invite all of our energies (the people that live in the house) to be grounded into the space.'” Gitana added that more than anything else, “It’s more about your intention and resetting the space.”

How to Prepare Your Home For the New Year

On New Year’s Eve, light a white candle and ask that it clears your home of any negative energy or anything that isn’t based in love, peace, and harmony. Carefully leave the lit candle in a room you will be occupying, and allow that intention to breathe life into your home throughout the final hours of 2021.

“Just start with gratitude. That’s the major part of any intention and any ritual that you do,” Gitana said. “It’s starting with gratitude. Honoring the elements, honoring the laughter. Honouring even the sh*t that may have come up that was uncomfortable. Coming into gratitude for the entire experience and then allowing it to be released.”

Now, that’s a way to enter 2022.