Viewed from outer space, Earth shines like a beautiful blue jewel set against a sea of jet-black darkness. The swirling clouds of her delicate atmosphere drift in spirals of white, marking the blue orb like delicate veins on marble. The wonders of our precious planet were intuitively sensed by our ancestors, who worshipped our planet as the Mother Goddess, the foundation of life.
When you connect with the Spirit of the Earth in your space clearing, you are grounding your home into a primeval and powerful force for healing. The passage of the seasons and the daily rhythms of our lives are all in accordance with the cycles of the Earth. Mother Earth’s soil, her forests, her rocks and mountains, and her plains and vegetation are the bounty that nourishes us, body and soul.
Salt is a gift from the earth that has special significance for space clearing. It has been known throughout time for its remarkable purifying properties. In the ocean, salt acts as an antiseptic to destroy bacteria. The ancient practice of tossing salt over the left shoulder to avert bad luck is based on the traditional use of salt to dispel negative energy. Because of its unique virtues, salt is one of the most essential elements in your repertoire of space clearing tools.
In performing purification for your own home, it is best to obtain natural salt, either sea salt or rock salt, which has not been iodized. Which one you choose will depend on your overall intention for the clearing.
Sea salt will call forth the powers of the sea, which are especially conducive to cleansing and emotional healing. Rock salt, on the other hand, is associated with the powers of the earth, and is very useful for achieving a sense of balance and grounding. These differences are very subtle, so use of either kind of salt will have a similar effect overall.
There are several ways you can use salt in a space clearing ceremony. Placing a bowl of salt on your Blessing Altar while you are space clearing will help to ground and neutralize any negative energy you encounter as you work.
You can also take a small bowl of salt and place it in the center of each room while you are clearing it. Or you can sprinkle salt throughout each room. Pay particular attention to the corners, where stagnant energy tends to gather.
Salt sprinkled during a clearing should be left for 24 hours before being swept up in order to allow enough time for it to absorb all of the negative energy. And salt used in space clearing should never be eaten. It should be used only once and then rinsed down the sink followed by plenty of cold running water.
A traditional Eastern way to use salt for space clearing is to mix it with equal parts of rice to toss throughout a space.
Additionally, in some traditions it has sacred ash mixed into it. Calligraphy and blessings are written on paper and then ceremonially burned and added to the rice-salt mixture. The ash contains the essence of the prayers. You may want to write your prayers and blessings on a piece of paper, burn it, and then mix the ashes with your rice and salt. (After 24 hours it can be swept up or vacuumed.)
Clear quartz crystal, another gift from the earth, is composed of silicon dioxide. Like salt, quartz is one of the earth’s most common and plentiful minerals. Used in space clearing, quartz crystals can act as generators of energy. Because crystals can act as catalysts for human consciousness, they possess the ability to distill, magnify, and transmit your intention into a room.
By placing a quartz crystal on your Blessing Altar, you will be able to deepen and radiate the energy field that you have created there. Natural faceted crystals can also be used as “wands” to implant sacred symbols into a room or to direct energy. To do this, hold an intention of a particular sacred symbol or ideal in your mind while directing the crystal toward a particular place in a room. (You can even outline the symbol in the air with the wand.)
Regularly cleansing your clear quartz will keep it vitalized. This should be done after every clearing, or it will eventually lose its vibrancy.
There are several ways to cleanse your crystals. Also see the box “Simple Cleansing Techniques for Your Tools”.
Dance is an ancient way of celebrating our connection to the earth. As the feet touch the ground, the body reaches for the heavens, thus establishing a sacred link between Mother Earth and Grandfather Sky. Your body can be one of the most exquisite and wondrous tools for space clearing. It can become your holy instrument to channel energy and light into a space.
Tai chi or yoga classes can help you learn to use your body in a graceful way for channeling energy, but it is not necessary to do so. These kind of classes can help you to get in touch with your physical form and understand how to sense and respond to energy with your body, but you can also experiment on your own, using your intuition to find those poses and movements that are most expressive of Spirit for you.
To clear a space using your body, begin by standing at the entrance with your hands in the prayer position (palms together and held near your chest with fingers pointed up).
Take a deep breath and exhale. Allow your awareness to expand so that you feel that you are filling every part of the room.
Step beyond your mind and all linear thought processes. Slowly allow your “body wisdom” to take over and begin to dance.
Move, sway, shake, flow. Let your hands, arms, body, and heart take over.
You might find your arms moving in a spontaneous spiraling movement in one area and a soft pushing motion in another.
Let your body become a sacred vessel for universal awareness to surge through the room.
When you sense that the energy in the room is balanced and complete, draw the sign of infinity (a horizontal figure eight) in the air to seal the energy of the room.
It’s all right to use music as you do this; however, as a suggestion, house your music in something ceremonial.
The art of dowsing has been used for thousands of years for indicating energy fields. Prehistoric rock paintings in Algeria depict early dowsers, and research has uncovered evidence suggesting that the ancient Chinese and Egyptians used dowsing. The first written descriptions of dowsing appeared in the Middle Ages.
Although there are many schools of thought regarding why dowsing is successful, practitioners of this ancient art all agree on one point: it works.
Many dowsers believe that dowsing works because they subconsciously tune in to the stream of wisdom available at the level of the collective unconscious of all people. The dowser receives information from this source, causing muscles to twitch, which in turn causes the pendulum to swing. In other words, the body of the dowser becomes a receiving station to access the energy flows of the space around them. The dowsing tool acts as a focal point, or amplifier, for the information received.
You can use pendulums in your space clearing for clearing energy as well as for detecting energy fields. Any weight attached to the end of a cord or chain can be used for pendulum dowsing. If you are purchasing a pendulum, find one that both looks and feels good to you. Before you begin to work with your pendulum, you will want to energize it. You can do this by holding your hands over it and imagining that light is radiating out of your hands into the pendulum. Energizing your pendulum will almost always improve the way it works for you.
To use your pendulum for space clearing, hold the cord or chain firmly between your thumb and an index finger several inches from the pendulum (a comfortable range is usually between 3 and 12 inches, or 8 to 30 cm), so that it can swing freely and smoothly.
Go throughout each room in your home, allowing the pendulum to swing in small circles. Anywhere that it begins to swing in wider circles or won’t spin at all can indicate the need for clearing. The movement indicates that energy is too active (swinging wildly) or very stagnant (not moving at all).
Allow the pendulum to spiral in that area until it begins to swing in small, even circles again. This is an indication that the energy in that area has been cleared. (You can program the pendulum to respond differently if larger and smaller spirals don’t work for you. Some people prefer back and forth rather than circles.)
Since the beginning of time, people have used symbols to express feelings of connection to Spirit, to the earth, and to the multitude of life around us. Because these symbols have been found throughout the ages and across many cultures, I believe that they come to us from the energy of the earth. They are the earth speaking through us, healing us, and uniting us with all of nature.
You can implant the energy of a mystic symbol in a room, thus sealing the energy that you have created there. You can do this by either outlining the symbol in the air with your fingers or a wand or by visualizing it.
When using your fingers, use your index finger and middle finger together. You can also draw the outlines of the symbol in the air using an elongated crystal or a wooden wand (or any kind of wand that feels right to you). This will further imprint the energy of the symbol in the atmosphere of the environment.
Any symbol that has significance for you can be effectively used to seal the energy of a room. Reiki practitioners use Reiki symbols, for instance. Use your intuition to find which symbols are best for you. The following list outlines intended purposes and the symbols that work for them:
Our connection with the earth goes back to the beginnings of our history. From our earliest times, humans have had a dynamic relationship with the earth. People saw the world as teeming with life. Every rock, tree, and mountain was alive and had a spirit. The context of human life was firmly rooted in a natural world infused with diversity and spirit. Folklore abounds with stories of human beings emerging from the earth; in some languages, the origins of the word man come from “earth born.” The Romanian historian Mircea Eliade wrote that, “Even among Europeans today there lingers an obscure feeling of mystical unity with the native earth; and this is not just a sentiment of love for one’s country or for the ancestors buried for generations around the village churches.” He believed that this sense of connection to earth was a primary part of a human being’s psyche, transcending time and culture, and gave people a sense of belonging. When you use any aspect of Earth in your space clearing, you bring forward the energy of a living, conscious planet.
To connect with the Spirit of the Earth:
Elemental Space Clearing works with the physical and etheric properties of plants, especially in the concentrated form of essential oils. (You’ll learn more about Elemental Space Clearing in the next chapter, including how to combine essential oils with mudras to do powerful and potent space clearings.)
Essential oils are different from flower essences, as they are an actual extract of the plant or flower (extracted through distillation with steam or cold pressing); flower essences are derived from the vibration of the plant.
In ancient times, plant and flower essential oils were used by shamans, priests, and priestesses of almost every spiritual and religious tradition throughout the world. These special oils were thought to dispel negative energies, banish “evil,” purify temples and sacred places, and invite gods and goddesses to bless a space. The smoke or aroma of plants was also thought to help with communication and communion with spiritual realms.
Modern research is discovering what these ancient people knew: the scent of various plants and flower oils affect the way we feel—sometimes dramatically so. (See Appendix C for more specific information.)
Every plant and flower has its own innate and individual qualities that can be used to shift the energy and feeling of a space. In the Elemental Space Clearing work that you do, carefully choose the essential oils that you use. Align the intention for the space with the properties of the oil.
For example, if the members of a household have been in a stagnant cycle, you might want to use stimulating oils such as rosemary, peppermint, lemon, or fir needle in conjunction with the mudras. If a person is feeling agitated and irritated, then you might want to use oils that are more soothing such as lavender, rose, or neroli.
To powerfully and profoundly expand the benefit of using essential oils, it’s valuable to connect with the oversoul of each plant or flower that you are using. (You will be doing this during the first stage, preparation.) For example, the “lavender oversoul” is the residing and connecting spirit that oversees and connects all lavender plants. A single lavender bush is just one fragment of the residing whole.
When you connect with the lavender oversoul, you are inviting the energy of the whole to be present. It is essential that when you form this communication link, you offer thanks and gratitude. When you do this there is a subtle but remarkable energy shift as the oil you use becomes potentized and much, much more powerful in its effect on a space or a home.
To start, simply imagine the plant that you are using in its natural environment. For example, if you are going to use a lemon essential oil, you might imagine a lemon tree on a high plateau in Spain. Its leaves are a dark, shiny green, and the lemons look like orbs of light in the sun.
Connect in such a way that you feel that you are shape-shifting to become the tree. You can feel the sun above; you can feel the cool earth beneath your roots. You can feel your fruit hanging heavy and pregnant on your limbs.
Now expand from this image to images of lemon trees in other areas, maybe trees in northeast India and northern Burma, where they originated, to Italy, Corsica, the Middle East, and to California and Florida.
Continue expanding your perception wider and wider until there is an awareness that you are connected to all lemon trees throughout the world.
Finally, retreat into stillness as you await the arrival of the oversoul.
Note that the oversoul may look like a human, or they may take another form. Sometimes they are simply a light or a sound or a symbol. Accept the form that the oversoul arrives in.
Give thanks to the oversoul. You can also ask for support in your clearing and blessing. This powerfully increases the potency of the oil that you use.
It is important that anytime you use essential oils for space clearing, you attune with the oversoul of each plant, as this greatly magnifies the power of the oil. Using oils without this attunement doesn’t allow the strongest energy to come forward.
Not everyone likes the same oils. Elemental Space Clearing relies heavily on intuition, so you will need to listen to your inner voice to find the right oils for the right place. Here are some suggestions of ways you can use oils:
Preparation: mandarin, petitgrain, and orange
Purification: lemon and lemongrass
Invocation: sandalwood and neroli
Preservation: jasmine, spruce, and fir
There are multiple uses for the essential oil blends you create, beyond their use during the four stages of space clearing. Consider also using your blends in the following ways:
In addition to rubbing oils into your hands before doing the mudras or using oils with your general space clearing, you may also want to consider an essential oil burner or a burning stick of natural incense. Refer to Appendix D for a deep dive into the properties of different oils, their aromas, and suggestions for making your own blends.
To inspire you to create your own blends, you might start by choosing one of the following oils as a base, depending on the purpose you intend. Follow your nose and your own intuition as you select complementary oils.
The best blends come from your inner wisdom, but here are some examples of combinations: