Cleansing and protection are the housekeeping of the Craft. Cleansing clears out what is stale, heavy, or unwanted. Protection keeps the space clear afterward. They are done in that order, since there is little sense in locking the door with the mess still inside.
When to cleanse
- When you move into a new home
- After illness, an argument, or a difficult visitor
- At the turn of each season, and especially at Imbolc
- Before a ritual or a spell
- Whenever a room feels heavy, or you feel stuck in it
Begin with ordinary cleaning
This is the step that people skip, and it matters most. Dust, clutter, and stale air weigh on a home more than anything unseen. Tidy up, wipe the surfaces, take out the trash, and open the windows. Much of what feels like bad energy leaves with the vacuum cleaner.
Ways to cleanse a space
| Method | How to do it | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Sweeping | Sweep from the back of the home toward the front door, and out over the threshold. The broom need not touch the floor. | The traditional tool is the besom |
| Sound | Ring a bell or clap sharply in each corner, where stale air gathers | Smoke-free and quick |
| Smoke | Carry burning incense, or a smoldering bundle of dried rosemary, garden sage, or lavender, through each room, with a heatproof dish held underneath to catch embers | Open a window, and put the bundle out fully in sand when you finish. Skip this method if anyone in the home has asthma or keeps birds. |
| Salt water | Dissolve a pinch of salt in a bowl of water, and sprinkle it lightly around each room with your fingers or a sprig of rosemary | Use sparingly near wood and fabric, and keep it away from outlets and electronics |
| Light and air | Throw the windows open and let sunlight in | The simplest method of all |
For our reasons for recommending garden herbs instead of white sage, see herbal magick.
A simple working
Cleansing a home, room by room
- Clean and tidy first. Open at least one window in each room.
- Ground and center.
- Start at the room farthest from the front door. Using your chosen method, move around the room counterclockwise, paying attention to corners, cupboards, and behind doors.
- As you go, say: "All that is stale and unwelcome, leave this place."
- Work through every room in turn, moving toward the front door.
- At the front door, sweep or wave the last of it out, and close the door.
- Walk back through the home clockwise with a lit candle or a bell, and say in each room: "May this home be filled with peace."
Cleansing yourself
You carry the day with you. To set it down, take a shower or a bath with a handful of salt and a few sprigs of rosemary or lavender tied in a cloth. As the water runs off, picture everything that is not yours washing away with it. When you have no time for that, wash your hands slowly in cold water and take three deep breaths.
Protecting a home
Once a space is clear, these traditional protections help to keep it that way. Choose one or two.
- Guard the threshold. The front door is the main way in. Hang a bundle of rosemary beside it, stand a broom next to it, or trace a pentacle on the frame with a damp finger.
- Use salt indoors. A thin line of salt along a windowsill or inside a threshold is an old protection. Do not pour salt on soil or lawns, since it kills plants.
- Grow protective plants. Rosemary, bay, and lavender by the door are both useful and traditional. In British folklore, rowan and an iron horseshoe served the same purpose.
- Set a ward. Stand at the center of your home, ground and center, and picture a sphere of light expanding from you until it surrounds the whole building. State that it admits friends and good fortune and turns away harm. Renew it each season.
The witch bottle
The witch bottle is one of the best-documented protective charms in English folk magick. From the seventeenth century onward, people filled bottles with bent pins, nails, and other sharp objects, and buried them under the hearth or the threshold to turn harm back on its sender. Hundreds have been found in old buildings.
A modern version is easy to make. Fill a small jar with pins, rusty nails, a pinch of salt, and a sprig of rosemary, handling the sharp pieces with care. Seal it tightly, and tell it its purpose: to catch and hold any harm directed at the home. The old custom was to bury the bottle by the door. It is kinder to the ground, and just as effective, to keep it at the back of a cupboard near the entrance.
Keep it in proportion
Most heaviness in a home has an ordinary cause: tiredness, clutter, poor sleep, or an unresolved conversation. Cleansing works best alongside dealing with those. Good locks, working smoke alarms, and honest talk are protection magick too.
If you often feel frightened or unsafe at home, please take that seriously in practical terms, and reach out to people or services that can help. No charm is a substitute for real safety.