7 Self-Love Rituals for Valentine’s Day

It’s that time of year where everything is about love, but the most important thing you can remember about love is this: Love is not outside of you.

Love is within you. Love is your divine nature.

It’s easy to forget that, but it’s true. The rituals below will help you connect to the love already within you, and most importantly give it to yourself.

For all of these rituals, you might like to incorporate:

• Rose quartz, to open your heart chakra

• Clear quartz, to amplify the energy

• Myrrh incense, a healing scent associated with feminine energy, the moon, and the water element

Try just one of these rituals, or try them all throughout the month. Each of these rituals will be more powerful the more you do them, so find one you like and make it part of your routine this month.

Create Something

Nothing gets the energy of love flowing like creativity. Do a coloring meditation, make a vision board, cook a nourishing meal, write a poem, paint with watercolors, play an instrument, or create your own yoga flow.

Whatever you’d like to do, create a sacred space and tap into your creative energy.

Get this coloring page here

Here's also a fun idea for a self-love ritual where you can play with your creativity:

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A post shared by Cassie Uhl (@cassieuhl)

Tarot or Oracle Card Spread

Tarot and oracle cards are amazing magical tools for self-reflection and connecting with your intuition. Try this three-card spread with your favorite deck:

1. What is holding me back from loving myself right now?

2. What might I experience if I give myself the love I desire?

3. How can I deepen my love for myself?

Don't know how to get started? Check out this blog post for tarot, or this post for the ultimate tarot guide. If you feel called to try oracle cards check out this blog post.

Burning Ceremony

What holds you back from loving yourself more? What limiting beliefs do you hold onto that keep you small? What things about yourself do you struggle to love? What parts of yourself do you hide from yourself and from the world because deep down you believe in their unworthiness?

Get quiet, get your journal, and allow a stream-of-consciousness type of writing to flow until you feel like you’ve got it all out on the page.

Once you’ve poured your heart out, light a single white candle and hold your paper over the flame. Allow the negative energy, limiting beliefs, and your dislike for any part of yourself to burn up with the page.

Then, free-write to these questions: What do I love about myself? What is amazing about me? What am I grateful for? What parts of myself am I working on loving?

When you’re done, place this page on your altar and return to it anytime you feel those sticky, negative beliefs trying to creep back in.

Write a Self-Love Mantra

Writing your own self-love mantra is incredibly powerful because while there are many beautiful affirmations and mantras for self-love, you are unique and your journey with self-love is unique.

Write your own mantra that tells you exactly what you need to hear. Something kind, nonjudgmental, and compassionate that you might say to your sister or your best friend to let them know that you love them and they’re not alone.

Say it to yourself.

Write it on your mirror, on a piece of paper to tuck in your bag or place on your altar, or paint it in a picture (see ritual #1!), and return to it whenever you need it. Learn more about embracing the power of mantras here.

Heart Chakra Meditation

Inhale deeply into your heart chakra. Exhale out of your mouth, releasing all that doesn’t serve you. As you inhale, visualize a bud of green light glowing in your chest, blossoming bigger and brighter with each inhale as you strengthen this chakra. Allow the unconditional love to wash over you with your breath. If you'd like a guided meditation, you can click here for a meditation bundle done by me.

Herbal Bath for Self-Love

Turn bath into a ritual by using herbs, lighting candles, and playing whatever music or sounds help you relax and turn inward.

Try using rose-hips, lavender, elecampane, and balm of gilead to promote self-love. Rose-hips promote healing, compassion, and self-love. Lavender balances and calms while elecampane opens the heart chakra. Balm of gilead promotes love and helps you manifest your desires.

Simply fill a muslin bag with about a third of a cup of the herbs, loop the bundle onto the faucet, and let your tub fill with hot water as it runs through the bag. When it finishes filling, drop the bag into the water and let it infuse with the herbs for about 20 minutes.

For an extra dose of self-love, add a rose quartz crystal to your bath. For more herbal bath recipes, check out this blog post.

Create a Goddess Altar

Creating a goddess altar is a beautiful way to honor the divine feminine energy of the universe and the divine feminine energy within. Make this altar your own! Buy a statue of a Goddess who resonates with you, or just print out a photo online. If you’re not sure which Goddess you’d like to use, do some research! What Goddess energy would help you love yourself more? Some suggestions are:

• Greek Goddess Aphrodite for love, gratitude, and beauty

• Hindu Goddess Lakshmi for abundance and wealth

• East Asian Goddess Kuan Yin for mercy and compassion

• Hindu Goddess Kali for destruction, creation, and transformation

• Greek Goddess Artemis for independence, strength, and fearlessness

• Egyptian Goddess Isis for magic, healing, and protection

• Greek Goddess Athena for wisdom and courage

• Sumerian, Babylonian, and Phoenician goddess Inanna for sensuality and divine femininity in all its forms

Once you choose your goddess, add a white candle, incense, and maybe a cloth to your altar. Choose some objects that represent love to you and ask for help loving yourself. You can also put fresh flowers or a piece of fruit on your altar as an offering to the Goddess.

Goddesses are beautiful archetypes and energies to work with because they remind you that you, too, have this energy within you. You possess the abundance of Lakshmi, the compassion of Kuan Yin, the magic of Isis, and the transformative energy of Kali.

How to Create a Meditation Practice You’ll Actually Stick to

You know meditation is good for you. You’ve seen the studies. You know you feel better when you do it. You know all of the positives, yet, it’s still so hard to commit to a daily meditation practice. I know, I’ve been there.

I’m here to share nine tools I’ve personally used, or use still daily, to create a meditation practice that sticks. I’ve been an on and off again meditator since I was in middle school but it wasn’t until I implemented a few simple practices that it became a daily routine for me. Read on to learn my favorite tips.

Why Meditate?

Entire books are written on this topic, but here are some of the big reasons meditation will rock your world.

• Stress relief: Regular meditation will help you see the bigger picture so you’re not narrowed in on the small stuff.

• Better sleep: Meditation helps soothe your pineal gland, which, among other things, helps you sleep.

• Improves your health: Regular meditation can help lower your blood pressure, improve your immune function, and decrease inflammation.

• Improves your aura (energy field): Meditating raises your energy frequency, which will improve your aura. Meditate regularly, and you’ll start to experience a big shift in your energy frequency and aura.

• Stay in tune with your soul’s purpose: Lost or confused about what to do? Meditation can help clear your mind so you can gain more clarity about the next right move.

Sounds good, right? A regular meditation practice is life-changing, but the key here is regular. Here are nine ways to build a meditation practice that you’ll actually stick to.

9 Ways to Create a Meditation Practice That Actually Sticks

1. Ritual for all five senses

Creating any habit is all about routine and repetition. One effective way to do this is to build rituals around your meditation time. By practicing the same rituals, at the same time, every day, you’ll prime yourself for your meditation practice.

The more of your five senses you can incorporate into your meditation rituals the better, it will help your new habit stick. Here are a few ways to engage your five senses and create a ritual around your meditation practice.

• Sound: Music, gong, singing bowl, or a fountain

• Scent: Essential oils, candles, or incense

• Sight: Salt lamps, candles, colored light, specific time of day, specific room

• Touch: Meditation pillow or blanket, mudras, self-massage

• Taste: Fresh breath right after you brush your teeth in the morning, or a specific herbal tea

Pick and choose what sounds good to you. These meditation rituals can be as elaborate or as simple as you want. The simple act of lighting a candle and rubbing a certain scent on your chest before every meditation can have a powerful effect.

2. Build in time. Something is better than nothing.

“There’s not enough time” is probably the #1 killer of most meditation practices. Like any new habit, it’s all about building in the time for it. The good news is, you don’t need much time to build a meditation practice, just 5-15 minutes a day will have a positive effect on your day.

The key, plan ahead. Take an honest look at the schedule of your day, and decide where the best place is to add in 10-15 minutes of quiet meditation time. When you’re just getting started try setting a reminder on your phone so you don’t forget.

Five minutes of meditation in your car is better than no meditation and will help solidify your meditation practice.

3. Create a space

A room, a corner of a room, or a simple seat will do. Designating a specific spot for your meditation time will help you stay on track. You know exactly where you need to go and have a spot for any meditation ritual elements you’re incorporating.

A space with minimal distractions is ideal but any dedicated space is better than no space.

4. Be OK with distractions

Distractions are part of life and will most likely make an appearance during your meditation time at some point. Whether it’s a pet, child, loved one, or a noisy work crew outside your house, expect them, accept them, and then move right back to your meditation.

5. Use a timer and start small

It can be difficult to get in the zone while you’re meditating if you’re spending the entire time wondering how long you’ve been meditating. Set a timer on your phone so you don’t have to wonder.

Starting out, set your timer for just 5 minutes and work your way up from there. Once you find that you’re naturally ready to sit for longer than 5 minutes, up your time by a couple of minutes. Do this for six months and you might be surprised by how long you can sit in quiet meditation.

6. Pranayama

If your mind goes a mile a minute the moment you sit down, try some pranayama to help you drop into your meditation. Many of us are stuck in fight or flight mode constantly and flipping the switch to relax can seem impossible. Starting your meditation with some simple breathing exercises can help set the tone for your meditation.

Try either of these breathing techniques to help queue your body to relax:

Three-part breath

As you inhale, feel the air filling the lowest part of your belly, the middle part of the torso (just below your heart center), and then your chest. As you exhale let the air out in the reverse order, feel the air leave your chest, just underneath your chest, and out your lower belly. Repeat as many times as you’d like.

Alternate nostril breathing

Using your thumb and your ring finger, close your right nostril with your thumb and inhale slowly through your left nostril. Cover your left nostril with your ring finger, release your thumb from the right nostril, and exhale. Repeat this on the other side starting with inhaling through your right nostril. Repeat as many times as you’d like.

7. Use guided meditations

If pranayama isn’t your jam, or you need some extra guidance to stay in the meditation zone try using guided meditations. There are several podcasts and free apps available with great guided meditations, you can also find several online. Here are some that I’ve used that are all great places to start:

• Meditation Oasis Podcast (Free and my favorite!)

• Meditation Minis Podcast (Free)

• Headspace App (Free and paid options)

• My guided meditations bundles for energy balancing, moon phases, Wheel of the Year, and Spirit Guides. Here you can download my free waning moon meditation.

8. Accountability Buddy or a Meditation Challenge

Using the momentum of a group or working with a meditation accountability partner can help you seal the deal for your meditation routine and keep you on track. Have a soul sister who’s trying to build a meditation practice too? Make a plan to touch base with each other every day once you’ve meditated.

9. Allow yourself cheat days

Things will come up, and you’ll probably miss some days. Instead of letting this be a reason to beat yourself up or stop meditating all together allow yourself a cheat day once a week. That way, if you have a crazy day that gets away from you (which will probably happen at some point!), you’ve got an easy out that you don’t have to feel guilty about.

Ditched your meditation practice? Start with self-love, no need to beat yourself up over it, then come on back to this list to find some motivation to get started again. Your mind, body, soul, and fellow humans will thank you for it.

6 Herbal Bath Recipes for Winter Self-Care

Herbs have been used for centuries as magical tools for healing, meditating, and accessing the spirit realm. Whatever your need is, there’s definitely an herb for it!

They are said to be so powerful because they hold the energy of Mother Earth within them.

Using herbs in your bath is a great way to practice self-care, especially in the colder, cozier months. Unwinding and decompressing from the constant stimulation your senses face in the modern world is important for tuning back into yourself. Herbal baths can boost your mood and be incredibly relaxing and healing.

Science actually backs this up. A 2002 study found that a daily bath significantly improved the mood and optimism of the participants. Plus, hot baths can relieve muscle pain and improve your sleep.

Adding herbs to your bath brings this mind-body practice to the next level, positively affecting all aspects of your being, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

I recommend filling a muslin bag with your herbs (if you’ve ordered jewelry from us before the muslin bag that comes with your order works perfectly!). The measurements don’t need to be exact, but I recommend using about a ¼-⅓ cup of dried herbs. Then loop the bundle onto the faucet and let your tub fill with steaming water as it runs through the bag. When the tub fills, drop your bag into the water. Let the water cool down for 20-30 minutes as it infuses with the herbs, and climb in!

For an extra dose of self-care, light candles and burn incense or diffuse essential oils as you soak. If you can’t find all of the herbs listed in the recipes below you can substitute with essential oil, leave it out completely, or substitute with a different herb.

Scroll down to check out six herbal bath recipes for those cozy nights when it’s way too cold to go outside.

Herbal Bath to Tap into the Divine Feminine

Dried violet, yarrow, calendula, and lavender

Tapping into the feminine, lunar energy within you is all about accessing the energy of being, manifesting, and opening yourself to your truth, creativity, and compassion.These herbs help you do exactly that. Dried violet leaves stimulate creativity and draw prophetic dreams and visions. Yarrow promotes psychic opening and love. Calendula brings healing and energetic protection, and lavender soothes and calms to promote the passive energy of being.

Bonus: Calendula also soothes the skin and promotes cell repair.

Optional: Add a moonstone crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath to Attract Abundance

Chamomile, lemongrass, and patchouli

Chamomile relaxes you and opens you to receiving abundance (plus, it’s antioxidant-rich and soothes your skin). Lemongrass brings focus and clarity of purpose, and patchouli is a powerful herb for helping you attract and manifest your dreams. Patchouli also balances the sacral chakra, which governs emotions, sexuality, wealth, and prosperity.

Optional: Add a jade crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath to Promote Self-Love

Rose-hips, lavender, elecampane, and balm of gilead

Rose-hips promote healing, compassion, and self-love. Lavender balances and calms while elecampane opens the heart chakra. Balm of gilead promotes love and helps you manifest your desires.Optional: Add a rose quartz crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath for Amazing Sleep

Vetiver, chamomile, and passionflower

Vetiver’s soothing qualities create a state of tranquility. Chamomile relaxes the mind, and passionflower eases stress and calms the “monkey mind.” If you have trouble sleeping, try this bath!

Optional: Add a selenite crystal to your bath. Please note, selenite is very water-soluble! If you want to keep your selenite as-is, keep it on the edge of the tub. It’s safe to add it to your bath but may come out a little smaller ;)

Herbal Bath for Emotional Healing

Aloe, motherwort, and lemon balm

Aloe promotes inner healing and overcoming blockages, while motherwort soothes the nerves and emotions to bring rest to your mind. Lemon balm promotes healing and helps treat insomnia from heartbreak and stress (and it soothes and heals your skin while stimulating blood circulation).Optional: Add a rhodochrosite crystal to your bath.

Herbal Bath to Tap into Intuition

Rosemary, juniper, and honeysuckle

Juniper balances the third eye chakra, the center of intuition, inner vision, wisdom, and deep perception. Honeysuckle aids confidence and sharpens intuition, and rosemary clears unwanted thoughts and negative thought patterns.

Optional: Add an amethyst or sodalite crystal to your bath.

Which bath do you need today? Take a photo of your tub while it cools and tag us at @cassieuhl!

How to Balance your Solar Plexus Chakra

Do you feel worthy of love and comfortable setting boundaries? Do you feel a sense of peace and understanding in taking action on things you can control and allowing things you have no control over to happen?

When your solar plexus, or Manipura, chakra is open and balanced, you experience a strong sense of authentic power, and use that power to make a difference in the world. You fully understand your worth and have healthy self-esteem and self-confidence.

This chakra, located right above the navel, is also where the ego lives. It is the seat of fire in the body, overseeing your emotions, motivating you to achieve your goals, and governing your self-esteem and self-discipline.

But like any other chakra, this chakra can become unbalanced.

Signs that your solar plexus chakra is unbalanced:

1. You feel powerless or like a victim.

2. You often feel anxious and insecure.

3. You either feel the need to control and manipulate everything or you let others control you.

4. You experience frequent stomach or lower back pain.

5. You feel like you have to give your power away in order to keep the peace.

6. You have addictive tendencies and tend to form co-dependent relationships.

The good news is there are many simple ways to balance the solar plexus chakra. Use one tip or combine several, and find what works for you to get you back to a place of authentic power and control.

10 Ways to Open the Solar Plexus Chakra

Get Outside

The solar plexus chakra is associated with the color yellow and the element fire, so getting outside in the sun can be a big help. Try doing one of the tips below outside, like yoga or meditation, go rock climbing, go for a hike, or simply take a walk around the neighborhood.

Drink Tea

Ginger, chamomile, and mint all work well to open this chakra.

Yoga

Poses that light a fire in the belly— aka focus on the core— are perfect for balancing Manipura. Try Boat Pose, Warrior 2, or a series of Sun Salutations to light that Agni.

Pranayama

Speaking of fire, “breath of fire” or Agni Sara pranayama can help balance the solar plexus chakra. It is similar to kappalabhati breathing, but both inhales and exhales are forceful. The idea is to contract and release the core muscles.

Start in a standing position with the knees gently bent and the hands on the knees. As you inhale, press the stomach out. As you exhale, draw it in.

Affirmations & Mantras

Affirmations and mantras are all about becoming that which you wish to see. Try these mantras for balancing this chakra:

• The bija mantra Ram.

• I am worthy.

• I rule from a place of authentic control and power.

• I love and accept myself.

• I am open and free from the need to control everything.

• I use my power for the highest good.

• I release judgment of myself and others.

Scents

Citrusy oils like grapefruit, lemon, orange, and even peppermint are great for healing the solar plexus chakra because they aid digestion, a solar plexus issue. You can also try ginger, fennel, and ylang-ylang to clear negative energy and bring in positive energy.

Burn candles or incense with these scents, diffuse essential oils, or mix these oils with a carrier oil like sesame or coconut and massage them onto the body. It can be particularly powerful to rub them on the belly, the center of this chakra.

Crystals

There are many different crystals you can use to balance the solar plexus chakra. Yellow-hued stones tend to work best since yellow is the color of this chakra. Try citrine, yellow topaz, honey calcite, amber, yellow jasper, or tiger’s eye.

Incorporate them into your yoga practice, meditate with them, create a crystal grid on the ground or on the body over the navel area, or wear them.

To create a crystal grid, choose a few stones from the list above that resonate with you, plus clear quartz. Decide on your purpose for the grid, and write that intention down. It could be something like “I reclaim my personal power” or any of the affirmations and mantras above.

Then, cleanse your crystals (learn more about crystal cleansing here) and place them in a geometric pattern on the bare skin of your navel with the clear quartz in the center to amplify the energy of your grid.

Spend at least a few moments with the crystals on your skin, meditating on your intention.

Play with Color

Wearing yellow and eating yellow foods such as corn, bananas, yellow peppers, lemons, and sunflower seeds are easy ways to work on opening this chakra throughout the day.

Meditation

Try imagining a glowing golden ball of light, a burning flame, or a bright yellow flower opening over your navel to open Manipura. Try this guided chakra balancing meditation if you feel called to.

Switch It Up

Sometimes all it takes to balance the solar plexus chakra is a little change. Try switching up your routine, releasing anger by yelling as loudly as you can (in your home alone!), or attending a laughing circle.

These activities allow you to activate your personal power, release control, introduce a little joy, and create a positive flow of energy in the body.

Tap Into the Wisdom of Your Ancestors with Meditation and Breathwork

Samhain, the sacred festival of the dead, occurs on October 31st and the 1st of November. It marks the beginning of winter and the season of the crone. This holiday reconnects us to the cycle of death and rebirth.

It is believed that the veil between the spirit world and our world is thin during Samhain, making it easier to communicate with spirits. That’s why it is the best time to honor the wisdom of your ancestors during this time.

This meditation and breathwork will take you within, to honor the wisdom you possess inside and the wisdom from those whom you come from. 

1. Set the stage for your meditation with crystals and EO’s (optional)

There are many different crystals you can use to help you connect with your ancestors. Your energy is unique, so choose the crystals that have worked for you in the past or that you feel drawn to.

Here are 8 crystals that can help you connect to your inner wisdom and wisdom from your ancestors. Choose one or several of these stones to wear or place next to you for your meditation.

Lepidolite will help you get into a calm state and connect you to your third eye chakra, the center of intuition.

Celestite opens your energy to connect with the spiritual realm by helping you relax and transition into a dream state. Rose quartz a crystal of love, creates a safe and welcoming space for both you and the spirits. Amethyst helps to open your third eye chakra and can help you connect to your intuition.

Charoite will help you connect with your ancestors. It is another powerful stone for communicating with and channeling spirits. It helps you receive information from them using your intuition.

Blue Lace Agate raises your vibration to make a connection with the spirit world easier. It helps you connect with the spirits as it keeps you balanced, allowing you to receive messages without getting overwhelmed.

Selenite increases telepathy and opens the crown chakra, making it a great stone for spirit communication.

When using any of these crystals, make sure you also have obsidian, hematite, black kyanite, or black tourmaline for grounding and protection. These crystals will keep you safe and rooted to the Earth, leaving your mind and spirit free to wander.

You can also use essential oils in your meditation. Mix them with water for a mist to spritz around the area, dilute with a carrier oil such as coconut or olive oil, and massage into the skin, or even burn these scents as candles.

Here are a few essential oils to recruit for this meditation. Use one or all of them during your meditation.

Clary Sage for connection to the divine.

Rosemary for remembrance and love.

Cedarwood for purifying, grounding, and calming.

2. Start with the breath

Start with Nadi Sodhana, also called alternate nostril breathing, to balance the nadis, or energy channels, in the body. This breath brings you into the present moment, calms and centers the mind, and helps you release fear.

Sit in a comfortable seated position and place the left hand on the knee with the palm facing upward. This hand position creates an energy of receptivity. Place the index finger and middle finger of the right hand on the third eye center between the eyebrows, with the ring finger and pinky finger on the left nostril and thumb on the right nostril.

Throughout this breath, use the thumb to open and close the right nostril, and the ring finger and pinky finger for the left nostril. As you exhale, close the right nostril and breathe out of the left nostril. Inhale through the left nostril, and then close the left nostril to exhale through the right. Alternate breathing in this way for ten cycles of breath, holding your inhales and exhales steady and even.

3. Sink into Meditation.

Once you’re centered in a place of presence and balance, begin the meditation by taking a few deep, cleansing breaths. Follow these steps to tap into the wisdom of your ancestors for this meditation.

1. Visualize the support of the Earth underneath you, connecting you to the vast wisdom of Mother Nature. Feel her energy enter your body as you inhale, and run down the spine as you exhale.

2. Think about who you are and where you are in this moment. Remember that every part of you has been woven together by the fabric of your ancestors, the good and the bad. Their blood, their experiences, their pains, their joys all run through you and shape you.

3. Begin to visualize your family line, starting with a parent. Traditionally this is the father, but allow either parent to come to mind. Visualize them in front of you. As you inhale, they breathe the white-hot light of their wisdom within you. As you exhale, you breathe the white-hot light of your gratitude into them.

4. Ask if this spirit has anything they need to share with you.

5. Continue moving up your family line with this conversation, receiving knowledge, and offering gratitude by exchanging breath, taking as many breaths as you need with each spirit.  

6. When you reach the end of your family line as you know it, sit in silence as long as you like and allow the messages to come to you. These can come in the form of images or sounds in your head, a feeling, or even a smell.

7. End with this simple phrase: “I thank all those who have helped shape and create me. I honor your divine wisdom.” Take a few moments after your meditation to let out your thoughts and emotions in a journal. Release anything that came up for you onto the page, and continue to sit with your crystals for as long as you need.

You can find meditations for the Wheel of the Year here.

How to Perform a Samhain House Cleansing & Blessing

Around Samhain and Halloween is the most magical and powerful time to bless and cleanse your house. So, if you haven’t performed a house cleansing and blessing ceremony, now is the time to do it! If you’ve stumbled upon this blog during another month, don’t worry, you can still perform a purposeful house blessing and cleansing any time of the year. Just be sure to perform another one at the end of October for Samhain.

Why Cleanse & Bless for Samhain?

With winter slowly creeping in, it’s the perfect time to move out any stagnant, stale, or negative vibes before the cold sets in.

October 31st and November 1st, this year, ushers in the pagan celebration of Samhain pronounced Sow-win. Samhain is the birthplace of Halloween. Modern-day Halloween has taken a bit of a different turn with its kitschy decor. Samhain is still celebrated by many and is considered by most to be a more solemn time and reflective time, perfect for divination, cleansing, and blessing.

During Samhain, the veil between the spirit world and the physical world is at its thinnest, so it is believed that spirits and ancestors come back to visit during this time. Performing a house cleansing and blessings gives a welcome space for all of your ancestors. You want to come back and protective energy for any spirits you want to keep out.

How to Perform a House Blessing & Cleansing

This is a thorough house blessing and cleansing. Give yourself adequate time and space to fully devote yourself to this exercise. If you have a large house, you may want to chunk your house into floors or rooms to perform this spread out over a couple of days.

What You'll Need

• Cleaning supplies

• Cleansing herb of choice (frankincense, mugwort, lavender, or sagebrush make good options)

• Besom (optional)

• White candle for cleansing and a black candle for protection

• Saltwater in a spray bottle or a bowl

• Altar offerings

• Optional: protection symbols, crystals, cauldron, broom, herbs, etc.

Steps

1. Clean physically: First, you’ll want to clean your space physically. Remove things that are no longer serving you. Objects that don’t bring you joy anymore are most likely carrying old and stagnant energy that you don’t need cluttering up your energetic space. Try gifting, recycling, or finding a purposeful way to reuse these items.

2. Cleanse with smoke or incense: Use your preferred smoke cleansing tool for this step. I suggest using an herb or plant that's in alignment with your cultural heritage. If you're using something outside of your cultural heritage, like palo santo, I encourage you to ensure that it's sourced from an ethical supplier. I like to use mugwort, lavender, and frankincense.

With your cleansing smoke of choice, walk from room to room to let the smoke float through your space. As the smoke touches, each area of your house asks it to cleanse any energy that isn't aligned with your highest good or something similar.

3. Cleanse with a besom: A besom is a tool used by witches to cleanse a space's energy. You can make one yourself or purchase one around the season of Samhain (Trader Joe's always sells affordable cinnamon brooms!) For the practice of energy cleansing, you're not intended to use the broom as a physical tool, although you can if you'd like. Open a door and begin sweeping, holding your besom slightly above the floor. Visualize any negative energy not serving you being whisked out the door.

4. Cleanse and call in with candles: Using a white candle in a fireproof vessel, walk around your house, shining the light in each room. Imagine each room filling up with white. Ask the light to clear the space and bring in energy that serves your highest good. This is also a good time to call in any ancestors or loved ones who have crossed over into your space. Once you’re finished, place your candle on your stove to burn all the way through. The hearth (our modern-day stove area) is an important area of the home, which aids in transformation, so this is a great place to let your candle(s) burn as you complete your house cleansing blessing. If you'd like to call in a specific kind of energy, you can also light a candle for that as well. Black candles are ideal for this season and offer protection. 

5. Protect with salt water: Just like salt can protect your aura, it can also protect your space. Doors and windows are important areas to focus on with your saltwater because it’s where energy comes and goes in and out of your house. Spritz a bit of your saltwater in each room, focusing on windows and doors. As you do this, ask the salt to protect you and your space from unwanted energies. I like to visualize an energetic forcefield being enveloping my space during this step. 

6. Add symbolism for protection: If you’re looking for a fun and effective way to add an extra layer of protection, you can decorate with protective symbols. Runes, specifically the Algiz Rune or a protective charm bag, are potent options. Learn more about making a protective charm bag here.

7. Cleanse and consecrate tools: If you have tools you often use for rituals, this is an ideal time to cleanse them as well. You can take a few extra moments with your cleansing smoke, white candle, and saltwater to cleanse your tools. 

8. Create a welcoming altar for yourself and your ancestors: Once you’ve completed your house cleansing and blessing, prepare an altar space as a reminder and sacred container of the energy you shed and invited in. This altar will also serve as a welcome invitation to any ancestors or loved ones who have passed on. If you don’t have an altar space, you can also do this on or near your stove, which is our modern hearth. Here's a video of how I cleanse and prepare my altar for the season of Samhain.

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A post shared by Cassie Uhl (@cassieuhl)

Place items on your altar that would attract ancestors that have passed on, like foods or drinks they liked. Light your remaining candle in the color of your choice. Adorn your altar with any crystals, jewelry, herbs, or symbols that you see fit. Here are some options:

• Crystals: Labradorite, obsidian, onyx, garnet, hematite, amethyst

• Candle Colors: Purple, black, orange, silver

• Tools: Besom (broom), cauldron, any divination tool

• Plants and Scents: Mugwort, cinnamon, clove, patchouli

• Foods: Apples, pomegranate, pumpkins, nuts, meat

• Runes: Algiz, Daggaz, Ansuz, Perthro, Othalo

• Gods and Goddesses: Lilith, Persephone, all crone Goddesses, Callieach, Cerridwen, and Hecate

9. Say a prayer or invocation: When your cleansing and blessing is complete, and your altar is set up. Grant yourself a few quiet moments at your altar to reflect on this experience. Offer a prayer to ancestors that have gone before you, an invocation to a deity that is important to you, or both.

Sleep soundly and perform your intuitive work confidently during this season, knowing that your house has been cleansed, blessed, and protected. Find meditations for the Wheel of the Year here.