Image by Foto-Rabe
Have you ever walked into an empty room and immediately sensed that the atmosphere was laced with tension? You may have had no idea what occurred there prior to your arrival, yet you somehow knew that it was something unpleasant. By contrast, another place you entered gave you a feeling of joy and well-being for no apparent reason.
The differences between rooms that feel great and ones that seem depressing can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that some environments are simply more beautiful or physically inviting than others. However, there is a deeper truth underlying these explanations, which relates to energy. Some environments exude an energy that is nurturing, while other spaces can deplete you and even cause you to feel depressed, irritated, or angry.
We all have the ability to sense energy. When we enter a space, we not only react to the style of the furnishings and various colors and textures, but we also perceive the energy surrounding us. Positive energy makes us feel good. Negative energy brings us down. Space Clearing offers a simple and highly effective way to turn the latter into the former. It can turn a depressing place into a heaven of beauty, harmony, and effervescent joy.
Creating Oases of Repose and Serenity in Our Lives
As the pace of modern living has accelerated, I believe that it is increasingly important for us to create oases of repose and serenity in our lives. Because Space Clearing has the power to transform the energy of our homes and offices, it can play a very important role in restoring balance and meaning in our lives. It is a practice that can be used on a regular basis whenever you want to shift the energy of your environment.
Doing a thorough clearing of the energy of your home following an argument, after someone has been ill, in the wake of an unpleasant visitor, prior to moving into a new home, before bringing a new baby home, or even if you're just feeling out of sorts can really make a difference in your life. Space Clearing offers an easy and amazingly effective way to turn your home into a haven for your soul.
Space Clearing involves a four-step process. Each step is integrally linked to each of the others, and together, they create a kind of magic. These steps are: Preparation, Purification, Invocation, and Preservation.
1. Preparation: Preparing Yourself and the Space You Plan to Clear
Getting ready for a Space Clearing involves preparing yourself and the space you plan to clear. To prepare the space, first you will want to do a thorough cleaning. It’s also a good idea to get rid of some of the clutter. Doing a clearing in a space that has not first been cleaned and de-cluttered is like dressing in formal wear for a very special evening without bothering to first bathe and wash your hair. The results simply won’t be the same.
Spend some time planning what type of Space Clearing you want to do, and then gather everything you will need for your ceremony. Each Space Clearing is as unique as the person doing it, and every ceremony should be individually tailored to the specific needs of each home or office.
Which Space Clearing Method is Best?
There is no one best Space Clearing method. Each method has its own magic; however, there will be specific tools and techniques with which you may feel more aligned. To discover what is best for you, use your intuition, and imagine using the tools and doing the rituals described in this book. Some methods might feel very natural and right for you. Others may seem a bit far out or somehow not a good fit with your lifestyle. Your own intuition is the best guide to selecting the techniques that will produce the greatest results for you.
To prepare yourself for the clearing, take a purifying bath with salt or essential oils added to the water. After dressing in special clothes that you’ve set aside for your ceremony, you may also want to smudge yourself with ceremonial smoke. Engaging in these rituals prepares you physically, emotionally, and spiritually for your Space Clearing.
The most important aspect of the preparation stage is your overall intention for the clearing. Where intention goes, energy flows, so take some time to tune in to the source of your inner wisdom and ask yourself what you’re hoping to achieve from your clearing. The more focused you become about what you envision, the easier it will be to turn that vision into reality, and the more powerful will be the transformation of your environment. The energy of the clearing will follow your intent. For example, if your intention is to fill your home with love, then the energy created by your Space Clearing will activate love.
The Blessing Altar Sets the Tone and Holds the Energy for the Ceremony
One of the most fun (and essential) parts of your Preparation process will be planning and collecting the necessary items for a Blessing Altar. The Blessing Altar is a temporary shrine set up at the beginning of the clearing near the entrance to the home, or in some other central location. It sets the tone and holds the energy for the entire ceremony, and it’s a physical representation of your intention. It’s also important because it helps to ground and integrate the energy that is stirred up in your home by the Space Clearing.
The Blessing Altar should be both beautiful and inspiring, and ought to include symbolic representations of the hopes and dreams of all the occupants of your home. Examples of objects for your Blessing Altar could be roses for love, rice for abundance, and a candle for inner light. Also, all of the Space Clearing tools that you use should be placed on this altar.
2. Purification: First, Ask for Guidance and Pray for Your Home and its Occupants
This is the step where you will do your actual Space Clearing. Begin by sitting or standing before your Blessing Altar. Ask for guidance, and pray for your home and its occupants. This can be either a simple or an elaborate part of your ceremony. Gather the tools that you’ll be using, such as a bell and a chime, and place them on a tray, called a Blessing Tray. You will carry this tray from room to room as you journey through your home performing Space Clearing.
As you enter the first room, place the tray down and look around the entire room to begin to assess the energy there. Stagnant energy will often make a room seem a bit hazy. You might want to walk around the circumference of the room with your hand extended, in order to "feel" the energy of the room. Stagnant or negative energy can cause your hand to feel heavy or uncomfortable in places where you encounter it.
Clearing the Energy Using a Bell or Chime
Once you’ve assessed the energy, choose a tool, such as a bell, from your Blessing Tray, and stand at the entrance to the room. Take slow, deep breaths to center yourself. Imagine that you are grounded into the earth, and at the same time, connected to the heavens. With focused concentration, ring your bell. Listen carefully — it should sound crisp and clear. If it doesn’t sound pristine, continue to ring your bell again until it sounds bright and distinct.
This change in tone indicates that you’ve cleared the energy in that area. Continue around the circumference of the room in a clockwise manner (the direction normally used in the Northern Hemisphere), ringing the bell until you return to the place where you began. Move your bell in a figure-eight to seal the room. You can then choose another tool, such as the chime, to further refine the room’s energy. Once again, circle the room, completing with a figure-eight. Continue using this procedure in each room until you’ve gone through your entire home.
Clearing the Energy of the Individuals who Reside in the Home
Upon completion of your Space Clearing ceremony, you might want to clear the energy of the individuals who dwell in the home as well, as this deepens the effect of the house clearing. The body benefits from Space Clearing in the same way that buildings do. Each of us has an aura of energy surrounding our physical selves, and these auras can become clogged by stress and by inner and outer influences.
The methods and tools described in this book can be adapted to a personal clearing as well. For example, the same bell that you use to clear a room can be gently rung and then moved up and down the body as an individual stands, sits, or lies down. Any place on the body where the sound of the bell seems to stick or becomes dull requires a bit of extra sound generated next to it until the sound becomes clear.
3. Invocation: Asking for Blessing for All the Occupants of your Home
Complete your Space Clearing ceremony by returning to the Blessing Altar to say prayers and ask for blessings for all the occupants of your home. Your Space Clearing has broken up the stagnant energy and has cleared the negativity. Offering an invocation draws in the positive energy that is desired, and brings healing and transformation into the cleared space. A typical blessing might be:
"May the Creator within all things bring blessings and peace for all of the members of this household. May this home be filled with joy, laughter, and love. So be it."
Just as each clearing ceremony is individually tailored to the hopes and needs of the people who will be using the space, so, too, the Invocation will reflect the unique intention underlying the ceremony. If you wish to create a space filled with quiet, meditative energy, then your prayers will call in this kind of energy. If you want to fill your home with love and healing, ask for this to be so. Or you may wish to call in a feeling of joy and sociability. Whatever energy you invite will be the energy that permeates your home. Ask and you shall receive.
4. Preservation of the New and Radiant Energy
The final step in Space Clearing is to preserve the new and radiant energy that you’ve called into the home. Doing so keeps it alive. Just as plants and other living things need to be carefully tended in order to thrive, energy also needs to be renewed in order for it to maintain its healing power.
There are several ways you can preserve the energy created by Space Clearing. One way is to dedicate a small home fountain to inner peace and serenity. Thus, as the water circulates through the fountain, the intention of peace is radiating throughout your home.
Another preservation method is to place a small stone near the base of a healthy plant. Write a powerful word, wish, or symbol on the stone in waterproof ink. Or, you can paint or write your prayers on a piece of paper, which is buried in the soil of the plant. Each time the plant is watered, the words or symbol will be energized.
Setting up a permanent home altar is another wonderful method for Preservation. As you spend time meditating at your altar, your thoughts and intentions will once again connect you to the energy of your home and revitalize its power. Your home then becomes a sanctuary that is filled with love, joy, and sacred space.
Excerpted with permission of the publisher,
Hay House Inc. www.hayhouse.com
Article Source
Space Clearing A-Z: How to Use Feng Shui to Purify and Bless Your Home
by Denise Linn.
In Space Clearing A–Z, Denise Linn, the internationally acclaimed author of Sacred Space, reveals ancient secrets for cleansing and balancing the energy in your home. These sacred traditions are gaining tremendous momentum right now for a very simple reason—they work!
Offers an alphabetically-arranged introduction to fung shui techniques to clear the home of stagnant or negative energy, while exploring the efficacy of crystals, smudging, chi, chimes, flowers, water, salt, and prayer.
Click here for more info and/or to order this book
About The Author
A world-acclaimed expert in feng shui and space clearing, Denise has distilled the information and wisdom into her teachings that she gained from indigenous cultures around the planet— the aborigines of Australia, the Zulu in Africa, the Maori of New Zealand (where she was given the title of tohunga), as well as from her own Native American roots.
Denise has taught seminars in 25 countries and has written 17 books, including the best-selling, "Sacred Space," and "Soul Coaching" as well as her personal memoir, "If I Can Forgive, So Can You!" Her books have been translated into 28 languages, and she has been a featured guest on Oprah, Lifetime, Discovery Channel, BBC TV, NBC and CBS. She is also the founder of the International Institute of Soul Coaching.
Visit her website at www.DeniseLinn.com
