With the New Year coming up, you can help usher in fresh, new beginnings by energizing and purifying your home. Space clearing, as this process is called, is derived from time-honored traditions to cleanse, purify, and harmonize your home's energy. When you take the time to perform these ancient rituals, you enhance your home's vitality and begin to create a sanctuary in your own living space. Visitors often comment how good our home feels to them, my husband and I have noticed an increase in our health and well-being, and I personally sleep better. The New Year is a great time to do a space clearing. Clearing out the 'old' and invoking your intentions is a great way to boost the effectiveness of manifesting your dreams for the New Year. There are four basic steps when performing a cleansing. They are preparation, purification, invocation and preservation. PREPARATION: The preparation step is the most time consuming but is well worth the effort. It is important that you prepare your home with a thorough cleaning. Ideally, purging unused items will be beneficial as you symbolically 'open up' space for the new to enter your life. The next step is to plan the process. Decide what you will use as your space clearing tools: Sacred Space Sprays*, white sage, salt, musical instruments, clapping, etc. Determine your intended outcome in advance, which is a very important step. What are your intentions for yourself and your family? What kind of feelings do you desire in your home? What goals do you wish to accomplish in the next few months? Once you have cleaned and purged your home and planned your ceremony, you are ready to prepare yourself and your tools. Treat this event as the special occasion it is. Start with a cleansing process for yourself: Wear special clothes, spend time in meditation and prayer and, connect with your spiritual or religious beliefs. Do the same thing with your tools: Cleanse them and imagine a heartfelt connection to them. Gather specials objects and mementos, beautiful 'altar' cloths, your tools and anything else for your space clearing. Locate the ideal place to set up a blessing 'altar' and arrange your belongings in a meaningful way. PURIFICATION: Now you are ready to begin the cleansing ritual. Start at your blessing 'altar,' state aloud your prayers and intentions, ask for spiritual guidance and protection, and begin with your designated space clearing tool. You may wish to start at your front door and move in a clockwise direction, following the perimeter of each room. While doing so, imagine the tool you are using breaking up and clearing out all the old, stagnant energy. Ask your 'spiritual helpers' for assistance in removing the old energy. INVOCATION: Once you have cleared each room, return to your blessing altar. Clear yourself and any other household members, and begin to 'release' your intentions into the entire dwelling. Again, ask for your spiritual helpers to assist you in this process. State aloud your prayers and intentions and use visualization techniques to 'see' the new energy flowing throughout your entire home. Do this process with reverence and respect. Offer gratitude and appreciation for any assistance you receive. To close, each household member including yourself should bathe shortly afterward and spend the rest of the day in a special way. PRESERVATION: Once you have completed the above steps, it is important to preserve the new energy. Set up a small 'altar' with fresh flowers, candles, and meaningful objects. Spend a few quiet minutes each day at your altar and continue visualizing all your intentions in as much detail as possible. In order to show appreciation for all that you have asked for, do something unexpected or charitable for others in the next several days. After you have performed your ceremony, notice how beautiful and sparkling your home looks and feels, and take notice of the synchronicities and events that take place in your life in the coming weeks. You can repeat this process as often as necessary. I personally space clear every couple of months to stay on track with our goals and to refresh the energy in our home. I guarantee you will notice a wonderful difference. Enjoy! Recommended Reading: “Space Clearing,” by Denise Linn; “The Space Clearing Kit, ” by Christan Hummel For more detailed information about each step, check out these links: www.innerself.com/Miscellaneous/space_clearing.htm www.AlaskanEssences.com *Sacred Space Sprays: www.ancientforestincense.com To reach Catherine Hilker: Coaching, Feng Shui & Space Clearing, 23 Sylvan Ave., Pleasant Ridge, MI 48069, (248) 547-4965. Become a Certified Feng Shui Practitioner: visit www.catherinehilker.com for details.