A Simple Cleansing Spell

Human connection is crucial to developing a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, all things artistic and/or spiritual. This post was conceptualized and written by a human.

Note - this is an article about cleansing a space. If you’re looking for how to cleanse an item, such as your magickal tools, see this article.

CLEANSING 101

Protection magick has a long history, falling under the category of apotropaic magick, or warding magick. The intent of this spellwork is always rooted in deflecting or disempowering negative influences. Many of us use little drops of apotropaic magick in our daily lives - knocking on wood, wearing good luck charms, and other similar traditions, habits, and superstitions are often intended to keep negative fortune at bay.

Protection magick can include cleansing magick, warding spells, binding spells, and more. In this post, we’re going to take a look at cleansing magick, but before we do - a quick but important note:

Cleansing, NOT Smudging!

I go into this topic in more detail on my article on White Sage, but I want to address the use of the term ‘smudging’ in neo-pagan and spiritual spaces. Smudging refers to a specific Indigenous ritual that, while involving sage as a cleansing implement, is not a broad catch-all for magickal cleansing. I encourage practitioners to replace the use of the word Smudging with Cleansing, in order to avoid appropriating the spiritual language and practices of the Indigenous people of the Americas.

In addition, white sage is becoming increasingly unavailable for wild harvest for the Indigenous communities that have been sustainably doing so for millenia. Various types of sage also grow throughout most of the Americas, all of which are equitable in terms of magickal properties. If you do wish to use white sage, we offer an organic and sustainably grown white sage in our store. This sage is farmed, not wild harvested, and we sell it with the intention of reducing the environmental impact of the over-harvesting of wild white sage, to preserve the dwindling supply.

Below, we’ll go over a simple spell for cleansing a space. You can add steps, or substitute items you have on hand - intention is always the most important ingredient!

A SIMPLE CLEANSING SPELL

What you need:

1 x White Candle

1 x Incense (this can be an incense stick, a bundle of herbs such as a sage stick, or an incense cone in a censer- it just has to be something you can move around your space with)

1 x Quartz Crystal(if you don’t have quartz, you can substitute a piece of smooth glass or even a rock)

1 Bowl of Salt Water -

The Spell:

1. Collect all your materials in the room or space you want to cleanse.
2. Place the bowl of salt water and the white candle in the center of the room and sit beside them.
3. Light the candle, and spend a few breaths meditating with your eyes closed and feeling out the space - try to get a sense of where energies you want to cleanse have built up.
4. Light the incense and hold it in your right hand, and hold the quartz in your left hand, palm open.
5. Move around the perimeter of the room clockwise, beginning on the westernmost point of the space.
6. Use the smoke from the incense to waft the space and push the energies into the stone in your left hand. Move slowly, getting every nook and cranny, until you have cleansed every part of the room.
7. Finish the spell by returning ot the center and placing the quartz in the bowl of water. Extinguish the incense and let the stone sit for eleven minutes in the salt water, letting the absorbed energies be purified by the salt. You can then remove the stone and pour the salt water down the drain (salt is bad for most plants - don’t pour it outside if you can avoid it). Let the stone sit in windowsill for a day and night to finish cleansing it so it can be used again for other purposes.