House or Apartment Cleansing Ritual

Greetings my lovely witches, it has been too long since I have posted anything and that changes today! I've been living a kind of vagabond lifestyle, roaming about the country and as such haven't had much time or space for crafts. But I've settled for a bit in the good ole South and for today's post I have a bit of a treat.



I am moving into my own apartment with my partner and will have plenty of space to spread out and do my thing. Expect tons of updates for a bit and then per my usual pattern I will probably fizzle out. However, while you've got me, you'll be seeing tons of spells and rituals (and of course craft tutorials on how to make the things for these rituals) that have to do with being paired up and nesting in a new home.

The first thing you want to do with any space is cleanse it! Before you move your things in get rid of whatever was in that space before you. I am moving into an apartment so there could have been someone who died, someone who was abused, someone who had something following them or that was attached to them and all of that bad energy could have been left behind. Or even just a little bit - but I want none of it! And you shouldn't either! So, let's give that bad energy its eviction notice shall we?


I am keeping the things you need for this ritual to a very minimum because all of my stuff is packed and in a storage unit and I can't get to it. I had to go out and purchase some supplies that I didn't packed in my altar chest that I use for traveling.

1 Candle for each element plus holders

Sage smudging bundle, Palo Santo, 1 Selenite wand & 4 Black Tourmaline

Dragon's Blood Incense, a Feather, Black Bag (for banishing).

A besom. This is a Cinnamon Broom I found at Dollar General around Thanksgiving and I've been hanging onto it.

You'll also need some herbs to make a House Cleansing Sweep mixture. For my purposes I am using Cinnamon, Lavender, Angelica Root, Horehound and Eucalyptus.

For the sweep, simply mix the ingredients into your mortar and pestle and grind until VERY fine powder. If you have a coffee grinder you use for herbs that will work much better and faster but I like doing it the old fashioned way. You'll want a consecrated jar to store the mixture in. The size is up to you but you'll want it to be able to hold enough to do every room in the apartment or house.

The Ritual

The ritual is possibly the hardest part. First, before you even enter the home you will want your sage or whatever you are using for smudging and cleanse yourself. Anything you're bringing from your current place, you may want to leave there and until this place is properly cleaned you'll want to smudge everything. Smudge yourself and anyone coming to help and anything you bring with you. In my case, it was my boyfriend and the tools we were going to use. He is Atheist, and as such had never experienced this before so it was a special treat for him and there will be a post on him and the experience as well.

Once you've smudged everyone it is time to enter. I like to ward myself with Onyx - I am always wearing a piece of jewelry with Onyx - but I also carry some in my pocket. As I enter I survey the area, not just psychically but visually as well. What areas or rooms speak to you if any? If you walk into the kitchen and it feels cold or warm or if you get a sense of something trying to push you out take note of it. Using your smudging wand, take a pass through the house or apartment and push the smoke away from you towards the windows. Be sure to open them to let negative energy or spirits have somewhere to flea. If you're in a hot area like myself, opening them a tiny bit will work.

Most phones have a compass feature, you can always look online or download one before but you'll need to know your directions to start preparing to cast your circle. You have the choice to do it room by room or use the entire layout. If your home or apartment has multiple floors I recommend doing one upstairs and then doing the one downstairs after you've done the top floor to push the energy down and out.

Once you've decided on your set up, cast your circle, calling forth the elements and any Gods or Goddesses you prefer to help you with your work. Make sure you are placing your offerings next to your candles and lighting them as you open up your circle and calling forth your elements if you have them. I used some red sandalwood for Earth, a feather from my mother's bird Kiki who passed away this year for Air, Frankincense incense for Fire and Full Moon blessed water for you guessed it Water. These are not required because the candles in their colors represent the elements but if this is common as part of your practice then you would continue that for this circle as well.

Once you are done casting your circle you can begin the true work of spreading the sweep and getting rid of the spirits. Your besom or vacuum should be with you and those too should be smudged and brought into the house.

As you are moving from room to room, place to place, pushing the spirits out of the window with your smudge stick you will want to chant to further illustrate they have to go. You may say anything you create or you are free to borrow mine. My boyfriend simply said, "begone thot" in a fake booming voice because he wasn't taking it as serious since he doesn't believe. I gave him "the look" and he began saying more appropriate things such as "bye, time to leave, go on and get," You're more than welcome to do that as well, however I like for it to be more personal and formal.  Be sure to repeat your chant as you are sweeping and/or vacuuming, always start at the back and push towards the front door. Especially if you are actually sweeping the materials, you'll want them to go out the front door. You'll also hang that besom above the door to ward them from coming back.

I also like to grid my home. So I brought with me 4 pieces of black tourmaline and a selenite wand that I will tuck into my cross. Place 1 of the black tourmaline in the farthest corner of your home.

"This black tourmaline grid has the ability to do several things: it grounds the energy of the room, absorbs any toxic and negative energy and seals the room with a protective shield. This is important to do if you feel like negative people keep entering your space and/or accidents and delays keep occurring. This grid of protection assists in balancing out the energy and dispelling any energies of a lower vibration." - Energy Muse

Once the grid was in place, all that was left was for my boyfriend and I to sit in the middle of our circle and call upon Brighid, to charge our selenite wand with all the love and intention we could, to ask that she bless us and our home, to protect it and protect us from anything that would wish us harm or ill intent and together we hung the cross with the wand. This is not required and you may pick any God or Goddess you choose or none. This was just what I did for my cleansing.

After you feel that your cleanse is complete, you may thank the elements and release them and close your circle. You are then free to move the rest of your belongings into your new home and know that nothing wanting to wish you harm may enter. If you're extra paranoid, black salt in a line in front of the door is always an extra touch that few notice.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments and I would be more than happy to go over anything.

How do you cleanse your home?

What is your favorite thing about a new space?