Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Energetic Cleansing – Part 2

We’re back for another installment on energetic cleansing. After all, I did say it was “everything you ever wanted to know,” right? Today you can find ten more cleansing methods, more general discussion, and some additional step-by-step instructions.

After this, you should never find yourself in a situation where you’re stumped on how to cleanse something.

Quick Review

In Part 1, we discussed how “cleansing” can sometimes be a confusing term. Ultimately, we decided that it means “doing some woowoo to get rid of the bad juju.”

Well, I decided, anyway.

If you missed that post, now would be the perfect opportunity to go back and read it, but don’t worry… it’s not going anywhere.

Places You Might Want to Cleanse

Before we jump back into the long list of how to cleanse things, let’s talk for a minute about what to cleanse. We’ve gone over some glaringly obvious examples like crystals, jewelry, tools, or other magickal objects that you’ve acquired and brought freshly into your home. And of course… we talked about cleansing the home itself.

But what about some other places that might need a bit of cleansing energy?

How about these…

• A ritual or event space
• A hotel room
• Anywhere that two people have just had an argument
• Your car
• Your desk at work
• The space in front of you prior to performing divination
• Any location that you need to make sacred

Basically, just look for any place that feels funky, any place where you might spend a significant amount of time, or any place where you’re about to do something beyond the mundane. Those are all great candidates for energetic cleansing.

A Long List (Continued)

Alright. Let’s get to it. Here’s ten more ways that you can use for energetic cleansing.

1. Besom

You’ll never feel more like a witch than when you first grab your besom and energetically sweep a space before the ritual takes place.

I’m exaggerating of course. The tools don’t make the witch. But as far as witchy cleansing tools are concerned, the besom is quintessential. In some covens, cleansing might be its sole function. You may have even heard a common chant about this that starts out “besom, besom, witch’s broom, sweep our darkness, sweep out doom.” (But of course, chanting is something we’ll talk about later.)

Please note: “energetic sweeping” does not mean you sweep the floor as quickly and vigorously as possible. It means you sweep the energy away without physically touching the floor. Due to a miscommunication in the past, I feel I must now clarify this every time the topic is brought up.

Besoms come in all sizes. You can buy them, but they’re especially fun to make. Just go outside and hunt for some natural ingredients — a big stick for the handle and some long grass for the head — then tie it all together with twine or leather cord. I’ve even considered making a besom out of palm fronds, since we have plenty of them locally.

2. Reiki

Being a trained Reiki practitioner has its benefits. Among other things, like healing, it allows you to cleanse people, places, and things whenever you want.

Personally, I will always value my Reiki training because it taught me how to do basic energy work. I don’t really access that side of things much these days, but all in all, it’s a useful set of skills to have.

3. Chanting

I may have foreshadowed this above, but chanting can be a great way to cleanse. You can use words of power, mantras, or even just a positive affirmation repeated over and over again to accomplish this. “By my will, I cleanse this space/thing/person of negative energy” should do just fine, but you can fancy up the language a little bit if that’s your preference. Just repeat it until you feel like you’ve gotten the job done.

And of course, this one combines quite nicely with other methods… but that’s a thing we’ll talk about in a minute.

4. Sound

Sound comes in many forms and just about all of them that I can personally think of have the potential to be used for cleansing work. Pop on your favorite playlist and let the music do the work. Music can easily fill a room, a building, or even a large piece of land. All those tiny particles vibrating back and forth through the air can transmit your cleansing intentions further than your eyes can see.

Do you play an instrument? Even better! Improvisation can work wonders.

It doesn’t really matter how good you are. Your intention and the fact that you’re making noise are way more important.

If this seems like your bag, man, then check out this other guide I wrote up that talks about more magickal uses for sound. But if you don’t feel comfortable playing a formal instrument… just grab a bell or bang some pots and pans. You can even shout. Trust me, it can be pretty cathartic. Harmony and cacophony both have their place.

Dare I say it? Maybe you even grab a singing bowl or something.

5. Singing Bowls

Yeah, I know this piggybacks off of the last item, but I just love singing bowls too much to not give them their own entry in this list.

Singing bowls are such versatile tools. It’s so relaxing to listen to their sustained tones. And anyone can learn to play them in about 60 seconds. Don’t believe me? Here, go watch my video.

For some added pep when you’re making incense, grind all of your ingredients and then ring a singing bowl in the air above them before they’re combined. I cleanse just about all of my incense blends this way.

6. Essential Oils

My favorite essential oil for energetic cleansing is probably Peppermint. To me, it’s kind of like a broad-spectrum spiritual antibiotic. Other folks might tell you Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Lemon, Lavender, Cedar, and Patchouli are the way to go. They all work great and smell great, too!

Just remember that some oils can pack an unexpected punch. Peppermint, for instance, can irritate or burn sensitive skin. For that reason, always dilute your product with a carrier oil like almond, jojoba, or olive before applying to the skin. Most guides recommend only using a 2-3% solution… because seriously, they can pack a punch.

You can apply oils to yourself, crystals, candles, tools, or even specific areas of the house (like thresholds) that might need a little cleansing oomph.

7. Sprays

A spray bottle can quickly administer a puff of cleansing liquid to the air around you.

If you’re inclined to such things, try putting a few drops of clary sage, rosemary, patchouli, pink grapefruit, and (of course) peppermint oil into a spray bottle. Fill the rest of it up with witch hazel, then give it a good shake. Boom, instant cleansing spray.

We actually call these “cheat sprays.” Sometimes… there’s just not enough time in the day to take a spiritual bath before a ritual. Sometimes you have to head to the magick straight from work. In those cases, we use these pretty liberally. Carrying one of these cheat sprays doesn’t make you a bad witch — it just makes you a resourceful one.

You don’t have to fill it with essential oils, of course. How about a plain old salt and water mix? Or make it fancy by using water that was charged under an eclipse. Or add a drop of fluid condenser. Or throw in a few sprigs of lavender. Whatever floats your boat.

8. Herbs

When we talk about cleansing, herbs might be at the top of other people’s lists. And rightly so. Although it seems like they’re coming a little late to this particular party (I mean, third to last in the second half of a list almost seems like an afterthought), they’ve appeared in various other forms earlier in this discussion.

The white sage in a smoke cleanse, for instance, is obviously an herb. Many of your incense ingredients are most certainly herbs. And herbs are obviously the raw material from which we extract essential oils.

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The world of plants has a solution for everything spiritual — that is, if you pay enough attention. Energetic cleansing is just one small job that herbs can perform for you.

Make a tincture. Make a tea. Throw some herbs in your bath water. Grind them into a powder and scatter it around the perimeter of your home. We’re just scratching the surface. There’s 1001 ways you could use herbs for cleansing.

9. Candles

I think candles were one of my first encounters with cleansing a space. If you have trouble visualizing energy or working with any of the other methods we’ve discussed, this can be a simple way to get the job done.

Anoint four candles with a cleansing oil (like, I don’t know, peppermint), then place one in each of the cardinal directions. Light them and let them burn down. This is a great technique for a room or house. Just make sure to be responsible with fire.

You can also come up with some simple or creative ways that use candles to cleanse objects. For instance, you might set a tool or crystal in front of a white candle as it burns down, provided of course that nothing is flammable.

10. Breath

Finally, let us not forget our breath — such a simple thing that is always with us… and yet, incredibly powerful. And if you doubt the power of your breath, just remember this one simple rule: without it, you’re dead.

Your breath can be incredibly cleansing. Just think of how many times you may have heard the phrase “take three deep, cleansing breaths” as part of a guided meditation or yoga practice. It’s not because the air around you is inherently cleansing — it’s because the act of breathing itself is.

And if you can cleanse your body by breathing in, you can channel that energy and cleanse the things around you by breathing out.

Try this simple exercise: take an object in your heads, fill your lungs as far as they will go, and then release the entire breath onto the object… as if it were a great, silent shout. Remember, y’all, intention is the key.

Mixing Things Up

One of the best things about cleansing is that there is no one right way to do it. And beyond that, none of the methods that we’ve talked about today are mutually exclusive to each other. That means you can pretty much mix and match however you like.

You might, for instance, combine a visualization exercise with a chant. Or you could apply some lemon essential oil to your skin while basking in the sunlight. Or heck, do all four of those things at the same time. Who am I to judge?

It’s really up to you. I’m just trying to give you possibilities. Oh, and I should mention that this list is in no way exhaustive. Although my brain is pretty tapped out, there’s plenty of other ways to cleanse things that we haven’t discussed. When you figure out what they are, be sure to come back and tell me.

Spiritual Shower Self Cleanse

A year or two ago, our coven made these really awesome “purification sachets.”

Here’s the recipe:

• Epsom salts
• Peppermint
• Salt
• Hyssop
• Lavender
• Clove (lightly)
• Blessed Thistle
• Pine

Throw all those things together and then dump it in a tea bag or tie it up in a couple of layers of cheesecloth. You can either drop it in a bath and give yourself a good soak… or you can stand in the shower and scrub with it like a bar of soap. You can read more about sachets here if you’d like.

Cleansing in the shower or bath is interesting because it can combine a physical cleanse with an energetic one. I’d suggest first washing yourself just like normal with soap and water, then move onto the energy work at the end.

I can almost guarantee you’ll feel great after doing something like this. The “spiritual bath” is a time honored technique that goes back for thousands of years. And by a somewhat loose definition, it’s a practice that is even mentioned in the Bible, if you care about such things. After all, what is baptism if not a water-based energetic cleansing? I know, I know… Christians will argue with me… but my point is that rituals that combine water or bathing with cleansing and spirituality are pretty much embedded into our subconscious minds, regardless of what particular religion we choose to practice. It’s universal.

How to Cleanse with No Equipment

Okay, okay. Look, sometimes you’ll be in a situation where you need to cleanse something and you won’t have your tools, your herbs, or any other sort of magickal peripherals.

Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Here are some step-by-step instructions on how to cleanse things just using your visualization skills.

1. Ground and center yourself
2. Focus on a point just above the top of your head — this is your crown chakra
3. Imagine white light flowing into your body from this point
4. Allow the white light to flow down your spine and fill your body
5. When you can feel your entire body glowing with light, begin to channel it through your arms and into your hands
6. Direct the light out of your hands. If you are cleansing a space, hold your hands to out to the walls, ceiling, and floor, until they also begin to glow. If you are cleansing an object or a person, allow the light to flow into them.
7. As the light reaches its intended destination, image that it pushes or breaks away any negative energy that may be lingering.
8. If you wish, you may say out loud, “I cleanse this _____ of negativity. Only positive energy may remain.”

If you find this technique to be simple or easy, great! I’d highly recommend learning the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. And don’t just learn it… memorize it and become badass at performing it.

Cleansing Too Much

As a final topic of discussion, I suppose it is worth pondering this question: Is it possible to cleanse too much? Yes… it’s possibly possible.

Think of it this way: if you obsessively felt like you needed to wash your hands every 5 minutes, you’d probably dry out your skin. A similar thing may happen on the spiritual plane if you are obsessively cleansing — you’ll be “drying yourself out” on an astral level, expending too much energy that is probably better spent on other things.

Be sure to cleanse regularly, but not obsessively. It’s nice to get into good habits like cleansing our bodies and spaces before a ritual… but as a general rule, if it feels like it needs a cleansing, then it probably does.

Conclusion

You are now a master of cleansing. You need no longer fear negative energy or woeful spirits.

Seriously though, I think this just about wraps up everything I could possibly hope to say on this particular topic. If I left something out, feel free to tell me. Aside from that, let me know your favorite cleansing techniques in the comments!