Best Practices for Taking Care of Home Spirits

Have you ever found yourself a little lost in your home? You know you set your keys in their spot and all of a sudden it’s just not there when you look for it again? Or even better when the house creaks and groans or scratching noises begin to happen at night?

That’s usually a good indication that my house spirits need some love and conversation. It’s incredibly easy to get lost in day to day living and forget that the energy of our home and the lovely earth spirits that reside there need some love and attention too.

Unfortunately for my home, our neglect comes from a wild toddler, Netflix, and excess clutter that has outworn its welcome. Just the other day I could have sworn I stored my pens in their cup on my white desk. But finding out I had a green pen in the bedroom and a purple pen in the kitchen let me know its time.

You don’t even want to know where the pink pen had wandered to.   

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Ways to have a Flowing Home

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Who doesn’t adore the various aesthetics found on Pinterest and Instagram? Lovely gemstones surrounded by color coordinated flower petals. Dreamy warm candles with smoky incense dancing around. Clean white light in the living room with plush pillows and wooden accents.

But the truth is often items get set out and become clutter. Where they were once reverent and happy, they become stagnant and in the way.

No one wants to have to constantly clear off items before company comes over or before the toddler is loose for the day.

For me personally, I find that to have a flowing home I must give time and attention to any altar items, statuary, or offering bowls I have set out. I find that my home spirits will stir up if I haven’t cleaned the statuary in a while or created a fresh offering.

Other Ways to Have a Flowing Home can Include:

• Clean up Power Hour
  • You pick the top 5 tasks that will let you and your home feel clean and happy again and do those. Nothing has to be perfect. But these tasks should be ones tht will give you the most bang for your buck.

• Let Fresh Sunlight and Air In.
  • Weather permitting of course, pulling back the curtains or blinds and letting in fresh sunlight and air will let the stagnant energies of your home start to flow again. While fans and such can keep things moving, I find that reconnecting with the outside world helps things along as well.

• Declutter Something
  • Pick either a room or item type and commit to decluttering it and taking any unwanted items out of your home. Be sure not to store it in the garage or attic either! Fully let go and cut the cord to any items you do not love or use and let it find new purpose in the world.

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Hearth and Home

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In ancient times the hearth and fire were paramount to survival. If you could not keep a fire going, you may not get it restarted and you may not have add good food for your belly that evening.

 In my modern survival, I have all the air conditioning and heat my bank account can afford. My stove and my microwave ensure food is cooked well and properly.

So when we take away the survival aspect what are we left with?

In the home, the central gathering area (the living room in most cases) should be used as a “hearth” space. Here is where the heart and soul and socialization the home is especially if you do not have a fireplace in your home.

Meditating with your hearth spirit can be an incredibly enlightening experience. Once as I settled in front of our fireplace and began a meditation practice I felt an inkling in the back of my mind. Just a small whisper.

Pick up the laundry.

I nearly fell over from laughter. Here I am, candles out, some incense lit after the kid has found his slumber and my house spirits…wanted me to pick up the clothes.

While not the most ethereal experience out there, it did clue me in. I needed to do some physical cleaning in order to let the energy in our home start flowing freely and cleanly again.

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Offerings For Spirits

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Offerings are interesting because you give this physical item to a not so physical creature or spirit. Most people ask me two things:

What’s the point?

The point is to give thanks and recognition to the earth spirits around you that you share space with and that take care of you.

What do you do with it once it’s time to do a new one?

As to what you do with the offering, once the energy of it has run out. A process that takes about 1 to 3 days. You would either burn it, bury it, or set it out in nature.  I like to burn any herbs or papers, bury any stones or coins, and set out any food or liquid offerings.

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I’m fairly certain that the only reason I got my pink pen back was because I had given heartfelt thanks for my home and those that reside with me there.

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Use your intuition on what feels right for you.

However, we sometimes run out of ideas for offerings or just feel like changing it up! Feel free to steal and adapt the ones listed below as you wish into your practice.

Alcohol

• Alcohol is a classic offering usually to the gods or in remembrance of someone who has crossed the veil. If you look through the lens of the Heathens in this offering, you’ll find that alcohol is considered a gift from the gods to us humans. Sacrificing some to the land or home spirits is incredibly appropriate here.

Herbs or flowers from the garden or kitchen

• Part of offerings is the sacrifice. We all know the fun musings of witches sacrificing blood, animals, and children. We know that’s not the case.
• Sacrifice in this case means the giving up of something that has value to you. Offering or giving up food items from your garden or kitchen to your local spirits is a good practice.

Honey or milk

• Another food type item but these two are known to be beloved by the fae. Both are derived from animal labor and may not sit as well if you practice veganism.
• Both honey and milk are considered valuable due to their life nourishing properties.

Written words

• Like prayers, the offering of the written word is something that can be done easily by anyone. You don’t need to be a professional poet to offer up sincere gratitude or sincere heartfelt love to your local land.
• I’d love to create a journal one day of written prayers. No daily log of activities just a small leather book that contains the wishes and thanks given from sacred space.

Time and Honest Conversation.

• I feel like I’m writing love languages here! When you spend the time and you spend effort having an honest conversation with your home you are spending metaphysical energy. With all offerings you are spending at least some metaphysical energy, but when you slow down and really listen your home will absorb and easily reflect the loving flow that you put out.

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Talking to your home spirits can be a little odd at first. Especially if it’s a new place or if you change apartments a lot like myself. If neglected, those home spirits may indicate that they’re upset by taking your pink pen to the bathroom.

Spending time in a sacred meditative space is pretty essential to getting to know your area and its quirks. Witches are the protectors and caretakers of their space, where ever we might roam.

So if you see the random person picking up trash or just holding their hand out to a tree or the local wildlife they might just be attuning themselves to the local energetic flow.