How to Energetically Clear Your Home After Divorce
by Jo-Anne Suriel of the Energetic Well
Your home is meant to be a sanctuary—a place you return to again and again to feel nurtured and to restore your energy.
Following divorce, no matter if the uncoupling was amicable or contentious, it always helps to reset the atmosphere of your apartment or house. Actually, just about everyone can benefit from doing a space clearing like this periodically to invite in a sense of revitalization and vibrancy. You can do this practice after divorce or if you’re simply ready for a fresh start.
We see the ancient wisdom of space clearing carried out on a wide scale throughout the Asian continent during Lunar New Year. Also, the practice of spring cleaning also goes back millennia in the Jewish tradition of Passover as well as the Persian new year, Nowruz. But no matter where you come from, your ancestors likely had some way of energetically cleansing the hearth. And you can do this, too, when moving into a different dwelling, preparing to welcome a new family member, honoring the changing of seasons, or before embarking on a brand-new chapter in life.
This is For Everyone
I’ve been clearing space personally and for others for nearly 25 years. While I no longer offer space clearing professionally, I wanted to share how you can easily clear your home yourself. You don’t need any special training or certifications to do this. In fact, I believe it can be just as powerful to do this work on your own. You already know your home intimately and this practice is a beautiful way to develop your relationship with your abode—you got this!
What if I Don’t Currently Have a Home?
If you’re a human being, then you must have somewhere to rest your head on occasion. Even if that space is a couch in your ex’s apartment, consider that couch your home for this purpose. You can do this entire protocol no matter how small your space and no matter how temporary your situation.
Disclaimers
This practice is meant for you to clear your own personal space. This is not meant to clear another individual’s home, which involves more nuanced work that is beyond the scope of this article. For space that you feel is actually haunted, I recommend seeking the assistance of a Reiki Master who is trained in Holy Fire.
How Will This Work?
In this process, you’ll prepare your space and then do an energetic cleanse, which will cleanse, protect, and bless the energy of your home. This shifts the frequency within your space, which can ripple outward and extend a breath of fresh air into many other aspects of your life.
The protocol outlined below is based on indigenous knowledge, nature-based practices, feng shui, and divine guidance. Please be sure to read through the entire article before you get started.
How and What to Prepare
As with many things in life, most of the heavy-lifting of space clearing is in the preparation. But stick with me—it will be so worth it! If you have a limited amount of time, figure out where you can break up the work below and perhaps do a little bit each day.
TIME - The time needed for this space clearing will depend on the size of your home and how much physical stuff is already in it. After completing the prep work, you could do the whole energetic cleanse in one morning or an afternoon. For a large house, you might need a full day. Ideally, you would do the preparation below in advance (taking as much time as you need for the prep) and then do the cleanse in a single day. However, if you need to break it up into pieces, I recommend completing the cleanse within a single week.
MATERIALS – All of these are suggestions. If you don’t have access to certain materials, use the power of your mind’s eye and visualize any components you’d like to utilize.
Small altar cloth (or placemat, scarf, or any other small piece of fabric)
Bell, chime, or singing bowl
Journal (or paper) and pen
Candle
Small bowl of water
Small bowl of salt
Potted plant (or fresh flowers)
Selenite crystal (or smudge, like a cinnamon stick or mugwort bundle)
INTENTION – What is your intention for this space clearing? Take five minutes or more to journal about what kind of energy you want in your space and in your life. Are you craving resilience? Do you want to call in abundance? Are you ready to let go of limiting beliefs? Do you simply want a fresh start? Write down a word or short phrase to help guide the space clearing process. Do not skip this step! This is the energy that you’ll be anchoring into your home. If you’re not sure, you can always set an intention for health and happiness.
THE PHYSICAL CLEARING – Do this physical clearing in the days leading up to the energetic cleanse. If you’re short on time, just do the best you can with the intention that you will continue to keep your space physically clear and tidy going forward. Remember that the physical supports the energetic.
Grab a couple of large tote bags (or garbage bags)—designate one as “Donate,” for items in good condition that will be given to charity, and one as “Done,” for items to be thrown out.
Go through each room of your home and intentionally assess every object in the room. I recommend placing your hands on every object as taught by Marie Kondo in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and asking if the object sparks joy. Does the object create a feeling of warmth within your heart? Does it align with your intention?
Try to do this assessment quickly using your initial gut reaction rather than mental rationalizations. If you’re in a rush, use your eyes to scan everything in the space and just pick up the items that you’re not immediately sure about. Sort anything that doesn’t resonate into the tote bags. This process is key in helping you to release any physical clutter.
For anything that belonged to your ex, unless it now feels like it truly belongs to you, it’s best to toss. For items that you may want to save for your children, send those to storage or ask a trusted loved one to hold onto them until your child is ready to take ownership of the item.
The final preparation is to do a deep physical cleaning of your home. Do what you can to thoroughly cleanse and scrub every surface of your home. Most important are the floors and windows. If possible, use non-toxic cleaning products or basic cleaners like water and vinegar. As you’re cleaning, remember the intention you’ve set for your home.
The Energetic Cleanse
Now that your home is physically clear and tidy, let’s dive into the fun stuff!
First, focus—put your phone on Do Not Disturb and turn off any noisy electronics. Take a few minutes to sit in silence and be present with your home.
Next, open up all of the windows. If it’s freezing out, at least crack one window in each room.
Start at the (approximate) center of your home and set up the altar cloth in a place that’s accessible—the floor is ok as long as it will be safely undisturbed by animals, small children, etc. Place all of the other materials on the altar.
Pause, take a deep breath. Light the candle and speak your intention out loud. Hover your hands above the bowl of water with palms facing the water. Send the energy of love, along with your intention, from your palms into the water—it’s ok, just go with it.
You’re going to be walking through the rooms of your home with the various altar tools. Take your time with this energetic cleanse and hold a loving intention for your home in your heart as you go.
To begin, you’ll cleanse your home by walking in a counterclockwise motion starting in the room where your altar is set up, then proceed to the next adjacent room and continue going room by room, spiraling outward in a counterclockwise direction until you’ve walked through each room. If you have multiple floors, begin on the first floor, then the basement, then do any upper floors (working from the second floor and continuing upward, if needed).
First, take your selenite, salt, and bell. Within each room, walk the selenite in a counterclockwise motion sweeping it along each of the four walls (keeping the crystal a few inches away from the wall). At each corner, hover the selenite from the floor towards the ceiling and back down to clear any stuck energy.
Next, take another pass counterclockwise in the room and clap your hands in each corner going up and down a few times similar to the selenite clearing but instead with a vigorous applause. You may notice a shift in the sound of your claps as you go, changing from a duller sound to a sharper one.
After clapping out each corner, ring the bell three times from the center of the room, allowing the sound to reverberate until it stops on its own.
Finally, take the salt and, with gratitude, toss a pinch out of each window for protection.
Repeat the above steps in each room. Once completed, you can either close the windows or keep them open.
Return to your altar and take the bowl of water and plant to proceed with blessing your home.
For this part, you’ll place the plant in the center of the room and then walk in a clockwise motion though your home and within each room. Dip your fingertips into the bowl of water and sprinkle the water all around each room as you walk. You could also use the head of a flower or plant leaves instead of your fingertips. As you do this, say your intention either out loud or in your mind. The presence of the plant will bless each room and infuse the space with a vibration of freshness. Repeat in each room.
Next, return to your altar. Express your gratitude for this cleansing, protection, and blessing either out loud or in your mind. Sprinkle any remaining salt around the exterior of your home for additional protection. Give any remaining water to the earth or to a houseplant. Write down in your journal any intuitive messages you received during the cleansing.
For bonus points, you can complete the blessing by singing and dancing joyfully throughout your home. You could also play any music that makes you feel calm and relaxed to extend the blessing and invite in a spacious feeling of restoration. (If you’re looking for a recommendation, check out my album, The Remembering by The Energetic Well, a collection of frequency medicine songs designed to help you return to balance and harmony. Available on Bandcamp and on all music streaming platforms.)
Finally, back at the altar, seal the energetic cleansing, protection, and blessing, with your gratitude. Come into stillness, place your hands on your heart, and let the vibration of thanks radiate outward from your heart center—filling up every corner of your home with thankfulness. Blessed be.
Learn more about and how to work with Jo-Anne Suriel here!
Please note that the blogpost above does not represent the thoughts or opinions of Fresh Start Registry and solely represents the original author’s perspective.