Cleaning House

My family and I moved into our house about 5 years ago. No sooner had we started to unpack than things began to get strange.

The first weird thing that happened was the mysterious sword.

A few days after we officially moved in, my boys who all happened to share a bedroom got spooked. The three of them started complaining that there was a strange man dressed in weird clothes outside their window at night.

Of course my husband and I looked around, going out with a flashlight thinking maybe it was a neighbor or a prowler. Nothing.

A few days later one of my kids helped me to bring some empty carboard boxes downstairs to the basement. On the overhead going down to the basement there was this old looking sword. It was rusted, and looked like it had a history to it. The oddest thing about it was that it was in plain sight yet- not once had we seen this thing before signing the papers when we closed on the place and it wasn't there when we first moved in. It had just "appeared" out of thin air. The mysterious man in rags was appearing more often too at night now, and I asked my kids if they could describe the man to me in more detail. They claimed he looked like he was wearing dirty ragged clothing, a uniform with a funky kind of hat. Uniform! I put two and two together, maybe this ragged man was actually the ghost of a solider who had died ages ago on our land and the sword belonged to him. Perhaps the two were connected- maybe his spirit was attached to it in the same way a soul can sometimes become bound to a house thereby haunting it.

We tried cleansing the sword in the hopes that this would set the spirit of the solider free and he could finally move on. It seemed to work- and we still have the sword, kept in our basement. The kids haven't seen the solider since.

If I thought that the sudden appearance of a sword and it's owner was going to be our only spiritual encounter in our new house- I was sorely mistaken.

Shortly after that incident, things started to disappear and reappear in very random places. For example, once I found one of my mixing bowls I had been searching for in the basement. Other little trinkets and toys would go missing and we would search the entire house from top to bottom with no luck. Then a few days later as if by magic the object would mysterious turn up in a weird spot. Quite a few things tended to turn up underneath my kitchen table.

I have to admit, that at first I speculated if my kids were playing some kind trick on me. I wouldn't totally put it past them to do something to try psyching me out. Make me question my sanity. The thing was- they were all equally as freaked out as I was.

The energy in the house changed. It started to turn dark. Maybe the solider had moved on, but now something else was there too. Or "somethings". We started hearing voices talking through the speakers on our radios and the computer speakers. We would unplug it, and still the voices persisted. Sometimes they were loud often arguing with each other, both male and female voices alike. We began seeing large orbs floating through the hallways day and night. I admit I was terrified even though I did my best to brave it for the kids. It was like living in a horror movie! For awhile every new moon we would get these plagues of black flies! Now- my house isn't spotless, it's very much "lived in" but it's also CLEAN! It wasn't like there was an overabundance of filthy dishes cluttered through out the house, stale food just laying around or trash- it was clean. So why the flies? I'm not just talking one or two either! Swarms! A buzzing black cloud of YUCK. You had to be careful speaking because just opening your mouth meant possibly swallowing a few. You had to constantly cover your food and beverages- it was horrible! Embarrassing! Sometimes the outbreak of flies was accompanied by a nasty smell too- like sewage or rotten eggs. Now this ONLY occurred during a new moon, like clockwork EVERY month, for the first year we lived here. After about the duration of a week they just vanished. Completely gone. Until the next new moon that is.

The other activity in the house was usually amped up during the new moon too. The voices were louder, more persistent- sometimes we actually saw people wondering around in the house or outside. Once I saw a whole entire group of people walking about in my bedroom dressed in Victorian era type clothing!

I'm no stranger to the unusual. I've always seen ghosts ever since I was very young. I found it absolutely terrifying and somehow managed to block seeing most of it for years. I wasn't the only one seeing this though- all my kids were seeing and hearing it too. My husband tried to claim that we were all crazy, but occasionally he would admit that he witnessed something too. As creepy as all this was- at least they seemed harmless. I thought maybe all this activity is just residual, ghosts unaware of us just going about their business.

Even though the ghosts seemed harmless, the energy was really off in our house. Electrical devices were constantly acting up. We decided to try to cleanse the property and help everyone who wasn't of this world move on to the next in peace.

The first few attempts to "cleanse" the property was made using crystals. That didn't work. No matter what type of crystal I used it would mysteriously disappear. At this point I knew it wasn't my kids, and it surely wasn't my husband. He wasn't that creative. We found some partially buried weeks after they went missing out in the woods. No way anyone would in our house would have gone out of their way to do that.

Some nights I would wake between 2 and 3am to the sound of girlish laughter outside my window. I actually thought at the time it was my neighbors next door, they happen to have two teenage girls. Two teenage girls who LOVED to wonder where they didn't belong, trespassing onto other people's property and causing havoc. I know this because my daughter hung out with them briefly until I found out what was going on and confronted their mother. (That's another story though)

The laughter was accompanied by a wild strange music- something you might think of in a fairy forest. I could hear drums and the sounds of flutes being played, music that made you want to slide out of your bed and wonder out into the night and follow it deep into the mist.

Sometimes on nights like this I would look out the window, half expecting to find one of my neighbors daughters staring back at me, half expecting to see something other worldly- and I'd notice that the stars were in different positions. The moon that only moments before would be in a totally different spot or phase would have moved and changed. It was so strange. I began to wonder if maybe my house was on ley lines and somehow I was seeing a shift in realities. Maybe our world was clashing with another. Maybe I was really hearing Pan's flute, who knows.

As strange as things were, it wasn't until my youngest began seeing an "invisible" friend that stayed in her room and told her to do horrible unspeakable things that I knew I really had to do something and fast. One day she hit me with a rock in the head and when I questioned her she said this "friend" had made her do it. Now my daughter was pretty young then and what I saw in her eyes as she spoke to me chilled my blood. I swear it wasn't my daughter speaking to me- her eyes were different, cold and her voice it wasn't demonic like you see in the movies but it wasn't hers, it wasn't right. Something was controlling her. This was something more than a case of your typical imaginary friend- this was a nasty little poltergeist. Demon. Something. The energy in my house was changing too, everyone was snappy with each other more often and things were getting violent. I had to try doing something.

I'm no priest- and I had never in this life dealt with anything of this nature before. So I tried to reason with it. I tried to tell it to move on, to go into the light- to go back to where it came from in peace.

Things got calm for a short while and then one night when I was putting my youngest to bed I saw her toys moving on their own. I'm talking things were literally being lifted up out of her toy box and floating in mid air. I picked her up and carried her into my room and she slept in there with me for several months afterwards.

We were seeing a lot of orbs around this time too. If I tried to take pictures or videos of what was going on my camera would just die. Everything electronic was wonky- shutting off on it's own, flickering constantly.

We tried smudging with sage, the typical go-to cleansing aid for Witches 101- it did not end well. Maybe it was coincidence or just bad luck but the smudging ended with a freak accident and one of my sons in the hospital with a broken arm. This was one of the first few "freak" accidents we've suffered living here with this thing. I have NEVER used sage again to do a cleansing since that day. I don't think the sage was strong enough to handle what we were dealing with. I think it just pissed this entity off even more. I think most people would have cut their losses and moved if they had to deal with what we went through.

I needed help. I prayed to Cerriwyen (my goddess). It lead to me search online and I discovered articles about using Angelica Root to get rid of stronger energy. I heard a whisper tell me to also use Mugwort along with the Angelica Root instead of sage. I got some, I ground it into a mortar along with a small pinch of salt ( for earth) water ( for the sea) my breath (for air) and lit it on fire with a lighter ( for fire) burning it like smudge. I went all around my house- from wall to wall taking extra care around windows and doorways and even vents wafting the smoke everywhere while chanting "By Earth, air, sea, and flame by love and divine heavenly light above, below and all around shine bright, shine strong cast out this darkness this unwanted blight to wince it came." I have to mention that while doing this you have to really believe in yourself and what your doing. You need to have courage and you need to find your inner light- the smudge itself may not be enough. For me my inner light is and always will be my unconditional love for my children. I have to really FOCUS heavily on my love for them without feeling distracted from it. When you do this- when you find that light you'll know it. Even if you can't literally see a glow emanating from yourself you'll FEEL it flowing through you, you'll feel physically lighter and stronger, you'll know. Visualize that light radiating out from you piercing through the darkness and all the negative unwanted energy that lurks hidden there in the shadows.

In addition to doing this I went around my house drawing sigils for protection on walls, window frames and around doorways etc. When they start to fade I replace them with fresh ones. If you can't do this- if you rent an apartment or don't want to apply ink directly to your walls print some sigils out, hang them up! When a sigil no longer has power it will fade, or if you have a printed framed sigil on your wall it may fall, rip, break if it needs to be replaced. You can draw sigils on rocks, or small objects and place them around your home for additional protection. I find most of the sigils I use on Pinterest.

After that things got better. A lot better.

My family and I still have many strange encounters here- but as I remind them from time to time, whatever we see now it used to be worse. We may see something occasionally, sometimes we get the chills or hear something- but NOTHING like what it was like when we first moved here. Most of the time if we see things it's outside now, as if it wants to get inside but can't. You can even feel it sometimes- the energy, the presence of something out there.

I try to keep up with applying sigils, I use sigils A LOT. I'm a strong believer in them. I also smudge from time to time using only Angelica Root and or Mugwort for cleansing (with a small pinch of the elements (earth, air, water and fire)

My oldest came to me awhile back and said the sigils in her room were fading and she could feel something in there. I was busy at the time and told her to remind me to do it later- she forgot to remind me and the thing started acting up. She couldn't sleep, the lights would flicker and hum and make strange noises. You could feel a presence in there. I refreshed the sigils and gave her some dried angelica root and mugwort to keep in a satchel, and hung some mugwort up in there as well. Sometimes we still feel a slight presence in there but it doesn't bother anyone. I think combination of the sigils and the herbs keep it from becoming violent.

A about a month ago my youngest daughter came to me complaining that her light was out. (Ever since all that weird stuff happened she likes to have some kind of light on while she's in there and honestly I can't blame her.) Thinking it was just a blown bulb I asked my husband to replace it. When he did, things got weird. It looked like a strobe light was going off in her room! The light was flickering so much it was literally was like Halloween. Then it stopped and started to glow so bright I thought it was going to explode. I literally shouted at my husband to shut it off, my heart racing as I tried to usher my curious kids out afraid that they would get cut if the bulb shattered. I really thought it was going to. Finally the light was turned off. My husband tried a different bulb. The same thing. Coincidence, bad wiring- maybe. This went on about three times before I decided to try something.

I had some dried Mugwort, and something told me to hang it up in her bedroom. I did. Everything went back to normal. INSTANTLY the light settled down and worked. We tried the previous bulbs, there was NOTHIHG wrong with them. As soon as I had placed that strand of Mugwort in her room it just stopped. The really weird part is I remember being happy that it didn't appear to be caused by bad electrical wiring. That it stopped.

I've noticed that using dried herbs seems to help keep the house clean- BUT after a few months maybe even a year they will need to be replaced. Along with the sigils.

The point of this story- which by the way is a true story, is that no matter how clean you think your house might be, it's important to make sure that you keep up with cleansing it as well as cleaning it.

Even if your house or space doesn't seem to be haunted, it's a good idea to keep your home, office or personal spaces cleansed on a regular basis right along side your other housework chores. You can use crystals (even though it didn't work for me against the strong entity we dealt with, I still use them from time to time), smudging, sweeping, sigils, dried herbs, herbal infused waters to name a few.

Sweeping- A besom is basically a broom, only one that you use specially to sweep a space of unwanted energy. You can buy one or make one. I made my own, but I normally only use it if I'm cleansing a space for spell work. I used a big branch from my back yard as the handle, a bunch of dried out long grass as the bristles and some old twine to bind it. You can stain your besom's handle with oils for protection and purification as well as decorate it with crystals and sigils and symbols for protection and cleansing.

While you sweep focus on all the unwanted energy being swept away and make sure that you sweep it out the door. You can chant something simple like "Sweep, sweep, sweep away all the energy I do not wish to stay- be gone all strife, pain, evil and bane only love and light here shall remain."

Smudge- Again many people use Sage, but personally I always use a combination of Angelica Root and Mugwort. It doesn't have to be fancy, but make sure that you know what your doing and use a fire proof container and are careful. Do not just leave any herbs or smudge to burn unsupervised. I usually add a small pinch of the four elements when I do this.

For Earth- a pinch of salt, dirt or soil

For Water- A drop water- rain water, holy water, or even just tap water will work

For Air- I gently blow on the smudge mixture using my own breath to represent air

For Fire- A match, or lighter to light the herbs and make them smoke, the initial flame is to represent fire.

A lot of witches use a shell and feather to smudge, placing the dried bundle of herbs or "smudge" on the shell and use the feather to direct the smoke where they want it to go.

You can really use anything so long as it is heat resistant and fireproof. Personally I have a small mortar that I use specially to grind up my Angelica Root and Mugwort in. So I just keep my herbs in that and keep lighting it with my lighter as I move from section to section to cleanse and area. Just be careful and use caution, and do not leave your smudge unattended.

Move around the problems area, or area you want to cleanse of unwanted energy directing the smoke around the area and chanting ""By Earth, air, sea, and flame by love and divine heavenly light above, below and all around shine bright, shine strong cast out this darkness this unwanted blight to wince it came." You can alter the chant of course, or really you don't have to say anything at all so long as your focused and concentrate on cleansing and purifying the space.

Sigils- To me sigils are basically a powerful spell in art form. A symbol that when drawn or placed on a certain person, or spot unleashes that spell or intent. I use sigils a lot. Below are sigils that I have found on Pinterest and use often for protection and cleansing.

Crystals- Selenite: This is a pretty stone with a high vibration. It is known for it's angelically divine light that when used will help create a shield of protective love and light repelling negative energy around it.

Black Tourmaline: This black stone is known for it's protective and cleansing properties and works great when teamed up with Selenite. It is a good go to with using to ward off unwanted energies.

Smokey Quartz: Known for it's ability to absorb negative energy and cleanse it before releasing it back into the earth. This one was stone I used personally and it would go missing. I still haven't found the two I used to this day (5 years later) But I'm still adding it because I think that it will work well with other stones or to help with less abrasive negative energies that you might have build up in your home or office (negative energy that can accumulate from human emotions like jealously, moodiness, having a bad day, small arguments etc.)

Howlite: This stone isn't one that would come to mind for protection or cleansing generally, BUT I'm mentioning it here anyway because this is a great stone for bringing about a harmony in one's space. It's good for aiding in maintaining a calmness to it's surroundings.

My youngest son- he can have QUITE a temper, one that doesn't take much for it to be set off either. I gave him a howlite pendant and noticed a big change in his behavior. Not saying that wearing it makes him an angel, not even close, but since wearing it I have noticed that he is MUCH more calm than before he began wearing it. The tantrums have decreased so much since.

This stone can help keep negative emotions which can lead to negative energy accumulating and spreading down.

These are just a few crystals that can help in keeping your space clean of bad energy. Of course they is many others that might work just as well if not better.

Love and positive energy can go a long way when it comes to keeping a clean household! No matter what method(s) you use if you cleanse your space never forget that!