House Blessing
based on Starhawk's works and House Blessing ritual

A house blessing is a common Wiccan ritual used when moving into a new dwelling or for the cleansing of a dwelling, such as after a divorce or death. The main function is to clean the house of all unwanted energy or beings, to seal portals to the outside world, and to make it a sacred and personal space. An apartment may require 4 to 5 people, while a house may require 12 to 20 people depending on the size. Blessings should be carried out in one day rather then room by room over a period of time and usually stay powerful for a year or so. The ritual that follows takes portions from stawhawk's Spiral Dance.

Some beings that may not be effected by a house blessings...

Fairy folk
the Sidhe, and the likes, will not be gone as they do not perceive themselves as malevolent. To control their activities leave out a bowl of water and a bowl of milk. This should pacify them enough for you to continue with them pledging you.

Human souls
They may perceive that the house is theirs, that they are not a guest, or they are not aware the are dead. In these cases a medium must go into trance and contact them. A skilled medium can lead spirits who do not know they are dead or how to get to the next realm to the third high plane and guide them towards the light or communicate with them to see what it is they want. Some spirits may choose to remain and not go on to the next plane, e.g. ancestors. It is necessary to assure that they will not cause harm or mischief to the household.

Malevolent forces
Sometimes there are powerful forces that mean to do harm. If you encounter one of these call in your most powerful craft friends; they will open a doorway to the dimension that the entity comes from and force it through. Unless you are highly skilled you should not attempt to remove them yourself.

Procedure

• All participants gather in front of the altar
• Ground and center
• Bless and charge the salt water (salt water purification)
• Give each participant an altar tool (salt water, feather, incense, chalice, athame, bell, and wand)

Starting from the altar, walk each room counter clockwise. At each "gateway" to the outside, mirrors or reflective sources, draw a north banishing pentagram. Do not forget "doors" such as cabinet, refrigerator, toilets, faucets, chest, oven and all "portals" such as the fuse box, electrical outlets, etc. Do the house room by room. Include very small rooms, closets, with the main room. Sprinkle each corner of the room with the purified salt water.

Rune bindings, such as joy, prosperity, protection, strength, may be used in conjunction with the cleansing and blessing.

After banishing/sealing a room the participants gather around and the priestess goes to the center

Spirits, agents of evil, unnatural beings, unwanted guests be gone, leave this house that the gods may enter!
Be gone or be torn by the whirlwind!
Be gone or be burned by the flame!
Be gone or be drowned in the watery abyss!
Be gone or be shatter by earthquake!
Be gone or be cast into the outer darkness!
By the powers of Persephone, Demeter, Hecate.
By the powers of Hermes, Dionysus, and Pan.

<all together>

We banish you! We banish you! We banish you.

At this point stomp your feet, yell, ring bells, make lots of noise to drive the remaining entities out.

At the last room of banishing, open a door to the outside and sweep out the remaining entities. Close door and seal it with a banishing pentagram.

Blessing
Start where you ended and go clockwise throughout the house. Draw a blessing/invoking north pentagram over the walls and gateways using the same altar items. At this time the runes should also be drawn.

After you've drawn all the invoking pentagrams and returned to the first room with the altar, use the athame (or wand) to draw one unbroken line of energy all around the room, as though you were casting circle. Then gather together to raise a cone of power that will fill up the house with power and protection. Start by chanting what is desired in the house (e.g. peace, joy, strength, protection) Send the cone into the house.

Ground and center.

Thank the Goddess.

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