House blessing is a staple of magical traditions all over the world. For example the rituals of housewarming parties or gifts is a ceremony of blessing practiced even by people who would not think of themselves as performing magic. Done consciously and with magical intent, a simple housewarming party can be made more powerful. Let’s look at that as an example of practical magic, turning the everyday into sacred practice that blesses your life.
In pandemic times, you may not be able to have a housewarming in the same way, so these stages can be modified. You may even wish to plan to rededicate your home with a house re-warming when you are able to have guests again. Or you could hold a housewarming with just your household using these principles or have the housewarming working happen while giving people a tour of your place over video call.
Housewarming or house blessing
A housewarming commonly has several elements – setting up your house to receive guests, inviting guests, receiving guests and gifts from guests, holding the party, and cleaning up afterward. These pieces nicely reflect some of the main stages of Wiccan ritual. By more overtly and consciously applying those stages – grounding and purifying, casting, calling, working, devoking and releasing – to your housewarming you can deepen the experience and the feeling of blessing.
Grounding and Purifying
Whew! You’ve moved in. You’ve set up your things (or rearranged them if you have a change of living space such as a partner moving in). Take a moment and ground, here in your space. If it’s moving day, this might be the ritual of first meal in your new home, eaten sitting on boxes, or it might be after you’ve settled everything in, and vacuumed up and cleared the moving detritus.
Some grounding and purifying suggestions: Take a moment here to ring a bell throughout your house, or burn some purifying herbs or plants like pine or cedar, bless some water and drink it in your new place, turn on your favourite music and dance in your kitchen, feeling your body in your space. Acknowledge that you are landing. Clean anything that you need to to feel like the space is yours. Allow it to represent grounding and purifying the space.
Casting
If you are planning a housewarming party, arrange things to receive guests in whatever way you do that – putting out the nice towels, hiding your laundry basket, clearing off the counters, adding chairs to your living room. Set the container. Magical tasks here might be to envision only happiness and blessings entering your house, and welcoming good friends and experiences while letting all else slide away around your space like water around a rock in a stream, or touching the edges of your house but failing to stick, as if your house was slippery to unwanted energies.
Calling
Send out invitations with your address to your guests, or if you aren’t throwing a party, send a change of address card to people you like and to others who need to have a change of address from you. Bless those emails or cards with your positive intention and love, for a good outcome.
Working
Receive your guests and enjoy them. Accept any gifts they offer with grace and gratitude. Eat good food. Enjoy being with people you love in your new home. Feel the energy of the home respond to this love.
Devoking and Releasing
When it’s time for people to go, it is traditional to put the broom with it’s handle downward near the door, as a charm to clear a space. However, it is likely that people will leave in their own good time without any need for that kind of help. Once people go, that night you will likely put food likely to spoil into the fridge or clear away at least some of the mess. Take a moment to put any gifts where you would like them to be, put away any extra chairs or other items, recycle any bottles or papers, and restore your space to it’s living mode. Accept that the house is warmed, and blessed, and feel that in your body. Notice any changes.
And then live in your home.
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
