Spiritual Spring Cleaning Part 1: Physical Bodies

In the spirit of Spring cleaning, I'm going to present a four-part post on the subject of spiritual cleansing. Psychic hygiene, much like mundane hygiene, is very simple to work into your everyday routine for the benefit of yourself and those around you. By now, I assume all of you reading this take good care of your physical hygiene and have a strong sense of your own physical boundaries or "personal bubble". Now, are you taking care of your energy bodies? Yes indeed, your energy bodies get dirty and clouded from day-to-day actions, and need a good scrubbing now and then. Most magickal folks are familiar with their aura and the feel of its vibrations, so it becomes easy to tell when the "vibes" aren't as clear as they used to be. It's simple enough to cleanse a murky aura and prevent yourself from picking up psychic dirt when you set firm boundaries physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

For simplicity's sake, we are going to discuss the energy bodies of our auras in four parts. Some traditions say there are seven, nine, twelve or more! But they are essentially like ocean layers. It all flows together and there are no clear boundaries between them. Also, the health of one body can effect the health of the whole. For example, If you stressed about a problem and cluttering your mind with it, it can wreak havoc on your emotional well being, which in turn can lead to headaches and various other physical issues. (pardon the poorly drawn diagram below. It was leftover from a class I taught this fall where I found out that I'm not an artist)

We are going to start things off with the physical body, since its easy to find, and very simple to cleanse. The best thing that you can do to rid your physical vehicle of psychic debris is a good smudging. The wonderful thing about smudging is that it is like soap; It works even if you don't "believe in it". The effect on yourself and the space around you is automatic. I know, I know, incense is associated with air... so why is it a physical cleanser? Because the herbs use to make the incense are of the physical realm. If you are not familiar with using incense, it may be tempting to be led by your nose when picking an incense to bring home. Though strawberry or apple incense may spell wonderful, they don't really have any cleansing qualities to them. Some good herbs to stock up on are cedar, sage (always popular), sweetgrass (my personal favorite), sandalwood, frankincense and myrrh, or just a box of Nag Champa (which is normally available in any store that sells incense). When you smudge using these herbs, they raise the vibrations of your energy, and denser energy is driven out like dense oil separating from water.

I will go ahead and point out that many of the cleansing techniques that I mention can cleanse multiple layers of your astral body because these layers flow together and all effect the whole person, and that every person is different. Your psychic hygiene should work around your needs and preferences. Does incense make your allergies act up? Well, go wash yourself. A bath or shower with herbal soap or a salt scrub will cleanse your body and emotional body as well. No time to shower? Go out and exercise! Enjoy that au natural scent of your sweaty, glistening body and revel in the blood pumping in your veins and raising your natural vibrations. Don't get me wrong; I fully support people taking baths regularly, but your hygiene habits (psychic or mundane) are your business and should fit your lifestyle. Just don't expect people to hug you if you have really negative vibes or smell like a sweaty, majestic wildebeest. Nothing personal.

Just like a dirty body can leave muddy footprints through a clean home, so can a dirty aura. If you want to soak up any negativity that you or others track into your home, leave little bowls or jars of salt in each room. You can also try more aesthetically pleasing options like an arrangement of crystals on each window sill or a bowl of river rocks. A cheaper, faster, and easier option is to start at your front door and work widdershins (counter clockwise for folks up here, and clockwise for the Southern Hemisphere) with some incense, and smudge each room. 

In part 2, I will be covering the emotional body and how to keep that part of your aura sparkling. Thanks for popping in to read my ramblings, and thank you all for your input and support.