House & Home Blessing Ceremonies
“Home is where your story begins.”
– Annie Danielson
Rituals to help us to say goodbye to a beloved home, or to ensoul a new one – in a house blessing, smudging can cleanse the space and open it to new possibilities. Sage for healing prosperity, rosemary for clarity, cedar for purifying, and lavender for balance.
We can see our house as a structure, or recognize it as a place of heart and soul. How many ways are our lives supported by our home, whether we have lived there for decades or are starting anew?
One of the things that makes a house a home, that transforms it from walls and pipes and wiring, is the inclusion of family and friends.
It is in the shelter of one another that people live. – Irish Proverb
Leaving a house can be traumatic, especially after many years. Telling the story of the house can be important in the farewell process.
Perhaps moving out of a place we have lived in for a long time into a new, different place is like listening to a different piece of music. We’re not sure if we will warm to it. It has a different melody and tempo; we’re used to classical and maybe it’s jazz.
We tend to carry our house with us, emotionally, on our back, like a giant snail. Perhaps it’s the idea of home, or our longing for the perfect one. Or just a matter of destiny. As described here by the Irish poet John O’Donohue.
Your soul knows the geography of your destiny. Your soul alone has the map of your future, therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself. If you do, it will take you where you need to go, but more important, it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey. – John O’Donohue / Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom.
Sometimes an elderly person resists moving out of their longtime home into a seniors’ residence, then is surprised by a renewed feeling for life, engaged in a lively community environment and no longer alone.