My house is alive.
This may read like the opening line of a gothic horror novel, but it’s actually a love letter to the home that has loved me for over a decade. The structure that has held me steady when I’ve crumbled. Watched marriage and love come and go. Her energy remains untouched, always pure, and I make sure to thank her daily as I wake. She was my first home, and sometimes I wonder, maybe even my last.
Simply put: I love my home. So much I named my business Haus of Phoenix, hoping to emulate her amazing energy to every student who walks through my hypothetical online doors. Even this Substack is aptly named “The Haunted Haus of Kathryn Budig” because my house is clean, but my life, well — you’ve read the articles. You know I carry ghosts, and sometimes, we even chat over tea.
But as the old saying goes, “Home is where the heart is”, and I couldn’t agree more. Which is why today’s article is about protecting your home. And not in the video doorbell or better locks kind of way. This is about keeping your home energetically clean through a few simple rituals.
Ready to witch up? Here are my go-to’s:
Smudging Your Home
“Smudging” is the process of purifying or cleansing negativity from yourself or space. This is traditionally done though burning herbs (think sage, cedar, mugwort) or wood (Palo Santo) and is derived primarily from Indigenous American cultures. If you choose to work with sacred smoke, I recommend doing your research on ethical sourcing so you can support Indigenous communities as well as preventing further environmental damage. For example, in order for Palo Santo to be high quality, it must come from naturally fallen branches or aged wood, not through illegal logging.
You can also practice smoke-free smudging. Explore options like easily attainable Florida water (or make your own here), smudging sprays created by local practitioners, singing bowls, tuning forks, or working with crystals such as a Selenite stick (more on that below).
I’m sharing one of my favorite spells that calls upon the four elements, but if you want to start simple, choose your smudging tool, and go around the entire house (don’t miss and nooks and crannies!), and as you smudge, say:
Only good in, all bad out.
Feel free to repeat the ‘all bad out’ on any areas that need extra cleaning, and don’t forget to open a door or window to usher all of that negativity out!
If you’re looking for the Cadillac service, explore the below spell from our online Haus of Phoenix Book of Shadows (collection of spells).
First-Of-The-Month Cinnamon Yeeting
Excusez-moi? This may not feel particularly magical or ‘old world’, but I do love the marriage of modern to tested and true! For those of you unfamiliar with the phrase:
YEET verb
: (slang) to throw especially with force and without regard for the thing being thrown
Ignore the ‘without regard’ part, because ‘yeeting’ cinnamon on the first of every month is filled with intention, but the concept of gearing up to “yeet” always makes me smile, so we’re sticking with it.
How it works: Cinnamon has been used for centuries to attract good luck, fortune, and prosperity. Use this as an energetic reset on the first of every month. Also consider burning cinnamon incense!
The ritual: Step outside of your front door facing inward with the door open. Visualize what abundance looks like to you: this could be financial security, a promotion, love and friendship, unexpected money, etc. Bolster this visual with positivity — you must see it (in your mind) to believe it.
Once you’re ready, blow your cinnamon or throw your cinnamon stick through the front door as you say:
When this cinnamon blows, prosperity flows.
When this cinnamon blows, abundance flows.
From here, many believe you must keep the cinnamon on the ground for a full 24hours, however, if you have children or pets, I would vacuum the powder as it can be irritating or a choking hazard. If you throw the cinnamon stick, simply place it out of reach near your front door.
Hang Witch Bells
Before door bells, there were witch bells! Traditionally three protective iron bells that hang on the inside of your front door or main threshold. The sound of the gentle jingle is meant to purify the space while also notifying the owner and inhabitants of any physical or energetic visitor. Iron is traditional as the element renowned to keep bad spirits at bay. The number three represents the triple goddess or moon goddess (maiden, mother, crown//Artemis, Selene, Hecate).
To activate your bells:
Yeet!
Sprinkle a line of salt on the outside of your door
Hold your hands over them as you say:
Guard our home, bells on the door
Dispel dark energy forevermore
Block all evil, none shall pass,
May only good and prosperity enter and last.
Clean and Salt Your Door
This ritual is a labor of love, but perfect for when you need to attack stubborn negative energy. You can do this ritual as often as you find fit, but I personally like to clean my door once per season, and salt at the first of every month.
(This is also taken from our Haus of Phoenix Book of Shadows, so disregard the intro as it was specific to the time I shared it.)
Create a Protective Crystal Circuit
I am but a young Jedi in the world of crystals and their magical properties, but I do know the heavy hitters, and I highly recommend Black Tourmaline and Selenite sticks. I learned this from my acupuncturist who placed a small piece of Black Tourmaline in the corner of each room, completing the circuit by barring it in with a Selenite stick. It’s a pretty powerful combo because:
Black Tourmaline grounds and absorbs negative energy.
Selenite purifies, amplifies, cleanses the space.
Think of these two as yin and yang or a spiritual black and white cookie. I have yet to ward my entire house with these crystals, but my Haus of Phoenix room is set up this way, and anytime I teach retreats, I’ll bring this set up with me.
These pieces needn’t be large (as that can get expensive), but place them in the corners of room to seal and create a defensive barrier from negative energy, or even keep them near your bed to help ward off bad dreams.
Bonus: Thank Your Household Pixie
I realize this one might feel like a stretch, but let’s view it through a history lesson, shall we? Mythologies and folklore world wide have believed in household spirits — a guardian-like entity that watches over the household and its inhabitants. My personal favorite are Brownies: Scottish house fairies that secretly do chores at night. (Oh the offerings I would put out for that kind of service! Do fairies love teeny-tiny caviar eggs?)
And that is exactly what some people do: they leave out small offerings of milk or bread in exchange for protection and harmony in the home. If you have animals, you know they’ll just end up duking it out with the Brownies, so I instead suggest lighting a candle or burning incense daily. This follows the belief that guardians lived in the hearth (what was once the heart of a home), so we can emulate that through the daily ritual of flame/smoke as a thank you to your home/guardian.
Okay, my friends. That is enough magic for one article! I hope this serves you well, and if you’d like to join our Haus of Phoenix Blue Moon Ritual this coming Sunday, I’ll be leading one around the concept of aiming true.
xo Kathryn
i have always loved your magical home and the number of it also seems special too!
very interesting, doing some cleansing today