If you’ve followed me on Instagram for any length of time, then you know how much I harp on the need for consistent spiritual cleansing. I discuss this topic so much because it’s the most overlooked, yet one of the most critical steps in one’s spiritual journey. People are quickly enamored with pretty candle rituals & the ability to manifest. Spiritual cleansing doesn’t get the prioritization it needs, and when that happens you’ll eventually hit a wall. A wall that you can’t break through easily. From feeling moody to sleepless nights to making mistakes at work. Low-vibrational energy can affect you in a multitude of ways. But that’s why I’m here. I’m going to share some knowledge on the basics of spiritual cleansing, seven ways you can keep your energy cleansed & why you need to cleanse everyday. Yes I said everyday sis (as a Black woman, please know that I use “sis” as a gender neutral term of endearment).
Let’s start with kicking you off your high horse & explaining why you need to cleanse consistently. You may or may not have previously heard or seen me use the analogy “energy is like germs”. I explain it this way because the concept is similar. There are good germs, there are bad germs. And we have to stay on top of our daily physical hygiene by brushing our teeth, taking showers & washing our hands after using the restroom or touching other things cut down on the amount of “bad” germs we pick up. The same goes for your spiritual hygiene as well. Everywhere we go, everything we touch, every interaction, there is the presence of “good” energy & “bad” energy. (Sidenote: I’m trying to become more conscious of labeling things as “good” or “bad”. Instead I prefer to use terms like high-vibrational or low-vibrational because even “bad” energy serves a purpose. But to keep things simple & for easy comprehension, we’re just gonna use “good” & “bad” here. Simply for the sake of learning. I’ll eventually write another blog breaking down why I use those terms later.) So the same way you get up & take care of your physical hygiene, it’s suggested that one takes the same care for their spiritual hygiene just as often.
To dive even deeper into the “why” behind spiritual cleansing is that, unlike germs, energy doesn’t have a cap on its reach. You can be exchanging energy with your spouse who’s on business trip in Tokyo while sitting on your couch in Atlanta. A random hater throwing evil eye at your Instagram pics while on a subway in New York could affect you while you’re living it up on Miami Beach. There’s no cap on the reach when it comes to energy. And now more than ever, energy is being exchanged all over the world due to social media. Even if you choose to live a life under the radar without social media, you’re still going to be mixing energy with your boss in zoom meetings or that nagging, nervous client that always has some family drama going on. So it doesn’t matter who you are, or what your habits look like on a day to day basis. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a bruja/o/x, a rootworker or just a person who is spiritual, EVERYONE NEEDS TO CLEANSE.
Ok now that I’ve beaten the “why” into your brain & kicked you off your “I’m perfect I don’t need to cleanse” high horse, let’s get into HOW to keep your energy cleansed. It’s not as simple as just burning a little sage. Sure you can do that too, but there’s way more (and also more ethical) ways to cleanse yourself on a day to day basis. So below I’ll share with you seven ways you can keep your spirit clean as a whistle:
1. Prayer- Prayer is the most easily accessible & old school way to shake off bad or low-vibrational energy. If the words we speak can cast spells, then you better believe the words we speak can break them too. You can repeatedly affirm something like “My body, mind & spirit are free & clear from all hexes, curses, jinxes, evil eye energy, low vibrational energy & any energies that do not serve my highest good.” You can whip out your Book Of Psalms & pray Psalms 17 and/or 91. I personally grew up in a Christian household (even though I no longer identify as such), but please do not be afraid to dive into The Quran or other religious texts associated with your family or culture to use for an energy reset. Pray or recite your affirmation at least 2-3x a day or as often as you are intuitively drawn to do so.
2. Meditation- Meditation is another easily accessible means for the upkeep of your spiritual hygiene. However, meditation is a HUGELY broad topic. You can engage in meditation to clear invasive energies, to ground yourself & boost your mood. Start by just doing some deep breathing & allowing yourself thoughts to clear. Then begin visualizing white light washing over you. Or feel free to throw on your AirPods & do a guided meditation or sleep meditation. There’s meditation apps you can use, however I prefer to just find something I resonate with on the streets of YouTube. I’ll link a few that I enjoy below:
Guided Meditation: https://youtu.be/TX6GbpLuzUk
Chakra Meditation (Chanting): https://youtu.be/CsX5G_fZhug
Sleep Meditation Music: https://youtu.be/w6sbrmcrSuo
3. Baths- AHT AHT. Drop the Lush bath bomb & Victoria’s Secret body wash. A spiritual bath is nothing like your regular baths. Instead of smell goods & glitter, it’s roots & herbs, chile. Sure you can make it aesthetically pleasing but don’t treat your spiritual hygiene like it’s a photo op. Draw yourself a bath with cool to lukewarm water (sorry sis, a hot bath won’t do the job nearly as good), then grab some sea salt from your pantry & pour about a cup or so into your bath. You can throw in some additional cleansing herbs such as basil, rosemary, lavender, chamomile, lemongrass or bay leaves to amplify the strength of your cleansing bath. Soak for at least 15-30 minutes then air dry & go to bed. You might have herbs stuck to your butt but I promise it’s better than having some evil eye or low-vibrational energy stuck there instead. I recommend that you take a spiritual bath every 1-2 weeks. Or more often if you do spiritual work or readings for the public. I also make epsom salt baths & ritual bath soaps for cleansing that you can use in the shower. I restock pretty sporadically depending on how I’m feeling so make sure you’re signed up for my email list so you can be aware of future restocks.
4. Smoke cleansing- Truth be told, I didn’t want to list this because this seems to be the most popular method for cleansing, however I felt the need to talk about this for a few reasons. Mainly being the frequency of usage & what you can use instead of sage or palo santo. It seems like sage took the world by storm around 2017 thanks to a bunch of Karens on the New Age scene & it has quickly become everyone’s answer for cleansing. However, sage is not always ethically sourced AND not everyone has cultural ties to the usage of sage. I myself am Black, Native American, Irish, Mexican & Cuban (chile, I’m just Black with some extra seasonings on the top), so I do use sage from time to time in my practice. My great grandmother was a Blackfoot Native American from Mississippi. But there’s a ton of other, more ethically sourced options for you to use. Lavender, rosemary & lemongrass all get the job done. No cultural ties needed. Get in the habit of throwing some herbs onto a piece of charcoal & smoke cleansing yourself head to toe when you come home from work or log out of your last meeting for the day. Let the smoke pass over your head & body for 2-3 minutes. It’s a great way to unwind after a long & stressful day. It’s also a great way to shake off the hookah & weed smoke from the club & start “turning down” for bed. You don’t wanna go to bed with the energy from the drunk girl you was hugging in the bathroom still on you anyway.
5. Aura Sprays & Spiritual Waters- If you live a busy lifestyle, leaning on aura sprays & spiritual waters are just what you need for your day to day spiritual upkeep. These can be something you make at home with cleansing herbs (put some sea salt water into a spray bottle OR make a tea with herbs then cool, strain & put it into a spray bottle), prepackaged aura sprays that you find at your local botanica (look for the ones specifically used for cleansing), Rue Water, the ever popular Florida Water, or holy water from your local church. You can also grab some river water or ocean water. Or even rainwater. Just catch some in a bowl next time a storm hits. Spray yourself down at the end of the day or before your rituals. Use your sprays & waters somewhat liberally. Don’t spray it on you like you would your fancy Baccarat Rouge 540. Spray it on you like it’s the bottle of Cloud by Ariana Grande or the “Our Version Of” that you bought at Family Dollar. Spray it down baby. Head to toe. Some aura sprays, spiritual waters & colognes like Rue Water & Florida Water can have a high alcohol content, so you can dilute them with sea salt water to make it gentler on your skin. It’s still drying, but not nearly as harsh. Don’t worry about blowing your budget, either. Most aura sprays & spiritual waters cost around $20 or less.
6. Rituals- This is another practice that I was hesitant to list because I honestly feel that if you don’t have good cleansing habits, then you shouldn’t be doing your own spells & rituals at all. HOWEVER, when you use spells & rituals in CONJUNCTION with good day to day cleansing habits, then you can really elevate your healing journey to a whole new level. My specialty is candle magick so I’ll share a simple way to dress a candle for cleansing. You can use any size white candle. Feel free to use tea light candles, votive candles, pillar candles or some big bruja 7-day or 14-day candles. Whatever you like. Cleanse your candle with sea salt water or smoke cleanse it with herbs. Anoint your candle with my Holy Heathen cleansing oil (or another cleansing oil that you prefer), and dress it with a bit of rosemary, basil & lavender. If nothing else, just use plain olive oil & a pinch of rosemary. Those are the easiest to find items that you probably already have in your pantry. Light your candle & circle back to the first tip about prayer in this article & use an affirmation or prayer to set intentions for your candle ritual. Let the candle burn out & discard the remains in the trash, somewhere away from your home or wherever you are intuitively drawn to leave it (but don’t litter!). The frequency of your spells & rituals is always up to the bruja/o/x that’s completing them. Some people will do this weekly, monthly or quarterly. That part is between you & spirit.
7. Nature Grounding- Lastly we have one of my favorite methods for cleansing & that is grounding in nature. It’s more than just your walk in the park sans shoes. It’s allowing your body & mind to really connect with the earth. So this isn’t the type of field trip where you’ll want to invite your friends to tag a long. You probably won’t wanna bring your AirPods either. Choose a place in nature that makes you feel safe & whole. A place that lifts your spirits. It can be a beach trip, hiking in the mountains or simply stepping out into your own backyard. Kick your shoes off & lay down. Put both your hands & your feet into the grass or the ground beneath you. Really spend a few minutes consciously releasing energy. Asking the earth to take away all that no longer serves you. Tap into all five of your senses, paying attention only to what’s going on in the present. Allow your body to melt into the earth beneath you. You may be here for a few mins or it might be a few hours. Listen to yourself & your body because you will know when it’s time to get up & go. This is why I suggested to make this a solo trip because you really want to make sure that you’ve spent enough time releasing & not have to be conscious of your homegirl’s
hair appointment. Once you are done, simply thank the earth & your ancestors then go on with your day as normal. ***An honorable mention***: Crystals. I didn’t list crystals here because it’s a tool, not really a practice within itself. Crystals can be used with any of the tips I discussed in this article. Hold onto a crystal while praying & meditating or slide one beside your candle ritual or cleansing bath. Some of my favorite crystals for cleansing include selenite, rose quartz & amethyst. I’m currently a brand ambassador for Chi’s Aura Crystals. Use my code B&B12 at checkout for a discount.
In conclusion, there is absolutely no need for you to put all of these tips into practice on a daily basis. My suggestion is to read this article over one more time & decide on one tip you can incorporate daily, one tip you can incorporate weekly & one you can fit into your schedule on a monthly basis. This will ensure that you are staying consistent in the spiritual upkeep that you need. Sure there are dozens of other ways to cleanse that I didn’t mention here, so I encourage everyone reading this to expand your spiritual studies beyond BadAndBrujita.com. And don’t worry, I’ll be posting a blog to touch on PROTECTION practices as well. I’ll come back to edit this blog & add the link to it below when it’s posted. but in the meantime, keep educating yourself! I’m not, nor will I ever assert myself as some all knowing guru. As I’ve always stated, I’m just a regular spiritual gal sharing what has worked for ME, in hopes that it can maybe work for YOU as well. Now go cleanse ya aura because I know that thang is DUSTY!
Still have more questions about cleansing? Book a 30 Minute Q&A Session or General Reading with me: https://www.badandbrujita.com/product-page/readings