HOUSE BLESSING

Celebrating a new home (read: space), even if its a historical building, with a non-religious blessing can be a stand-alone practice or a … lovely addition to a house-warming party. Invite guests to participate in the blessing or perform it, on your own, prior to the gathering.

PREPARE

Declutter, organize and thoroughly clean the space. Perform a Space Clearing to rid 'the canvas' of 'soiled' energy.

Using the bagua map from Feng Shui, divide your floor plan, on each level, into areas of life. You can do this formally with a compass, quad paper, pencil and a measuring tape or casually, in your imagination.

• Get 9 votive candles in fire-safe containers — 1 to represent each of the bagua areas. (Using the feng shui bagua for reference is not required, but helpful for organizing a house blessing)
• Prepare for the ceremony by placing the coloured candle, that matches the gua, in that area of the room / home / office …
• Write, pre-think or spontaneously create a simple blessing (affirmation or intent statement) for each area (gua).

WHAT TO DO — EXAMPLE HOUSE BLESSING

• Centre yourself
• Start in the centre of the home / building / room. Move clockwise through each area (centre; east; southeast …)
• Light the candle and focus your intent to empower your hopes and aspirations for that area of life.
• Work slowly and gently. Read and/or express the chosen blessing for each area. Allow time to contemplate and share comments between partners and/or guests.
• Leave the candles burning in fire-safe containers until the ceremony is completed and about 30 minutes after — if safe to do so.

THE LAST 2%

• Express gratitude for blessings — already on their way.

• Blow out the candles.