How to Cleanse a House: An Expert Guide to Banishing Bad Energy

By Joanna Cabot, a psychic medium and certified energy healing practitioner from the Ashati Institute

Your home should feel like your safe haven from the chaos of the outside world. But what if there’s some negative energy lingering in your space, making it hard for you to feel peaceful and relaxed? If this sounds like your situation, it may be time to cleanse your home. I’m Joanna Cabot, a psychic medium and certified energy healing practitioner, and I’m here to help you do exactly that. Whether you’ve just moved in or you’ve lived there for years, a good cleansing can help you create a tranquil, positive environment in your living space. Keep reading for everything you need to know!

Cleansing a House of Negative Energy

  1. Start by physically tidying up and decluttering your space.
  2. Go room to room in a counterclockwise direction, opening all the windows to let fresh air in.
  3. Burn a cleansing herb or plant, like Palo Santo or sage. Go to each room with the bundle and let the smoke waft around.
  4. While you’re in each room, visualize a white or golden light going all around, clearing out all negative energies.
  5. Go back to each room and set a positive new intention, like “I want this room to welcome more peace.”
Section 1 of 7:

How to Cleanse Your House with Sage or Palo Santo

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    Tidy up your space (literally) before moving onto an energetic cleansing. If your home is a complete mess, you’ll want to go through it first to make sure it’s clean, physically speaking. Tidying up and decluttering your space gets stagnant energy moving and breathing straight away. You don’t need to have supernatural intuition to understand that when you’re cleaning your home and putting things back where they need to be, you instantly feel a little bit better energetically.
  2. 2
    Next, go to each room in your space to assess their energies. The first thing I do when I’m cleansing my space is to go to all the rooms to understand what their energies are. We all have intuition, and we’re all capable of sensing whether the energies are feeling good in a space, or if they’re a little bit negative or heavy. If you’re not sure about the energies you’re sensing, try sticking to facts:
    • For example, when you’re in your bedroom, think about how you’re sleeping. Do you sleep well, or do you wake up throughout the night?
    • Are there any arguments that have happened lately in a specific room, like your kitchen or your living room?
    • Have you been noticing any recurrent water leaks or problems with electricity, but you’ve checked with a plumber and an electrician, and they say nothing’s wrong?
    • Facts like these can be good indicators that your space could use an energetic cleansing.
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    Go from room to room and open the windows. Open every window to let the fresh air in. This is very important—energetically, your space needs to breathe. Also, according to Feng Shui, it’s a good idea to go from room to room in a clockwise direction, but you can also stick to what you’re feeling intuitively, rather than following specific rules.
  4. 4
    Burn cleansing plants or herbs, like Palo Santo or sage, to clear negative energy. Go to each room with your bundle of Palo Santo or sage, letting the smoke clear out the spaces energetically. Your intention while doing this is very important. Try to go into a mental meditation while you’re in each room, and visualize a white or golden cleansing light going all around the room and cleansing out all the negative energies.
    • There are a few important things to keep in mind when it comes to smudging. The first is that smudging with sage is a practice that comes from Native American culture. As a result, it’s important to use this practice with respect, gratitude, and acknowledgement for the culture it comes from.
    • If you don’t feel comfortable or capable of doing that work, or if you believe that it’s cultural appropriation, then avoid using sage and try a different cleansing method instead.
    • The second issue to keep in mind is that the “trendiness” of sage as a cleansing tool for people outside of Native American culture has also led to overconsumption and issues with ethical sourcing. To avoid this, you could consider growing your own sage and drying it yourself .
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    Set a new intention for each room. Once you’ve finished cleansing your entire home with smoke, go back to each room and set a new, positive intention, moving in a clockwise direction once again. For example, if you’ve had an argument in your bedroom, you’d go back into that room once it’s neutral ground again energetically, and you’d say something like, “I want this room to welcome more peace, and I’m cleansing it from any arguments that occurred here previously.”
    • After cleansing a space, you should be able to feel a difference. If you don’t notice a change, you may need to try the ritual again the next day, and repeat as many times as necessary.
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Section 2 of 7:

Other Ways to Cleanse Your House of Negative Energy

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    Salt Salt is extremely cleansing, and it’s also repulsive to any negative energies. Because of this, it works very well to cleanse a space of bad energy, and it also helps you protect yourself from spirits, entities, and even living people who don’t have your best interests at heart. To cleanse a room, put some salt in each corner (the corners of a room are where the energy stagnates the most). You can put the salt in a pile directly on the floor, or you can put it in a bowl on a shelf if you want to keep it out of reach of pets or children.
    • To protect your home from negative energies or people with ill intentions, put some salt at your front door. If you do this, you’ll see that some people just can’t come into your house, even if you invite them in.
    • This occurs when their vibration doesn’t match yours, or when they don’t have the best intentions toward you. It’s kind of like a test you can do if you aren’t sure about someone’s energy.
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    Crystals You can also place crystals in your home to fight against negative energy. The best crystals for protection are black obsidian , smoky quartz, and tourmaline , for example. You can also include crystals that attract positive energy and abundance, such as pyrite .
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    Incense Incense is a great option because you can use it at any time, and it’s easy to burn. For example, you can use it before or after a cleansing meditation. Or, you can open the windows at your place, then start going room to room with the incense (like you would when smudging). Dragon’s blood incense is for protection, sage incense is for clearing, and Palo Santo is for clearing and protection.
  4. 4
    Candles Candles are a great tool for cleansing as well, and you can also pick certain colors for different intentions. For example, if you want to have better relationships or increase self-love, I would suggest lighting a pink candle or green candle . You can use this candle for a meditation, or you can just light it and let it burn in your living room—you don’t need to go from room to room with it.
    • Each candle color corresponds to a chakra or energy. Here’s a breakdown:
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    Water If you have nothing to burn (no incense, no smudge, etc.) and you don't like to visualize or meditate, you can cleanse your space with plain water. Everyone is capable of doing this, but it requires self-confidence. First, hold both of your hands over the top of a bowl of water and visualize clearing the water with the chakras on the palms of each hand. Next, go around your home and sprinkle some of the water in each room, like you would with holy water at a church.
    • It may feel silly at first, but remember, it’s all about self-confidence and intention!
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    Essential oils Essential oils are not only therapeutic on an emotional level, but the smell and vibration of each oil can also really help with cleansing energies. For example, lavender essential oil can bring relaxation and calm energy as soon as you smell it. Palo Santo , sage , and dragon’s blood essential oils work very well for clearing, as well. Here are some different ways to use them:
    • After cleansing a bowl of water (following the method in the previous step), add a few drops of the essential oil of your choice, then sprinkle the water/oil mixture around your home.
    • Disperse an essential oil into the air with a diffuser , or put a few drops on top of a candle. For example, a white candle with frankincense is very, very protective and attracts divine energies, so your house will be protected from any negative entities.
    • You can also apply certain essential oils to your skin, but make sure to research whether the oil you’re using is skin-safe and whether or not you need a carrier oil (a base oil used to dilute an essential oil).
  7. 7
    Sound When you have stagnant energy in a room, sound vibrations can be very helpful to clear it out. There are certain hertz (audio frequencies) that can help with clearing, and you can easily find them by searching “clearing sound vibration” on Spotify (or whatever platform you use for streaming music). From there, just go around your space playing one of the sounds on your phone or a speaker to clear the energies.
    • You can also simply clap your hands in each of the corners in a room to clear out bad energies. It sounds a little bit crazy, but it really works!
    • Singing bowls are another cleansing method using sound, but they do come from a specific culture, so it’s important to use them with knowledge, respect, and awareness. Tuning forks are a great alternative.
    • The most important thing is that the sound makes you feel good. If listening to Bob Marley elevates your energies and brings you joy, then forget about the singing bowls or the hertz music and just play Bob Marley. Remember, the highest frequencies are coming from you and your intentions and visualizations!
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Section 3 of 7:

Cleansing a New Home

  1. First and foremost, make sure you’re bringing positive energy into the home. The first energies that you put into a home are very important, so check in with yourself and figure out how you’re feeling about the space and the move in general. Next, perform an energetic cleansing following one of the methods explained above, while also setting a long-term intention for the space (“I want this house to bring me _____.”)
    • It may sound a little strange, but it’s sort of like having a face-to-face talk with your new house about what energies you want to receive from it, and what energies you’re going to bring into it.
Section 4 of 7:

Cleansing a Home from Bad Spirits or Ghosts

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    First, try your best not to be scared. Sometimes, you hear something or feel a presence in your home, and it turns out to be just a mouse in the walls. Other times, it’s something you simply can’t explain. When that happens, the first thing you should do is tell yourself not to be scared. Of course, anything that you can’t see, understand, or control can feel a little bit scary. However, it’s very, very important to fight against this feeling, because fear is generally what blocks people from addressing the situation.
  2. 2
    Next, assess whether the entity feels kind or unkind. Tap into your intuition and try to sense whether the entity feels like it’s trying to scare you or make you move, or if it’s a kind presence that feels less scary or harmful. At this point, you might consider calling in a medium who could learn about the history of your home and who this person might be. For example, someone who passed away in the home would be different from an entity that’s actually attached to your energy, not the home’s energy.
  3. 3
    Perform a cleansing ritual in your space. Cleansing a space from a spirit or entity is similar to cleansing a space from bad energy: start by opening the windows, smudging with Palo Santo or sage, and using visualization techniques. You can also place protective crystals in your space to ward off these entities. The best crystals for protection from presences include black obsidian , smoky quartz , and tourmaline . And finally, just ask the presence to leave. Usually, it’s as simple as this.
    • Depending on your spiritual beliefs, religious prayers can be very effective as well. Why does this work? Because words are a powerful vibration, and they’ve been used for centuries and centuries, with millions of people using the same prayers for the same intention. This makes them very powerful!
  4. 4
    If your own ritual doesn’t work, call in a professional. If you’re dealing with an entity or presence that feels a bit heavier, it may require a proper ceremony, rather than a DIY ritual. In these cases, you’ll want to call in a medium who can really help you clear out that space, especially if you feel like you can’t get rid of it on your own, or if it’s starting to feel dangerous to you.
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Section 5 of 7:

Signs There’s Negative Energy in Your Home

  1. If there’s negative energy in your space, you’ll be able to feel it. When there’s no bad energy in your home, it will feel like a safe space. No matter the problems you have in the outside world, you’ll still feel a sense of peace, relaxation, and happiness when you get home. On the flip side, if negative energies are lingering, you’ll likely feel tense or unpleasant when you’re home. Here’s a more specific breakdown of signs to look out for:
    • Arguments that start over almost nothing and frequent misunderstandings between people living in the home.
    • A heavy, tense energy when you’re spending time in your space.
    • A desire to isolate yourself or a feeling that you don’t want to see anyone.
    • Insomnia or trouble sleeping.
    • Maintenance issues like water leaks or electrical problems (even when professionals have said nothing is broken).
    • Inexplicable occurrences, like strange sounds or changes in temperature.
      • Note: If you hear or see something and think there might be a presence in your home, try not to jump to conclusions. Most of the time, the sounds are actually rats or mice, and the dripping water faucet is actually a plumbing problem. Consider and investigate rational explanations first, then move on to paranormal ones. It’s important to stay grounded with all this!
Section 6 of 7:

Preventing Future Negative Energy & Attracting Positive Energy

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    Keep your home tidy and avoid clutter. Clutter is really ground zero for negative energy, and the more you let it sit, the more likely it is to bring negative energies and entities into your space. To keep things moving, physically clear your space and make sure it’s clean and tidy at all times. You don’t have to be spiritual to notice the effects of this! When you walk into a room and it’s a complete mess, you feel like you want to close the door and come back later, but when you tidy up a space, it feels nice straight away.
    • Once every 3 months or so, take the time to go through your belongings more thoroughly and get rid of things that don’t serve you anymore. Our energy changes over time, and some objects that we used to like can keep us stagnant.
    • For example, say you have a big library full of books in your home. It’s amazing for decoration, but if you’ve already read 25 of them and they’re just sitting on the shelf now gathering dust, they could be holding stagnant energies.
    • I’m not saying you need to give away or donate these books if you don’t want to, but if you don’t want to get rid of them, clean them and move them around a little bit. If you want to keep an object for a long time, make sure that you’re taking care of it!
  2. 2
    Cleanse your home energetically on a regular basis. Your home is where most of your energies linger or become stagnant, so cleanse your space as often as once per week or once every two weeks. You don’t have to spend hours each time—a short 15-minute ritual should work just fine. In life, there will always be situations that bring negative energies, but adding a regular cleansing to your routine can help you maintain a healthy atmosphere energetically.
    • To identify specific areas in your space that need cleansing, all you need is a pendulum or a necklace.
    • Dangle the pendulum or necklace in your hand, and say something like, “Show me where the energy is negative.” Your pendulum will either swing from left to right or swing in circles. Whichever one it does, this will be your signal that a space needs to be cleansed of negative energy.
    • From there, you can take your pendulum from room to room to test your space. Go to the center of each room, and ask if the energy feels positive. If your pendulum starts doing the negative energy signal that you determined earlier, that space needs cleansing.
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    Place crystals in each room according to the rules of Feng Shui. In Feng Shui, each room in your house has an energetic meaning. For example, the kitchen is associated with abundance, so you can place a specific crystal that deals with abundance, like pyrite, in this room. This attracts financial and professional abundance to your life. Here’s a breakdown of some of the other rooms in your home:
    • Your bedroom is linked to emotion, inner love, and romantic love, so crystals like rose quartz or rhodonite are good options.
    • The living room is about welcoming others, interpersonal relationships, and the role in society that makes you feel grounded. Crystals that deal with friendship or social connection, like yellow topaz, work well in this room.
    • The bathroom deals with self-love and creativity, so crystals like amethyst or carnelian are perfect in this room.
    • If you use crystals, make sure to take care of them and cleanse and recharge them regularly —don’t just let them sit in a room gathering dust!
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    Keep fresh plants in your home, and get rid of dead plants promptly. Plants are beautiful, and they’re also full of life. It’s not necessarily spiritual or Feng Shui, but they make you feel good, not just with their colors and beauty, but also by releasing oxygen. On the flip side, having dead flowers in your space is considered bad energy and can keep the energy low, so make sure to dispose of any dead or dying plants right away.
    • Opening windows regularly and letting fresh air into the space has a similar cleansing effect!
  5. 5
    Display meaningful symbols, salt lamps, or wind chimes in your home. Depending on your religious beliefs, there may be some symbols you associate with good luck or protection. Decor with these symbols can help maintain good energy in your space. Salt lamps can help absorb negativity, and wind chimes can bring positive energies with their sound vibrations, as well.
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    Don’t keep mirrors by your bed, and get rid of broken mirrors. In some spiritual practices, mirrors are believed to be portals between our physical world to the invisible world. Because of this, it’s better not to place a mirror in front of your bed. When you’re sleeping, you’re very vulnerable, energetically speaking, and if a mirror is a portal, it’s better not to have it in front of you when you’re in that state.
    • Having broken mirrors in your home is also considered to be bad energy. A mirror isn’t only a portal; it’s also associated with abundance and the self, so when it’s broken, it can create a sort of imbalance in these areas.
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    Be careful about bringing antique objects into your home. There are some things that I would be hesitant to bring into my place, and antique objects fall into this category because you never know who they belonged to before. Most of the time, these objects likely belonged to great people, but sometimes, they could have a more negative energy attached to them. If you do bring antique items into your home, cleanse them first.
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    Cleanse your outdoor space to ward off negative energies. Many of the indoor cleansing methods (burning herbs, sprinkling water, or using sound) also work to cleanse the area surrounding the exterior of your house, which can keep negative energies from getting in. You can also put some salt at the entrance of your front door, or display a protective symbol there.
    • For example, in the Jewish faith, the symbol of the mezuzah is placed by the front door for protection (among other things).
    • Similarly, if you're Christian or Catholic, you may decide to display a cross symbol somewhere around the entrance of your home.
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Section 7 of 7:

Benefits of Cleansing Your Home

  1. Cleansing your house of bad energy can be extremely beneficial. Home is where we spend so much of our time, and it’s also where our energies are constantly being released and absorbed. For example, if you feel stuck or stagnant in your love life or in your career, it can be necessary or helpful to clean the space that you're living in. If you cleanse your space regularly and make an effort to maintain a positive energy there, it can be completely life-changing!


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