The Vernal or Spring equinox which falls between the 19th- 21st March every year is the time when the sun is exactly above the equator, so the day and night are of equal length. For the ancient Romans, the spring equinox was a day to celebrate the deity Cybele, a goddess closely associated with nature and fertility.
Nature is just beginning to stir and green shoots start to appear. Walking in the woods at the weekend I noticed that lots of fresh blossom has suddenly appeared on the trees, early daffodils are flowering and a patch of sweet violets are gradually coming into bloom. It is a very lovely moment in the change of the seasons when rebirth is under way – and we can sense it too – we feel more energised to throw off the old and bring in the new!
Space Cleaning Rituals
This time of the year is traditionally associated with spring cleaning and with space clearing – this is a practical exercise as well as being an ancient purification ritual. At home, it is common for unnecessary objects to gradually accumulate which impede the flow of energy within your home – anything that you don’t love or use regularly can be considered clutter.
As part of a space clearing ritual, it is good to go through each room and remove as many extraneous things as possible. For example, recycle the piles of magazines you’ve already read, take the clothes you’ve never worn to a charity shop and either mend or discard any chipped crockery. If it is hard to let go of a particular item, then give yourself some more time by putting it into a ‘not quite sure’ box until you’re certain you want to get rid of it.
Actively clearing away outmoded objects and introducing new energy into your home will automatically make you feel more liberated too! In fact, performing this type of space clearing exercise regularly is one the fastest ways to transform your home environment whilst simultaneously improving your inner sense of well-being.
Botanical Spring Cleaning Tips
In the meantime, to make your space feel refreshed and full of vitality, shake out the rugs, mop the floors and wipe surfaces down using our natural cleaning spray suggestion below…
Natural Cleaning Spray Recipe:
- Take a 100ml bottle of witch hazel water as a base and simply add 10-15 drops or fresh and antibacterial essential oils such as lemon, grapefruit, lime, rosemary, fragonia or peppermint directly into the bottle.
- Feel free to top up with some white distilled vinegar or a teaspoon of bicarbinate of soda for extra cleaning power.
- Give the bottle a good shake & use the fresh-scented spray to wipe down surfaces around the home.
- Note: Always shake the bottle well before each use.
Opening all the windows is a lovely ritual to allow the fresh air to circulate indoors and offer a sense of renewal. I recommend using our specially formulated diffusion blend ‘Mountain Air’ in a vaporiser too, for its refreshing, purifying, and uplifting effect, plus it helps rid the environment of any air-borne viruses or germs. Try putting a few drops of lavender or bergamot essential oil into the fabric softener dispenser of your washing machine to give you clothes and linen a fresh boost.
Purification & Cleansing Rituals
Purifying the energetic quality of our environment or of an individual person is an age-old practice where incense or the burning of aromatic herbs are traditionally used in these practices. Across the Himalayan region, dried cypress or juniper needles are burnt as a purifying offering and are traditional ingredients in the Tibetan Buddhist ‘sang’ or smoke ritual, which means ‘to remove, take away and purify’, so a person or place is cleansed and revitalised. The physical ritual involves the burning of different leaves and woods, which can be mixed with many other substances such as ground gemstones.
Used since early times, juniper was also favoured by the ancient Greeks to combat illness or epidemics and to drive away negative forces. Likewise, juniper is one of the plants used in Scottish Gaelic rites, such as those performed at Hogmanay, where the smoke of burning juniper is used to cleanse, bless and protect the household and its inhabitants. It is easy to create a similar effect by adding a few drops of cypress, juniper berry or juniper needle essential oil to a room vaporiser as an air-freshener.
Botanical Plants & Spiritual Practices
Botanical aromatics have been used for thousands of years to accompany spiritual rituals, whether this is through prayer, meditation or the act of purifying our outer and inner environment, as in Sami culture or the Native American tradition of the Sweat Lodge. According to this tradition, smudge sticks are used to purify people and places where the smoke from the burning herb acts to cleanse the body, an object or a place from any negativity.
In the Plains Sweat-Lodge ritual, the floor of the structure is traditionally strewn with white sage leaves for the participants to inhale their fragrance and to rub on their bodies during the sweat. In this way, the scent and effect of the herb becomes intrinsically tied up and associated with the experience of the ritual itself.
Perhaps the best-known botanical aromatic used in this kind of ritualistic manner in the West today is frankincense, which is traditionally used in the Roman Catholic Mass. Juniper, cypress, sage and frankincense are but a few of the many natural aromatic herbs, essential oils, woods and gum resins which have been used since antiquity to sanctify a space, as well as to purify and cleanse ourselves and our immediate surroundings. All these essential oils can also be employed effectively in a modern-day context, used in oil burners or vaporisers to accompany spring cleaning and space clearing rituals.