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I’ve written a little bit about greener cleaning from time to time, and I’ve talked about blessing and cleansing the home as well, and creating magical surroundings (I especially love the evolution of my favorite all-purpose cleaner that I can follow in my blog posts). But for today’s blog party theme, I thought I’d talk about the correspondences of our homes themselves, and how that carries over into a home-based magical practice.
Now, not every home will have all of these specific locations as rooms, or maybe even at all….or perhaps your family calls it something else, or you don’t use what the room was designed for as its actual purpose. That is perfectly acceptable, instead of getting hung up on the name of the space or the item, consider the purpose of that place. When figuring out what to do with it, what one is actually using it for is more important than what it is labeled as on the blueprints!
- Doors–The door functions as the gatekeeper of your home. Its purpose is to let in whom we want, and anchor protection for whom we want to keep out of our home. The front door, in particular, acts as our formal warning or invitation to the world, while the back door acts as a place of retreat or escape, and the gateway to our outdoor sanctuaries (and often the work we need to do there).
- Entry way/Foyer–The entryway of your home is the welcome mat for you, your family and friends. Its purpose is to make those that enter feel safe and soothed.
- Living Room–The living room (or family room, if your home has a more formal living room) is primarily a place for unwinding relaxation and entertainment…but its a bit of a multipurpose space, which can play a number of roles for a family. Its purpose is to make those that are in the space feel comfortable, relaxed, and engaged with one another.
- Kitchen & Dining Room/Area–The kitchen’s role is to sustain and nourish the home, and its inhabitants. It is a place where the mood and the tone for the day to day routine can be set (or reset) for everyone in the home. This role is contiguous with that of the dining area. This space is one of communication and communion (which, in the non-religious sense, just means sharing).
- Study/Office–The study or office space (whether it be a room, or just a corner desk, or the occasional overtaking of the kitchen table) is the place for the business of those in the home. In a home with children, that business might be school work, for an adult it might be paying the bills and sending e-mails to the family.
- Bedrooms–The bedroom is a place of rejuvenating relaxation, healing, and turning in towards our inner selves. Ideally, it should act as a sanctum of ourselves where we can feel safe and whole.
- Bathrooms–The bathroom is a place of purification and cleansing. It is a retreat from the world, and a place where we can be alone in comfort and luxury or reflection and relaxation.
- Hallways–While an oft forgotten portion of the home, the hallway (if you have one) is a place of connection and separation. The hallway can be a space that allows us to disengage ourselves from one space and sort of reset our minds as we transit to another area, and another task in the home.
- Floor–The floor is probably one of the most sacred places in our home–it is the place were we meet and touch the earth. The floors of our home are what grounds us to the rest of the world, and their textures and colors aren’t just a matter of functionality, but also of the feeling and the tone of a space.
- Windows–Windows are for watchful protection–they are the eyes of the home. They act as both protection and invitation. Windows can be opened to let in a refreshing breeze, and closed to keep out a winter chill, or they can be covered to keep out prying eyes, and uncovered to allow us to be part of the world.
- Ceiling–The ceiling (and this includes the airspace between our heads and the ceiling) is a place of expansion. How much space we perceive exists “up there” (whether that is mathematically accurate or not) can be a reflection of how much space we have mentally and spiritually to expand in to.
- Porch/Patio/Balcony–These areas of the home act as an extension of the home into the outside, and a space of the home to invite the outside in. They can be a place of natural rejuvenation and communion with the elements as they appear in nature, and they can be a place of entertainment and communication and play.
When choosing how to decorate our homes as a reflection of ourselves and the business and pleasure we plan to engage in while in our home, the purpose of each space and the mood we want it to impart is an important long-term consideration to maximizing the spiritual potential of our homes. We can match the use of each space to the correspondences for the qualities we desire, and use them to help choose colors, textures, patterns, and objects that will give a greater depth to our experiences in each space. Most importantly, we can look at our individual homes, and add (or subtract) and rearrange what feelings we think the spaces of our homes should evoke…which means you can take my list and make your own if you you disagree! The most important thing to remember…
If you sleep on it, make it up
If you wear it, hang it up
If you drop it, pick it up
If you eat out of it, put it in the sink
If you step in it, wipe it off
If you open it, close it
If you empty it, fill it back up
If it rings, answer it
If it howls, feed it
If it cries, love it
