Lysol gets rid of germs and Brita pitchers get rid of water contaminants, but if you’re looking to cleanse your home of negative spiritual energy, you’d do well to talk to the folks at Spellbound Mystical Store.
Spellbound, a combination metaphysical gift shop, hair salon and spiritual sanctuary at 1289 W. Littleton Blvd., carries an array of tools to chase away bad vibes and bring in the good.
Owner Bridget Castillo shared some tactics and techniques on how to start the new year with a spiritually clean house.
“Cleansing your home with smudges is a great start,” Castillo said, peering across a wall of tight bundles of sage and other herbs. Smudges can be smoldered to produce purifying smoke.
“People think sage is your only option, but it’s not,” said Castillo, who has run the shop for four years with business partner Lois McKinney. “White sage is good for cleaning house, but yerba santa is good for protection and setting boundaries. Cedar is good as an offering to spirits and ancestors. ”
If smoke is too much, try essential oil sprays, which achieve a similar effect without the fumes. Combine with an anointed candle — which come with a variety of blessings — for an enhanced effect.
Got some seriously bad juju lingering? Try chasing powder, a powerful incense that sparks and flames when applied to hot coals.
“That’s the heavy duty stuff,” Castillo said. “It’s not to be taken or used lightly. Let us teach you how to use it properly.”
Castillo said you can maximize your cleansing by coordinating with moon cycles — pushing away bad energy while the moon is shrinking or waning, and drawing positive energy while the moon is waxing.
“Pushing negativity away while the moon is growing can cause a bit of a clash of energies,” Castillo said.
Incense can be a quick and easy way to cast out bad vibes. “It’s all about the energy and intention you’re exuding,” Castillo said.
Salt lamps — dense chunks of salt lit from within — exude negative ions to counteract the positive ions radiated by electronics, Castillo said (don’t let the names fool you: negative ions are good, and vice versa).
Castillo and McKinney also provide private, custom cleansing sessions to clients, but Castillo is adamant: nothing negative.
“We don’t ever cast anything bad against another person,” Castillo said. “No hexes. If someone were to come in and say that someone is doing harm to them and they’d like that person to lose their job or go away, I’ll redirect: I’ll tell them to cleanse themselves, to try to put up a boundary around themselves so that negative energy can’t get in and that person can’t affect them. Sometimes we just need to shift our mindset.”
Crystals and gems are another powerful spiritual toolbox, said Dakota Wolner, a young employee at Spellbound.
“Crystals have their own energies and vibrations that either counteract or work with our own energies and vibrations,” Wolner said. “So depending what you want in your life, you can use crystals to alter your mind or body. Each crystal has something it helps you with emotionally or spiritually, and they also have good physical healing properties.”
Wolner singled out a few: Amber is a great cleansing stone, and clear quartz is a well-rounded all-purpose crystal for protection and healing. Sunstone brings prosperity, and zebra jasper — with its alternating black and white stripes — is good for striking a balance.
One of Wolner’s favorites, though, is fluorite, which chases away chaos.
“We live in chaotic times,” Wolner said. “It’s pretty handy.”