tending to our spiritual space (my Sicilian folk methods)

Ciao Amici!

As I mentioned on Instagram, I wanted to share some of the ways I protection my spiritual space using tools and talismans of my ancestral tradition.

But first I want to share something I think is essential to begin. Their is a personal energy that really needs to be practiced while we do this work. We cannot do ritual or spell work out of fear (my friend Mary Delorenzo Woods wrote something perfectly regarding this). We also cannot do this as a way to "push" out the spirit of anything, particularly this virus. 

Pushing spirit away takes a force of aggression from us— a war like energy and right now pushing anything isn't helpful. What we want to do is surround everything in our magic and use it to neutralize the spirit of the virus. Our job is to create a new dimensional space where any viral spirit can alchemize and become wisdom and medicine, somehow, for us. Meaning: we cannot be hyper anxious, full of fear, and out of our center fully when going into this work. The work itself is a tool to remind us we can get soft, so soft, we can become something new, a new form, a new energy. But even to begin it, we should have some sense of being grounded, centered, allowing for tension to be pulling at us, expanding our capacity. Our work is to become the magic. These rituals are allowing that magic to be material around our homes. So spend moments dropping down and in before getting into this.

I want to make clear that I believe everything has a spirit. EVERYTHING. So before you begin this work, sit with the spirit of what this virus is. What does it need? What does it want? How can we not starve it but also how can we not allow it to become us? Be conscious with this. We are not accepting it. Or inviting it. We are practicing understanding it... as well as the parts of ourselves that are a part of it. Remember: everything has a spirit. And everything is connected. Meaning - us and everything.

Because I live with this kind of understanding, and my ancestors did as well, I am very much into creating ritual around my home — protecting my spiritual space and creating the perfect environment to alchemize viral energy, not welcome it to take over my space. When it takes over, we become uneasy, nervous, anxious, angry, scared... not saying these emotions are not important or necessary to feel— but they cannot live within us or they will weaken us, we will be susceptible to all kind of shit energy we don't want living with us. I don't want to diminish the real fear that is there. But I also want to state— our work is to alchemize it.

Besides keeping physically healthy (eating well, taking my herbs, trying to stretch, get outside for a bunch, breathe in fresh air) and staying home —— literally 99% of the time and leaving ONLY when utterly essential….

I have to keep spiritually healthy.

So here are some tools I use so I can LET GO of thinking/worrying about keeping my spiritual space healthy, and not STRESS about... but to allow these tools to do the work so I can be present with my family. These are the ways my ancestors (and elders) survived many viruses and plagues — and yours too. WE ARE STILL HERE. They had ways. They knew things. We must carry them on. 

These methods are things that were either done in my family or passed on to me by my teachers— most would not consider themselves "teachers" and that is why I hold them with the highest regard. Parts of some things are passed on to me epigenetically — I just know them. 

I will try to explain the best as I can how to make and use each one:

1. The salt and lemon pouch:

You can use a small muslin bag or a small square scrap of fabric (approx 4x4in). Peel a few pieces of lemon rind off (being conscious to not leave any of the fruit on it) and cover it with salt in a bag or wrap it and tie it in fabric (make sure lemon is fully covered by salt.) I am making some for EVERY corner of my house. My elders would do this in one corner of by the front door. But I need to create this big huge space to ritualize and make them with my girls (passing on the craft) so we are going for the corner of every room (lucky I bought like 100 tiny muslim bags from amazon last year).

The salt acts as a the GREATEST neutralizer. It will cleanse the energy in the space — not by destroying it but by neutralizing it. The lemon detoxifies as well— the salt can neutralize the viral spirit and the lemon can help pull any unwanted energy from you and your space with it. 

Pray as you place these bags in your corners (maybe you only do one room). Pray exactly what it's there for— to neutralize any viral energy or entities and clear the field of any toxins or harmful snags. The prayer part is personal. Just understand what the spirit of salt and lemon are doing to do work for you :: neutralize and extract un-wanted energy.

I honestly don't know where I learned this but feel it's been in my life forever. This little talisman goes on the floor behind your front and back door. Both the lemon and the clove will pull any invasive energy to it and clear it from the space. It also becomes a BOUNDARY for your space. NOTHING enters that is not welcome. Some people put the lemon in a bowl of salt but I never have seen/done that personally. Take your lemon and consciously push 13 cloves of garlic into it— in any formation/ symbol you desire or that calls to you. As you do so, feel yourself warding off what is not healthy, feel it becoming a solid boundary for what you will allow into your space. 

Place the lemon behind your door for a week, bring it out and put it into the earth (bury it) asking for the earth to alchemize it. And then repeat (make another one) until you feel all is warded away.