For me, cleaning is a spiritual act. It is an opportunity for me as a spiritual being to bring more order, beauty, and harmony to the physical environment in which I dwell. With this viewpoint, cleaning is never a drudgery and is always a joy....

As we go about our cleaning and organizing, we are doing the spiritual work of restoring substances to the places where they belong. We may do it physically with mops and buckets and soap and sponges and brooms instead of as-yet-undeveloped spiritual powers, but we are bringing order, beauty and harmony nonetheless.

The Shakers have a saying, "Clean your room well, for good spirits will not live where there is dirt." I believe they are right.

Cleaning is also a way to enliven your home with your own loving spirit. You probably have noticed that the first thing most people do when they move into a new home is give it a good cleaning. This cleans away more than dirt--it clears away the old thoughts and energies that has been left by the previous occupants. Reaching into every nook and cranny and bringing your caring touch to every surface makes the place feel fresh and new and yours. In this same way, every time you clean your home--especially a good top-to-bottom spring cleaning--you clear away energetic residues of your old thoughts and experiences. A place cleaned with love and care becomes filled with that love and care.

SPRING CLEANING

There must be something about cleaning to welcome spring that dwells deep within our instincts. Just as the windy storms of early spring scour the land before new growth arises, and new seedlings shake off dirt as they shoot up through the soil to greet the sun, so too do we humans feel the impulse to open the windows and clear away the dust and cobwebs of winter on the first warmer days of spring.

Spring cleaning is a time-honored tradition in cultures around the world--and for purposes beyond simply removing dirt. In China, for example, the agriculturally-based springtime New Year’s celebration is preceded by a thorough housecleaning, both to remove accumulated grime and to rid the dwelling of any evil spirits that have taken up residence so they don’t come into the new year...

>>> Continue Reading "Spring Cleaning as a Spiritual Act"

© Copyright Debra Lynn Dadd. This article was originally
published at our website, SoulfulLiving.com, in Spring 2005, as part of Soulful Living's "Spring Cleaning" Issue.

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