House Blessings
The expression “home is where the heart is” speaks to the importance of that place we call home. A house is merely a structure; a home refers to the quality of living that takes place there. Making a dwelling place a home results from our intention to do so.
In ancient times, the hearth or fire was considered to be the heart of a dwelling. The goddess Hestia was honored as the keeper of the hearth (heart), and it was customary to keep the hearth fire burning, and not allow it to go out. Hestia was looked to as the protector and benefactor of all who lived in the dwelling. When a newly married couple left their respective families to form their own home, a bit of fire was taken from the hearth of the bride’s family to light her and her new husband’s hearth. Thus, it was believed, joy and prosperity would there abide.
We can create rituals and ceremonies to help us make our dwelling place a home, to bring heart to where we live. We can bless the space and all who may enter and live there. Expectations and goals for the life to be lived in the space can be expressed. A dwelling place can be defined as a house, apartment, college dorm room, motor home or a number of other kinds of places where we may live.
Ceremonies and rituals can be designed for existing places or new-to-us places. Moving out of an old or into a new dwelling is a turning point in life, a rite of passage, marking a life change of an ending and a beginning. These changes require us to make adjustments, which can be eased by the enactment of rituals and ceremonies. Rituals can include cleansing the space, to allow the energy of the previous dwellers to leave and the energy of the new dwellers to enter.
An office space, an artistic space, a play space and any other type of space in which we may live, work or play can be blessed and dedicated by our intent to bring our heart to them. Then they can become sacred spaces for us, places of renewal, transformation and healing.
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