Saying Goodbye to a Home

The Moon + Stone was featured on ApartmentGuide’s Saying Goodbye to a Home article. Check out the blog article here!

Moving Out and Moving On: Best Tips on Saying Goodbye to a Home, by Darby Mulligan on Apartment Guide, July 18, 2024

It is always fun to be interviewed about your approach and how to integrate Earth Medicine, shamanic approaches, and ritual into your daily life. This is my passion and my life’s work. Making the everyday sacred.Some friends are also featured in that piece, including one of my favorite crystal vendors Exquisite Crystals’ John VanRees Jr.

Leaving a home is like leaving a trusted friend, and there are some great tips and ideas on how to approach moving out of a home.

When I advise my clients during the incredibly stressful time of moving space, I try to help them find a way to make packing and moving sacred. When stressed, we sometimes forget to take moments to breathe and create space to honor.  Whether that is doing a release ceremony before you officially move out, journaling and setting intentions, setting an alarm every hour to sit and thank your home for keeping you warm, safe, or protected, or creating a cleaning and clearing ritual, you can take a moment to honor and express gratitude around how this home served your Spirit, what you are ready to release, and what you want to call into your new home.

We can pack up and leave a space, but we always take our emotional baggage. A great way to process and release is combination of journaling and ritual. Journal questions:

1. Tell the story of your life during your stay in this home—remember the joys, successes, challenges, and energy this space gave you. 

2. What did you learn while living in this space?

3. What are you ready to release emotionally, mentally, or spiritually?

4. What energy do you want to call into your new space?

Through this process, you can identify some things you are ready to release—maybe it is releasing fear, or stuckness. Then identify what you are calling in—if you are releasing fear of change, then maybe you are calling a sense of adventure and courage to be authentically you. Write out releases on paper. Some people like to use a little rosemary, lavender, tobacco or other herb on the paper, and tuck it into a little package. Take it outside and put it on a burn-proof plate or in a fire pit and burn. You can watch the wind carry the prayers of release to the four corners of the earth.

If you want to incorporate this into a cleansing ritual, you can take a bit of ash,  mix with lavender, salt (Himalyan sea salt is nice, but you can use any salt, even table salt), and spread on the floor before you sweep and clean your space. Open windows if you can. Do this work mindfully, Visualize the energy here, the challenges, the experiences and items you identified for release, being swept away. Always sweep toward an outside door. You can use a dustpan, or sweep outside if it is acceptable. Just take the dirt and detritus outside to bury or put into a trash can away from your stuff.

 Some great stone medicine allies for moving house are:

Citrine: Helps selling your home. Put a small citrine grid in a main living space. Even a piece in a central location can attract that incredible abundance energy, sunshiney feel and warmth you need to attract financial abundance to your life. I am partial to Congo Citrine and the Smoky Citrines from the Congo are a perfect addition to moving home, as they ground and attract abundance.

Carnelian: Bringing the energy since the beginning of time! Carnelian is a great ally for getting some energy to do the dang work of packing, cleaning, cleansing, plus it just brings so much joy and creative energy, what else do you need? Put it in your pocket and buzz around like you drank some espresso. I actually do put it in water when I need that extra oomph to get shizzle down.

Black Tourmaline: Helps with grounding and clearing as you make space for change. If it is on your person, it is like having a forcefield against other people’s stress and tension. I also love gridding my home in BT for extra protection when all kinds of people are walking through.

Lepidolite: Stress can really take its toll, so using lepidolite can help de-stress, rest, recuperate, and come at things with a new peace. During your packing breaks, place it on the heart or third eye, and rest or nap. Wake up with a new perspective. I also love it for tension headaches.

Amethyst: Protective. Visioning. The stone of acceptance, what is there not to love about our old fave?!?

Please check out the entire article at Apartment Guide.