While we love and embrace all of the seasonal rhythms and cycles, there is no doubt that the warmer days that come in late March and early April have us wanting to re-enact the scene from Snow White – you know the one where she flings open the windows while singing alongside the birds that have returned home from their seasonal migrations and gets to dusting and sweeping all of the muck and clutter that has accumulated from the dark nights of winter alongside her furry friends and critters. In the wheel of the year, in early April, we welcome the true start to the spring season that follows the equinox in late March. We trade snow boots for sandals, stop shoveling our driveways and start digging into the soil to prepare our gardens for seeds, and perhaps begin to adjust our thermostat from heat to cool.

Energetically, this time of year calls for us to move from turning inward to instead expanding outward. Instead of hermiting and hunkering down, we find ourselves craving movement, connecting with others, and expending pent up energy.

Often the feeling that comes with this is also a desire for clearing away. Throughout the winter we sink into deep slowness, and it can feel as though we have just experienced a prolonged period of stagnation. Just as Snow White clears the cobwebs from the window sills and cabinets, we too find ourselves called to clear away that which has accumulated within us but no longer serves us, whether this be within ourselves, or in tending to our hearth spaces.

We can work with the herbs in really special ways to help cleanse our homes and welcome in the energy of spring, which brings about its own sort of medicine!

Homemade Herbal Cleansers

Many of the standard household cleaning products we have come to recognize and heavily utilize are actually quite toxic and full of chemicals that may cause more harm than benefit. The beautiful thing about creating cleaning products with plants is that they are not only affordable, but tend to be gentle and non-toxic, while also being tough on bacteria and germs.

While we have come to love many of the aromatic herbs for their use in the kitchen to spice up meals or for the calming effects of their scents, it is many of these very same herbs that pack a punch when it comes to antibacterial or antimicrobial effects as well. This creates a dual benefit – a nontoxic cleaner for your home that also has the delicious herbal smells we have come to know and love!

Even better, it is really quite simple and affordable to create your own homemade herbal cleanser. All you need are the following ingredients:

• Mason jar with lid
• Parchment paper
• White vinegar
• Herb of choice (some good ones are thyme, lavender, sage, and rose, or you might opt to use leftover citrus peels from lemons or oranges as a zero waste option!)

To make your cleanser, add enough dry herb material to fill the jar ⅓ of the way. Then fill the rest of the jar with the vinegar – this will extract the properties from the herbs that will ultimately result in your gentle cleaning solution. Cover with the lid, being sure to place a piece of parchment paper in between the top of the jar and the lid to prevent the lid from corroding into the solution due to the vinegar. Finally, give the jar a shake to make sure that all of the herb material is well covered.

Make sure to label your jar, and then tuck it away in a cool, dark place to extract for about a month (you can use full moon to full moon for a little extra magic, infusing the cleanser with intentions for release and clearing away). Once or twice a day, pull the jar out and give it a shake to continuously ensure the plant material is covered. Once you reach a month, strain, and you can add to a spray bottle to use as a normal cleanser!

Simmer Pots

Another fun way to incorporate herbs into your spring cleaning routine is to create a simmer pot. This is another way to enjoy the aromatic element of herbs and allow them to permeate around your hearth space. It also is a lovely way to welcome in the energy of spring into the home!

To create a simmer pot, simply place a pot of water on the stove. Gently add herbs of your choosing to the pot that remind you of spring – perhaps yarrow, lemon balm, mint, or others of your choosing. Feel free to experiment with different herbs depending on their energetic correspondences (such as calling in abundance, protection, or positive intentions), or different blends for different scent profiles.

Simmer pots can also be used to create floor washes as well, which are rooted in Hoodoo traditionally. After traditionally cleansing your floors with a non-toxic wash, you can use a floor wash to energetically cleanse the home, or to amplify energies you are hoping to call in.

Smoke Cleansing and Incense

A long standing tradition for working with plants to cleanse and clear has been through the use of sacred smoke herbs. While we have emphasized this in previous blog posts, it’s always important to acknowledge the sensitivity around this practice and to not utilize herbs that have long held sacred relationships with Indigenous peoples around the world, as their commercialization has resulted in the degradation of this relationship with the Indigenous communities who stewarded them with love and responsibility no longer able to access them. This includes wild-grown white sage and palo santo.

However, the use of smoke cleansing herbs in ritual and tradition is deeply rooted in most cultures around the world. A beautiful way to connect in to your own people and ancestral lineage is to research what herbs would have been used in sacred ceremony by those who came before you. It is also always good and a safe practice to work with herbs that are often found in abundance such as pine resin, rosemary, garden sage, and mugwort.

While all acts of spring cleaning can be made into a sacred ritual, the act of clearing the unwanted energy of your home though smoke cleansing feels just a little bit extra juicy. To do this, first speak your intentions to the herbs, asking them to help amplify love and good energy in the home and help to dispel any negative energy from the home. As you light them, watch the smoke for a moment, envisioning it carrying your prayers and intentions to where they are most needed. Then, to clear the home of energy, move in a counterclockwise direction around the house, being sure to get into little nooks and corners where stagnant energy may tend to accumulate. Take your time with this practice, feeling unwanted energy dissipate as you move with intention.

Finally, it is a crucial step to open windows or doors to allow the energy that is removed to move away from the home!

The act of spring cleaning is one that humans have held for millennia. Our greatest of great grandmothers at one time participated in it, and generations will continue to engage in this ritual far into the future. It can be fun to also explore different folklore or ancestral traditions around this practice to identify which activities call to you. Perhaps you wish to engage the plants further by hanging protective herbs over your mantle or front door, or you sprinkle cinnamon across your front step to welcome in the new season. Whatever it may be, find the joy in this tradition, and call in the new beginnings of the spring that is to come!