How do you cleanse a new space?

When we move into a home or an apt that has been previously occupied,  it is important that we cleanse our  new home.  Chances are, your new home has been cleaned thoroughly before you took possession.  The carpets have been shampooed, your walls painted & the bathroom(s) re-grouted.  The overall look of the house might be sparkling to the eye, but the energy of the house is usually not as pristine.
Depending on how sensitive you are to energies, you might be able to detect subtle differences.  You might be able to feel if the energy is stale, like when you need to open a window during spring cleaning.  Just because a wall is painted  or a carpet cleaned, it doesn’t mean that the energy in the place is clean. Negative energy may have gotten stuck in the floors, walls or the atmosphere of the apt or house.
I recommend that before you move furniture into the new space, that you thoroughly smudge the entire abode.  Be sure to open all the windows before you begin. There are several different methods available  to do this, but my personal favorite is smudging with White Sage.  You can purchase it  in bundle or loose form.  Either way, it works the same.
You will need the following for cleanse:

•         White Sage (either a bundle or loose)
•         A large shell or you can use an ashtray or a candle holder
•         Matches or a lighter
•         A feather  to fan the smoke (you can also use anything you may have to fan the smoke)

Start by lighting the White Sage on fire.  You can light the bottom of the bundle or if you are using loose Sage, simple take several pieces and light them on fire.  As the fire dies out, the Sage will form a thick smoke, this is what will be used to smudge the house.
I like to start at the front door of the apt or house.  While standing outside facing the closed door, I fan the smoke around the doorway & door jam;  I then walk thru the doorway, shutting  the door behind me, and turn around to smudge the inside of the door the same way.  I then proceed clock wise through the house.  I start at the bottom of the wall and work my way up.  I use the feather to fan the smoke up the wall and especially up into the corners of the room.  Negative energy seems to have a way of getting stuck in the upper corners of rooms, closets, showers, and attics. It also tends to get stuck under cabinets and under stairwells.
To digress for  a moment, it would be a good idea to have a strategy in mind before you smudge.  Every time I am asked to smudge a home, I walk through it first to get a feel for the energy in the house.  It is also a good idea to look over the property before you get started. Once I have finished the inside of the house, I always smudge the edge of the property to seal the good energy in and to put a barrier up against any negativity that may be lurking about.
If the home has more than one level, I usually start at the main level, work clockwise and then once I have returned to my starting point, I will go upstairs and repeat the process, trying not to forget  any nooks and crannies.  Once that is complete, I will then proceed to the basement, making sure that I smudge the stairwell going down.
As I said before, II try to look over the area prior to my smudging so I don’t forget any space. Crawl spaces can be tricky, but sometimes you can access them from the outside of the house. If that is the case, just go to the small space and direct some of the smoke under the house.  That should be sufficient to cleanse under the home.
Don’t forget to smudge front and back porches and any other space where people may have gathered around.  Lastly, I walk to the front edge of the driveway and begin the outside perimeter smudging. I again go clockwise around the property.  Once this is process is complete, I say a small prayer of thanks to God and the Angels to keep this property safe and free from harm.  I also visualize a bubble of white light around the property and the house to act as the final barrier to any negativity that may try to come in.
When I lived in South Carolina, my roommate and I smudged our house and property that we rented.  We were trying to decide the best way to keep negativity out.  We decided to place on our porch a large decorative container with a sign over it that read: “Please place your negativity here before you come in, you are welcome to take it when you leave”.  This seem to keep most of the negativity out of our house and it seemed that we didn’t have to smudge our home as often.
This brings up a good point:  how often should you smudge your home?  After the initial smudging, depending on what is going on in the home, once a quarter or twice a year should be sufficient.  If you are having a large gathering, you might want to smudge it before and after the event. Again, my roommate and I would do just that.  She really wanted everyone to be smudged before they came into the house, but I felt that was a little extreme.  Now I smudge my apt when I feel the need.
If you have a lot of love in your home, then you will not need to smudge as much.  If there is fighting of children or spouses, then you would probably want to smudge more often. It is really a personal choice.
Smudging is a Native American tradition that dates back centuries.  There are numerous books and methods that are available. I encourage you to find the one that works best for you.