Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Blessing Bowl (House Cleansing Part 2)

Welcome to the second installation of our House Cleansing Ceremony!  Instead of presenting you with an overwhelming amount of information in a single post, I've decided to divide the celebration into four parts. The first three parts will detail three major activities that occurred within the ritual: I've previously covered how to create a protective rune chain for your house, and will cover my negativity banishing spell next.  Today, I'd like to talk about the household blessing bowl!


A blessing bowl is a simple way of filling a space with a specific intent continuously.  It is typically a small bowl filled with items that have special meaning to you.  The items can be anything, such as small trinkets, stones, herbs, jewelry, coins, pictures, offerings, prayer cards, and so on and so forth.  Anything small that will fit in the bowl could be a candidate as long as it holds a special place in your heart and is entered into the bowl with intent.

Typically, blessing bowls are cohesive - that is, one person puts it together or it's received as a gift completed.  It also usually contains small cards as requests for blessings for the room.  However, I've put a small spin on the concept of a blessing bowl so that I could create one with my friends in ritual!


The bowl itself should have significant meaning and be appealing to the eye because it stays on display in a particular area.  It doesn't have to be expensive - you could pull a bowl from your cabinet or pick one up from a thrift store.  It can be handmade, but you don't have to personally create one if ceramics are not your thing.  It could technically be a basket or a tray, as long as it can hold the items you put in it.  Size doesn't matter, but typically you'll want something that looks full once it's complete.

I personally chose a bowl that called to me on Amazon.  If you'd like to take a look at the bowl I ordered, complete with three decorative spheres, one of which has a pentacle carved into it, click here!


Before we moved anything into our house, we held a special house cleansing ritual.  On the invites, I asked everyone to bring one item for the house - a small object that symbolized something they would like to bless our house with.

The evening before the ritual, I was sure to sage all supplies, including the empty, fresh-out-of-the-package blessing bowl!  This is incredibly important.  You'll want to remove any energy anyone else might have unintentionally or otherwise put into the bowl.  It's the perfect way to start with a clean slate!

The blessing bowl was one of the last activities of the ritual.  We began by choosing a song that was fun, energetic and most attendants knew.  We also wanted something that signified growing up and moving on because our last living space was so difficult.  The song was admittedly chosen during ritual, but it was perfect: Bon Jovi's It's My Life.

I started by filling the bowl with salt.  Salt is considered a purifying mineral, which is perfect considering the house cleansing ritual involved an incredible amount of cleansing.

While I filled the bowl with salt, I asked everyone in the circle to charge the item they were asked to bring with pure thought and happy intentions.  We then passed them in a clockwise motion around the circle while singing along with with the song.  As I received each one with my receptive (non-dominant, energy receiving) hand, I placed the item aesthetically in the bowl.  

The items were of a wide variety of subjects, and covered everything from finances to music and more.

Because the house cleansing circle was interfaith, I encouraged attendants to bring symbols of their faith to add to the bowl.

I'm incredibly humbled and proud that my circle of friends are so open and accepting, and come from so many different walks of life!

Items included shells, coins, jewelry, gemstones and even an action figure.  Each item meant something special to the person who brought it and was charged with the appropriate intent as a blessing to our new home!

Once the bowl was completed and the ritual was over, I placed it in a safe area of the house to avoid spilling it while moving our furniture and belongings in.


Once your blessing bowl is complete and you've fully moved in, you should find a place for it that is in a central location.  The idea is that the blessing bowl will fill your home with its offerings, so you'll want to make sure it's in a room you're in often or in a location that you'll walk by it every day.

My husband and I chose to have it in an area near the front door.  This ensures that we see it and walk near it every single day, whether we're leaving for work or walking the dog.

It's also in a centralized communal area.  My husband and I live with fellow Circle of Fountains member and longtime close friend Tony.  This means that we each have our own rooms and separate offices.  By placing the bowl in the front room, we've put it in our shared space.


I couldn't be happier with our beautiful blessing bowl! I feel as though it is one of the key reasons we've been so happy and so lucky in our new place.  If you'd like to make a blessing bowl of your own, keep in mind the following points:
  • Blessing bowls can be made by one person or many.  They can be made for yourself or as a gift.
  • Blessing bowls are put together of any item that has profound meaning to the owner and to you.
  • The item itself should somehow represent the blessing the owner wishes to bestow upon the area.
  • The bowl should have particular meaning to you or call to you.
  • Your bowl should also be properly cleansed, be it with sage, purified water, full moon light or any other purification method you prefer, to remove any intentions of its previous life.
  • Once cleansed, the items should be charged individually by the owner with the appropriate intent and entered into the bowl.
  • The bowl should then be placed in a centralized location - either a room where you are the most or where you will walk by it every day.  If you are gifting this to someone, be sure to let them know this!
  • While accidents happen, try your best not to knock the bowl over or jostle the contents too much.  The items should remain charged even if the bowl tips, but I would suggest putting it back together gingerly and with great respect.  I would maybe go as far as to hold a new ritual, even if it's solitary, and add new items of your own to the bowl.  A tipped bowl could be a sign of hard times or of potential disruption.  We, fortunately, have yet to experience this in the two months we've lived here but I'm certain it'll eventually happen.
Best of luck to you on creating a beautiful blessing bowl!


  1. I think the blessing bowl is a lovely idea. I fear however with my houseful of cats and dogs it would soon be filled with pet hair as well. It would need to be regularly emptied, cleaned and replaced. Not sure I could keep up with repeating a blessing ritual each month however small. x

    1. I think the pet hair could be their little offerings to the home! It's kind of a cute idea, particularly if you're adding scraps of paper and herbs to yours versus putting a select number of items in salt as I did. That being said, I have three cats and a dog and have yet to see much of a hair problem. :)

  2. Lovely bowl! I am glad things are working out so well for you and your husband in your new house. You guys deserve it!

    1. Thank you so much, Lesley! I really appreciate it!

  3. I like this very much. It is much like a home shrine or a hearth shrine. However, I would consider using salt during the blessing, but remove it for display. The chances of spilling it are too high. I guess it depends on your tradition. Intentionally putting salt on the ground is fine, and done for many reasons, but spilling it has too many negatives.

    1. Six months and no spills here, and that's with three cats and a dog. It all depends on where you place the bowl and how careful you feel your household is. In my house, the chances of this being spilled are pretty slim, but your situation may be different.

  4. I have a similar bowl in my home as well, however that I've found leaving metal objects in salt tends to corrode them over time. I live in a rather humid climate though, so this could also have had something to do with it. I also personally discard the salt after any particularly negative circumstances, as I believe salt absorbs negativity in the home.