The Barrida

     As an energy healer, I am always keeping an eye out for good ways to clear out the energy field, cleansing and revitalizing it.  There are many ways that the shamanic healers know & use: the barrida is one of my favorites.  It is simple & effective and you can do with herbs right out of your own garden.

     Barrida is a Spanish word and refers to a broom.  In this technique, we take powerfully protective and cleansing herbs, bundle them together in our hand and use this makeshift broom

  

Barrida Herbs:  Rosemary, Bay, Rue & Mugwort

to sweep through our energy field.  We move from the top of the head down, directing the energy back into Pachamama, Mother Earth.  It is similar to smudging with burning herbs such as sage, but I prefer the barrida in many ways because I love the smell of the fresh plants.

    

    I have favorite herbs I put into the barrida.  Here are some of them:

 Mugwort:  this herb grows all over the planet, in different varieties.  And nearly everywhere it grows, the indigenous people used it for protection.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, our local variety is called Coastal Mugwort or Artemisia suksdorfii.  But any variety of mugwort does the job.

 Rosemary is one of three herbs that the curanderas of Mexico put into their barridas.  Though Rosemary came from the Mediterranean coast, the Spaniards brought it with them to Latin America, and the indigenous tribes immediately embraced it.  It is one plant I grow near my front door, for its protection qualities.

Rue is yet another key herb in the barrida, providing powerful protection.  It has a strong, almost noxious scent and thus it thought to repel harm.

Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) is one of my personal favorite protection herbs.  It too grows near my front door, and I rely on it for to help keep me safe.

     Once you have used the barrida to sweep through your energy field, you then discard the branches.  I put them on the compost pile and simply leave them in the garden, where the earth

will cleanse and recycle them.

    This is a great technique. Give it a try!

Janet

Resources:

Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs               Scott Cunningham

A Kitchen Witch’s  World of Magical Plants & Herbs    Rachel Patterson

You Tube on Limpia & Barridas:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1zSFyN8I4M

The Cookie Lady

     Some years ago I got a call from a friend of mine.  She had just moved into an old house in Olympia;  this house was about 80 years old and throughout its long history, had been built and lived in by one family.  The last member of this family had lived in this house for most of her life, but had recently died.  So my friend was able to buy this wonderful old home, which sits on the Eastside hill of Olympia, overlooking Puget Sound.

    My friend was settling very nicely into this house and really enjoying her new space.  But one day she came home and went into the small office just off the kitchen.  As she walked into that room, she was very startled to smell the distinct scent of newly baked cookies.  She walked around the house, trying to figure it out.   The smell eventually dissipated and my friend went on with her house projects.

     However several times over the next few weeks she came home once again to the smell of fresh baked cookies.  My friend is a gifted intuitive and she began to wonder if her house had some sort of ghost presence.  So she gave me a call and I went to her house to do an energetic space clearing, but also to check in with the possible ghost.

     This sort of work is commonly done by shamanic healers.  We travel via shamanic journey into the Spirit World and invite the ghost in for a conversation.  Now this work should only be done if you have been well-trained and have excellent protection; not all ghosts are benign.  However, this ghost was.

     I met the spirit of a woman who had died very suddenly while living in that house.  Because of the unexpected nature of her death, she did not know she was dying, and she got lost between this world and the next world.  Her spirit was still waiting in the house, waiting for her family members to come home.  This woman was a very nurturing, hospitable sort of person in life;  in death she was making cookies to welcome her family home.  Only of course, they never came.  She was very confused and sad.

   We had a long conversation.  I gently explained to her that she had died.  I offered her the opportunity to make a crossing into the next world, where her family would be waiting for her.  She was happy to accept my help.  I took her to the crossing place and explained to her what to do.  I watched her cross the bridge into the next world. That world across the bridge was enveloped in clouds so I could not see it,  but I could hear the cries of welcome and joy as she made her way.  Her family was indeed waiting for her and they took her in with great love.

     Back here, in the old house in Olympia,  we finished the energetic space clearing.  The wind blew in through the open windows and doors and the sun shone in like a blessing.  My friend had a strong sense of welcome from the house, as if it finally was hers.  

      That was the last time my friend smelled cookies in her house.

Janet

Resources

•  The Unquiet Dead by Edith Fiore
•  Sacred Space by Denise Linn

•  Butterfly photo by Nancy Partlow