#house spirits

[nous-teleios]

Remember to honour your local house and nature spirits! It might seem trivial, but forming a connection with the forces that you spend most of your time with will skyrocket the quality of your space and mood.

[infernalwitxhcraft]

All About: House Spirits

Well, it's about time I brought them up once again, in their own post. This guide may be on the lengthy side, but it's here to explain what they are and how to begin working with them.

What the hell is a house spirit?

House spirits come from all different cultures and folklore. Known as, you guessed it, guardians of the home. They protect the house itself, the land around it (they get along with the land spirit(s) most of the time), and they also protect the family if treated right. A home certainly doesn't feel like one without these presiding spirits helping. In fact it gives the home a life of it's own.

What do they look like? Are there types?

Across many cultures, there are these spirits and the folklore varies for each. In my tribe, we consider them to usually be little dwarves or goblins that must be appeased, otherwise they will cause bad luck or even resort to curses. Regular offerings are required. Then there are the land spirits, which is a whole other topic. If given regular offerings and respect, we believe that they will not only generate good luck and events for us, but protect us and help with our daily lives. For the witches of the tribe, they will often assist in rituals and spells. That all being said, this has carried over into my personal beliefs. Many cultures describe house spirits assisting with the same things and if they are displeased, bad occurrences following. As far as looks go, it depends on the folklore surrounding your area and your cultural background(s). You may believe in one or two types or an entire spectrum of house spirits from the realm of the fair folk. You could have one house spirit or twelve. It's entirely up to your home. In some cultures, there are door spirits (yes, that guard the doors) and ones that work in the kitchen, among others for different functions of the home.

Okay so, I live in an apartment building. Can I still work with them?

Yes. When I used to live in apartments, I found it was an either/or situation regarding how many were there. Some buildings have only a few that roam around, sometimes only one that protects the entire building, or there may be multiple hanging out in one apartment. Most complexes have multiple however. And then for the lucky buildings that have one for each apartment...those are nice. I've included a short offering ritual at the end of this post, which you can use to ask questions about whatever you wish to know, including how many there are in the building.

What kind of offerings do they like?

Milk, honey, bread, and herbs are a safe bet. They especially like bread baked by you, as they see it as a labor of love and that your energy is in there. Taking time to tend to the garden and taking care of your property & home in general are things they like to see. Don't leave the house a huge mess, as many prefer a tidy atmosphere. Not an offering per say, but important to mention nonetheless.

What should I put on their altar?

I keep my altar for them in the kitchen, as it is in a place that is undisturbed and can't be torn up by my land shark (aka, my dog). I also feel that most of the house spirits I have worked with in my life enjoy hanging out in this area of the home. They seem to like assisting in kitchen magic and cooking in general and the warmth of the stove. You may also want to include a small area near the front door if you believe that there are separate spirits for there. I'd recommend a shelf, as it won't take up as much space in the entryway.

Okay, back on track. Plants (if the space gets enough light), a cauldron, candles, offering bowls, a chalice, glass, or mug of some sort. A special spoon to stir the drinks or potions with. Decorative pieces from nature. Things you craft by hand.

How can I begin working with them?

Anytime, in reality. However, you do have to develop an actual relationship with them. This can take time and the more you speak to them, give offerings, and invite them in as you cook or clean, the more they will be willing to help with your spellwork, wards, and healing. Try the introduction ritual I've included. See what happens. Document it. Try again another time the following week. And just...keep going. Make sure that they know you haven't forgotten about them by leaving a small nightly glass of milk out before you head to bed. It doesn't have to be filled to the rim (hey, cost of living is ridiculous right now). It can be a splash with a squirt of honey added. Or a sprinkle of herbs on their bowl. Or maybe a small helping of what you whipped up for dinner. Point is to show them that you acknowledge and respect their presence. That will be the biggest component. Do the ritual once a week until you start seeing signs of contact. Once you do, make your own ritual with them. Incorporate them into your daily life. Ask them to help with blessing your cooking. Ask them to make sure your wards are in tact. Ask the door spirit to purify the energy of anyone that walks in & make bad people resist coming by. Start seeing if they'd like to sit in on a ritual, if you feel comfortable with that idea. Ask for a blessing when you clean the house & to assist you in removing all the bad energy.

Brief introductory ritual

To introduce yourself to your house spirits, I recommend sitting in your kitchen. If you consider your hearth to be the living room, you can choose to do it there. Make sure to bring offerings with that you feel will be applicable. Freshly baked bread (from your own hands) and some milk with honey stirred in would make a wonderful first treat. I usually introduce myself in a new home by bringing these treats to the location of choice, and start by speaking my intention aloud which goes something like:

"Spirits of the home,

Guardians and Protectors of this dwelling,

Please come sit with me and enjoy these offerings.

I wish to have a working relationship where we can honor, respect, and help each other."

I usually spend about ten-twenty minutes meditating after this is spoken aloud. Sometimes you will feel a strong presence. This is the time I take to set up my kitchen altar as well. If there is a place that I am able to create a mini-altar by the front door, I do so there for the door spirits. The land spirits get their own little thing out in the backyard. I've found in the many places I've lived, they almost always work together and some house spirits spend quite some time out there too!

From here on out, you'll develop your relationship with regular offerings and take it from there!

[ivys-garden]

Important question: where do we draw the line between what is an isn't a Goblin?

Goblins are small mischievous tricksters and apart from that they have no other features that are consistent between versions.

So are Browies/Nisse/House Spirits Goblins? What about Gremlins? Leprechauns? Gnomes? Redcaps? Pixies? What makes these creatures different from Goblins?

Are Goblins Fae? Are all fae Goblins or are all Goblins Fae?

Are there any differences between Rural & City Goblins?

These are important and time sensitive questions please respond

[a-single-white-crow]

Household Spirits

Household sprits are personal favorite of mine. There are many examples in media of homes being alive or sentient. A famous Slavic example is the walking home of the Baba Yaga. In Western culture, we have the Castle from Howl's Moving Castle; if not from the book, then from the famous Studio Ghibli film of the same name. And seen in an absolute favorite film of mine, the 2006 animated film Monster House.

Now, what is a household spirit?

Simply, an entity or energy that specifically protects the home and Household

(Some may see their home as an energy/feeling in the home. If this energy is truly a Spirit or just the energy given to the home I’m unsure. So, for the sake of this topic, I will also be calling this energy a Household Spirit.)

There are two main categories of this Spirit. That of Deities and those of lesser Spirits.

House Deities are much more powerful and grand. They focus not on one home but many or all.

An example of a household Deity could be the Greek Goddess of Hearth; Hestia.

As for the lesser forms, they are more local. Focused on individual homes and households. They are a Spirit for the people.

Some examples of these Spirits are...

Brownies, Scottish (also taken by Irish)

Kobold/Hobgoblin, German

Lares, Roman

Gasin, Korea

Domovoy, Slavic

Nissie, Norwegian

These Spirits, as one can assume, were worshiped in the home. Some would have a small Idol/Effigy to represent the Spirit on a shrine, while others were seen more as members of the family. Going as far as to even invite them for family meals.

Personally I find caring for a household Spirit to be a priority. If nothing else they help fill one's home with wanted healthy energy. As an ignored home and Household Spirit can become dull, ill, or tired. Leading the home to become more susceptible to unwanted hauntings and negative energy filling the space.

For myself, my Household Spirit is genuinely one of my favorites to work with. His personality is so full. He has given myself and my husband so much motivation when working on our home.

It's not always happiness and rainbows with him though. He has caused a bit of trouble when he feels the need to. When I first started working with him, I let him know immediately that my husband is autistic and has adhd while I have adhd and have minor hoarding tendencies. So we can struggle with simple chores sometimes. I was clear with what to expect from us as our household Spirit. And because of this, he sometimes needs to get creative. I had a bathroom mat that was so worn and used the bottom of it was peeling away and leaving rubber bits everywhere. I kept saying I should replace it but I just never did. Years I kept that same rug. A week into working with our Household Spirit that rug was nudged towards the bathroom trashcan, rolled up slightly, and just anyway he could he pointed myself and my husband towards getting rid of the old worn thing. We never did. Always getting distacted or forgetting about it. Until one day we went into the guest bathroom and the rug was stained beyond saving. Completely destroyed. This forced instant action. We couldn't put it aside and it gave me the push to actually toss it. Since then he hasn't acted so drastically. But even then, I appreciated his act as it was the final kick I needed to get rid of that rug.

The moral of this story is to say...

They know how to get a job done. Make sure to let them know they are appreciated, and they will make it worth your while. And remember, they aren't messing around.

Offerings

Food (ie. Bread, sweets, fruits, ect.)

Drink (ie. Wine, Water, tea, dairy, ect.)

Speaking with the Spirit: Saying “Hello” when you come home

Lighting a Candle

Coins and trinkets

Creating of getting an effigy/Idol for the Spirit

***Note for Brownies and Hobs- Although they wear rags or "peasant's clothes". Never give them clothes. It is an ultimate insult for them, and they will leave***

What does a Household Spirit do?

Helps clean your home- Both in a literal sense and in a spiritual sense

You can leave an offering to your House Spirit asking them to protect your home while you are away for long periods of time.

Bring good luck

Find lost things

Certain types are known to leave gifts- Kobold/Hobgoblin

Can be mischievous or down right evil if mistreated- Breaking items or stealing things

When moving away does a Household Spirit go with you?

Answer: Depends on the Spirit

Some House Spirits are more like a Household Spirit meaning family and not house specific.

Others like the Domovoy of Slavic folklore are a house specific spirit. Meaning, when you move that specific Spirit stays.

When leaving being a House Spirit (as the Domovoy) make sure to perform a Ritual of Thanks to show appreciation, allow the Spirit to understand why you are leaving, and so the House Spirit will treat the next family with respect.

If there are ever any questions about whether your House Spirit should come or stay don’t be afraid to ask. Sometimes, even just your intuition is an answer.

[lunasapphire]

Today I have been hearing children like talking… there are no children in my house nor do I have kids here today… someone wanna tell me what spirit would try to connect with me that would sound like little kids talking or whining or laughing?

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Hey, any ideas on how to create a nice relationship with a house spirit of a house that has always given you bad vibes your whole life?

I was definitely going to cleanse, and maybe just talk allowed and introduce myself, but im not sure how im gonna make it feel like home.

I don't interact with house spirits, but let me just...

*vigorously shakes a bag of trail mix* I call upon my friends who know more about this than I do! @windvexer and @friend-crow, please reblog this with information if you wish!

Another buddy, Muinmos, had this to say when I asked who wanted to answer your inquiry:

Just to toss some of my thoughts in here; imo this is a case where it's important to distinguish whether the spirit themselves gave you "bad vibes" OR if you don't like the house for whatever reason, trauma related or otherwise. Distinguishing if the bad feeling is coming from yourself internally for whatever reason, or actually from the spirit themselves.

If it's really the spirit, then it's important to try explore what kind of bad vibes they are and why they might be there. (Is the spirit angry? Irritated? Sad? Gloomy? Etc) Because then that can be something to work on with the spirit if they're willing, smooth things out all that jazz.

I personally wouldn't cleanse outright or at all (I'm generally not keen on cleansing). To me in this particular case it kind of sends the message of like, "I want to get to know you but first of all you're faulty and dirty as you are, now let me give you a good wash before I touch you with a 10 ft stick", which I don't think is a very good basis for approaching someone. An introduction would be a much better first step ahaha.

I'd try to brainstorm & divine on what the spirit might like. It could also be connected to the very stare of the home. Like is it cluttered? Do small acts of the devotion by trying to declutter little by little to make the spirit feel more comfortable. Is the place bare? "Soulless"? How can you make it feel more homely in small ways? Scented candles, decorations, diy-ing things to make them work and look better, spending more time on upkeep or domestic activities, all of those are options. But while there's a general list of what you can do, ultimately the preference will lie in the spirit themselves and the specific circumstances of their home.

I'll definitely reblog any reblogs of this post, just to provide as much information from as many folks as possible. This is very much a case where we're not in that house with you and we don't know your practice, nor if anyone else lives with you who might have thoughts, so we're kind of just throwing some ideas at you which you can then take and adapt into something you can work with!

~Jasper

[pola-artist]

If I were a monster, I would most likely be a house spirit (or Домовой in Russian)

This creature keeps order in the house, runs a household and gets along with cats.

And here is a sign: If you left home, but forgot something and you had to come back, then you need to smile in the mirror or grimace so as not to anger the house spirit

[candorwitch]

Thinking about house/building spirits and where their shrines would be in a particular building. I've always operated on the idea that the heart of a house is at the hearth, which nowadays would be in the kitchen, more specifically, the oven or main cooking apparatus. Where would the heart be though in, say, an apartment building? My guess is the boiler/furnace room. But I don't know how much access the average joe would have to that kind of place, not to mention safety issues and maintenance being perturbed by strange things showing up near equipment.

Is there a spirit for each individual unit in an apartment building? Is there an "overspirit" in addition to these individual unit spirits? Does it vary building to building?

[actiwitch]

"𝘼𝙣 𝙊𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙧 𝙂𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙚" (𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙙, 2000)

[paganaware]

[thecraftwitchrachel]

A domovoi, which can be spelled domovoj or domovoy, is a house spirit in pre-Christian Slavic mythology, a being who lives in the hearth or behind the stove of a Slavic home and protects the inhabitants from harm. Attested from the sixth century CE, the domovoi sometimes appears as an old man or woman, and sometimes as a pig, bird, calf, or cat.

In Slavic mythology, all peasant houses have a domovoi, who is the soul of one (or all) of the deceased members of the family, making the domovoi part of ancestor worship traditions. The domovoi lives in the hearth or behind the stove and householders took care to not disturb the smoldering remains of a fire to keep their ancestors from falling through the grate.

My personal practice includes working with my hearth spirit as I tend to dabble in Kitchen Witchery. I keep a small gnome figurine on my stove as a representation of my apartments Domovoi. I keep it secured with a bit of museum wax which is necessary for all over my apartment because my black cat, Vlad likes to knock things over.

Slavic Chronicles writes that "the domovoi tries to take good care of pets – if a cat gets too noisy during the night, that means it is playing with the home domovoy". I have two cats, Greta and Vlad and Greta's favorite spot is by the stove so I like to think she is keeping our Domovoy company or vice versa. I try to keep my apartment up to our Domovoy's standards but as someone who struggles with depression that leads to some executive dysfunction, chores often are the first thing to be ignored when I'm "down bad". So when my depression finally lessens, I do cleanings and cleansings along with giving my Domovoy an offering as an apology. I work with other ancestral energies, so I like to think that my spirits are understanding that keeping my home in this state isn't a sign of disrespect so they don't act out, which I am grateful for.

Britanica and Madame Pamita gave me the idea of when I moved into my new apartment to make sure I did something to invite my ancestral Domovoy from my previous apartment to my new one. So after getting my new keys and checking out the apartment, I did a smoke cleanse of mugwart and rosemary, said a small 'prayer' in my previous apartment inviting my Domovoy to my new apartment and when in my new apartment I cleaned my stove and brought my gnome figurine and put it on my stove and welcomed the spirit to it's new home.

[counting-crows]

house spirits. what do you offer them that won't go bad if you forget it, because oh man will i forget it

[infernalwitxhcraft]

6 Witchy Tips For Moving Into A New Home

Here are six tips for when you move into a new home!

1) Physically cleanse the space before a magical cleanse. From personal experience, I find that oftentimes cleaning the physical space removes at least 50% of the stagnant energy I'm feeling. This goes for anytime I'm about to do a magical cleanse, no matter how long I've lived in the home. Having a clean home is important and a messy home = a cluttered mind. Not only will you feel better, but it will make your magical cleanse go smoother with less work.

2) Have multiple steps to your magical cleanse. Smoke cleansing ain't gonna be enough. Come up with something that you can do on a regular basis. For example, I do a deep cleanse 1-2x a month. While I do smoke cleanse as part of it, I refresh my wards and there are several more steps (that I am choosing to not share online). Examples you can include would be a simmer pot & aromatherapy, floor washes (and a spray for the carpet), adding salt bowls to absorb negative energy, locking your mirrors, door/window washes while drawing sigils on them, refreshing your altars, lighting a protection candle & doing a simple spell, etc. Do you see how much this adds to the cleanse?

3) You don't need to sit and banish the spirits in your home. This is their home too. If they mean me no harm, they are welcome to stay and I make that very clear to them. They even have their own altar with offerings! Working with house spirits is important to me, so I make sure they feel comfortable with me being the new "caretaker". I also wait about a month before doing my first magical cleanse, making them aware of each step as I go along. Oftentimes in the future, they will assist me!

4) Set up wards, but if you plan on moving be aware that you should take them down when you go. Have a strong defensive system. If you live in an apartment have no fear, for there are many types of wards you can set up there as well! Get those ready within a month of moving.

5) Make your mini garden. If you are renting, raised garden beds are your best friend. Living in an apartment? If you have a balcony, put herbs & flowers out there. If not, prioritize the ones you want and place them on a windowsill with plenty of sunlight. This will also attract the land spirits to you & you can begin developing a better relationship with them right away.

6) Be respectful of the land and house spirits, above all else. Light a candle or incense for them here and there. Give them food & drink offerings, whenever you feel called to. Communicate with them. They can assist you in your spellwork and oftentimes will. If you create something special with them, you will have their support.

[lilyminer]

What do you mean I’m “incapable of accepting change?” No I’m just advocating for the house spirits! They don’t want you to modernize the kitchen either!

[a-single-white-crow]

I have ADHD and struggle to get the willpower to do chores sometimes.

But I found that researching and planning my shrine for my House Spirit gave me this sudden burst of energy and happiness and I was able to get an entire load of dishes going!

I've been seriously putting this off all week.

[alexkujawa]

This illustration is from my book 31 SUPERNATURAL FELINES, which is available now on KICKSTARTER! Help me get it printed and you'll get some sweet rewards in the process!

Please check it out. 🖤 I am so excited about making these books!

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/112573162/31-supernatural-felines-an-illustrated-folklore-book

[hedgewitchhowto]

I spent a lot of time with my door spirit today.

I made some soapy water, I wrote some well wishes for my family on a bay leaf…

I lit the bay leaf on fire, then extinguished it in the water, and said a small prayer to bless my family.

Then I spent a long time… like 2 hours scrubbing every nook and cranny of my door and the frame around it. I talked to my door and the spirit that inhabits it while I was cleaning. I thanked them both(the physical door and the spirit) for keeping my family save, I said thank you for keeping out those who wish to harm my family and I. I said thank you for being a part of our family.

While I was cleaning I noticed what poor shape the corners of my door are and promised that in the summer I will do some care for the physical door, and some offering promises for the spirit.

The front area of my houses feels much lighter. ❤️