Life
As though every day leading up to Halloween is enriched with otherworldliness, come October, we're all inclined to lean into our spiritual side a bit more than usual. But while we might find ourselves feeling more curious about the line between life and death ahead of the night that spirits and demons are said to walk the earth, the most effective way to partake in Halloween spirituality is not necessarily intuitive. You might have guessed that Halloween is the perfect time for a detoxification, but you're also probably wondering the best way to conduct a cleansing ritual for Halloween, because that's not the kind of thing you want to mess up. Soul and space cleansing should be done with as much care, intention and accuracy as possible!
To ensure that you have a variety of fool-proof options, Bustle spoke to part-time witch, part-time yogi, and healer, Eva Giorgi of Eva Twine apothecary. Giorgi has an impressive arsenal of techniques under her hat that are not only easy to follow, but easy to adopt on a regular basis. While it's important to protect yourself spiritually and mentally during the Halloween season, there's no reason why you can't practice safe spells year-round. Here are some of Giorgi's favorite cleansing methods:
Find Your Roots Ritual
"Just like leaves descend off the trees, the life force of many plants descend into their roots' system," Giorgi explains. "Using roots in your diet, touching them as you chop or prepare tisanes (herbal tea blends), grounds the senses and anchors the mind," she continues. Basically, this is the best time of the year to incorporate roots into your diet, as they are most enriched and you have the highest chance of absorbing the nutrients. According to Giorgi, being thoughtful about what kinds of foods you prepare for yourself is a great way of incorporating ritual into your every meal. Get creative with beets, ginger, lotus root, ashwagandha, and burdock root, some of Giorgi's Halloween favorites. On Halloween, prepare a roots feast for yourself.
Breathe
"Our breath is the key that unlocks our ability to alchemize anything. In Chinese medicine, Autumn is the season of the lung, represented, by the metal element. The breath is our moment to moment alchemical competency. To inhale is personal. It is to imbue yourself with everything that ever was and everything that ever will be. Your exhale, is letting it go." Giorgi believes that the most powerful ritual is also the one we have the most access to: the breath. Every morning before starting the day, before even looking at our phones, Giorgi suggests that we take three deep breaths with a strong focus on the exhale. She suggests making an "ssss" sound — like a snake to — push every single bit of air out of the lungs. That will make room for gratitude before greeting the day, it will also get rid of negativity and darkness that the Halloween spirit might threaten us with.