When to Cleanse? When to Smudge? When to take out the EXO?

It’s too easy to become overwhelmed by negative energy. Whether the negativity is from stressful work environments, personal conflicts, toxic behavior from others, or simply the chaos of daily life, maintaining a cleared and neutral space supports one in living a more effective life, which is what every person who wants a purposeful life desires : a clean, cleared space so we can create more of what we want in our lives. It is this end goal in mind that we at Exoterica created a range of cleansing products to remove negative energy, and this post highlights the distinctions between our water-based cleaning products : Cleanse, Superclear, Smudge and EXO.

When to Cleanse

Cleansing is a general practice used to clear away stagnant or negative energy from your space, body, or objects. It’s a gentle, routine process that should be done regularly to maintain a harmonious environment.

Our cleansing formula comes in bath (full body coverage) and spray (convenient, on the go) form.

• Regular Maintenance : Just like cleaning your house, energetic cleansing should be done regularly to maintain a neutral and cleared atmosphere. A good rule of thumb is to cleanse your space weekly. You can choose to run the cleanse spray solution in a diffuser, or mix it into a pail of water to wipe surfaces (table tops, floors).
• After Illness or Conflict : If someone in your home has been ill, or after a heated argument where negative emotions were discharged, these situations discharge negative energy that can linger in our space even after a physical clean out. Our best method for these situations is to dilute our cleanse spray with water in a diffuser to remove any lingering negative energy.
• While traveling / on the go : when on the go and in common spaces, nobody likes to come into contact with negative energy that can end up giving us unnecessary headaches, feelings of nausea and other pains. Our bestseller, cleanse spray comes in handy spray bottles so you can just spritz the cleanse formula as you enter into a hotel room, around your space discreetly during your flight, or before you use a public toilet.
• Before the start of meditation : clearing your space before starting on a meditation is an excellent habit to have. Clearing your space not only symbolically represents being present to and then putting aside any mental or emotional clutter you might have, but it also means energetically your space is cleared to create a more conducive atmosphere for meditation and inner reflection.
• Once every 6 months : as a general rule of thumb, we recommend scheduling a run of diluted cleanse solution in your diffuser in your home once every 6 months as part of regular maintenance.

While regular cleansing is an excellent practice for day-to-day maintenance, Smudging, Superclear and EXO are reserved for more specific situations.

When to Superclear

• Multiple-space use : Exoterica’s Superclear spray can give a Control-Alt-Del kind of reset in a space. This is specially useful when a space has multiple uses (e.g. the same space is used both as work space and as bedroom). Spray Superclear before you shift from one activity to another to help you rid of lingering energies faster and more effectively.
• Moving house / office : If you find yourself “falling sick” or feeling uncomfortable when you move house or office, it could be that there is unseen negative energy either leftover by you, or by the previous occupant of the space. Not many people are aware that negative energy discharged in a space can remain so for a long time, and can be picked up by others who are more sensitive. Since it is unlikely we can avoid moving altogether, our solution is to meet the challenge head on : our superclear formula can be used to reset the energy of your furniture and items before you pack and transport them to your new place. Run Superclear for at least 8 hours in your new space before you move furniture in to remove any previous occupant’s lingering energy, and after giving the space a deep clean as an extra, one-off step to set yourself up for a new sparkly beginning.

When to Smudge

Smudging involves burning sacred herbs, such as sage, or palo santo, or sweetgrass, and using the smoke from the burning to purify a space, person, or object, with the purpose of purifying oneself, and holding the intention to purify oneself in preparation for a ritual or ceremony. This practice has roots in many indigenous cultures.

We are about to make a slightly controversial stand here: there seems to be increasing encouragement nowadays that promote the use of smudging for every day use cleansing but we stand by the view that smudging is reserved more as a purification technique that one engages in before starting spiritual work such as a sacred ritual or ceremony. It can also be reserved for special use, such as, when moving house / office, on special occasions such as a celebration (e.g. Vesak day, birthday).

So the next time you reach out for a sage bunch to burn – ask yourself : do you really need it? Does the situation you are in warrant smudging? Could there be an alternative?

To be honest, unless you are carrying out spiritual work / rituals every day, there is no real need to “purify” your space daily with smudging (in our world). Plus, the supply of these sacred plants – sage, palo santo are becoming scarce due to what seems to be overly permissive use of sacred plants. If you desire cleansing / cleaning, try our cleanse spray formulation. We respectfully ask that you use sacred plants responsibly and apply your common sense.

In modern urban living, it’s not always possible to light up and smoke away indoors. Ask us more about the distinction between our water based smudge vs fire based smudge solution.

• Before a ritual / ceremony : smudge the space before you prepare for a ritual or ceremony, smudge yourself, smudge the items you will be using during the ritual or ceremony.

When to EXO

Our EXO spray is meant for sudden, serious and specific externally-generated negative circumstances, it is not something to be taken lightly or done casually. It is also not to be confused with internal negativity generated, e.g. you have an extreme negative reaction to someone – EXO is not useful in those circumstances – cleanse or taking a shower with our Superbath will be better alternatives. When in doubt about external negativity, seek professional advice.

We respectfully ask that you use EXO spray responsibly and apply your common sense. EXO is NOT a safeguard if you choose to deliberately expose yourself in a extreme negatively environment (e.g. you go into an abandoned space without shields or prevention and expect the EXO spray to “save” you.)

Our EXO formula comes in bath (whole body wash is important) and spray (as and when you need it) form.

• After hospitals / cemetery / funeral / wake visits : there will be occasions when we cannot avoid but visit places that accumulate a lot of negative energy. In those instances, spray EXO on yourself as soon as you leave these spaces, and before you set off to your next destination.
• Accidents : If you are caught in an accident, and you feel affected negatively after it, use EXO on yourself (bath version for full body wash) as soon as possible. If the accident involved cars or other people, spray EXO on the affected spaces and people.
• Severe disturbance : you feel suddenly exhausted, nauseous, headache, stomache after you had a “weird” / “odd” encounter > spray EXO directly on you. Ask the spray to works its power on you to remove any negativity from you.

Heard about our Shopdays?

Shopdays : Sign up for a face to face / online sales consultation with a Exoterica staff to ask, browse, sample and find customized solutions for you. Be introduced to our new products. Bring your spray products for a spray audit. Your orgonites can come for an orgonite wash. Come and connect with us, share your stories with us, give us feedback to help us get better at what we are doing. No obligation to buy but sign up to reserve a slot when you need a sales consultation.