Cleaning as Prayer

Cleaning can be a time for prayer. I feel the truth of this when I find myself quite literally on my knees, scrubbing the floors. It is in these moments where the act of cleaning strikes me as an embodiment of devotion to the decidedly mundane aspects of life.. and when I engage with this physical expression of cleansing space, in its wake I am cleansed too.

The practice of cleaning is a part of most traditional wisdom ways for a reason. In the lineage of Cha Dao (the way of tea) from which I am a student of, it is said that Tea is 80% cleaning. I feel this deeply. Cleaning will always be a part of life. If this is given — how can we relax into it?

In preparing for any ceremony, this is an element to which I approach with great care and consideration. Before you materialize the altar, first you must clean it. Cleaning is practical magic. My teacher Moana Pearl once told me, “Witches didn’t use their brooms for flying. They used it for cleaning because they understood energy.” Cleaning is about circulation and circulation is vital for life to flow.

Cleaning has traditionally been within the domain of women’s work and so unsurprisingly, it has been relegated to ‘grunt work’ or something we must drag our feet in doing. Let us not be fooled into believing this story. There is a sacred art and graceful purpose to cleaning. In tending to the space that holds us, we too are better held.

A note ~ I write this a woman without children, caring for a small home of two. I share this particularly for the mamas who may be reading, for I am aware that I am unaware of what cleaning looks like as life grows. I love you all.

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