Day 12 of Kitchen Witchery- Housekeeping

Today I'm going to talk about how I clean my house. Just like cooking, there are many ways to add in magick without anyone noticing. And I'm sorry, but whether you like to clean or not, the fact remains that EVERY SINGLE DAY there is some chore to be done. The people with houses you admire take care of those chores. The horders don't do dishes, sweep, make the beds, or throw out trash. Which house would you prefer to live in?

I have a system for cleaning and I based my system on the Fly Lady's methods (http://www.flylady.net/) I don't use her system exactly, I modified it to match my house. I also reordered the zones and rather than spend a week on one room, I only spend one day. I don't have much clutter. I might use a week per room if I was cleaning or remodeling a house in bad shape.

My weekly schedule starts on Monday and the first room to be cleaned is the bedroom. Every single Monday, I change the sheets. If I was going to pick a day to flip the mattress, replace the pillows, or put heavier blankets on the bed, I'd chose Monday. I dust the room and sometimes I mop or wash windows. I am not looking to power clean the whole room. I have no intentions of working myself to death. I just find that having a schedule helps me keep the house neat and it helps to have a day in mind for doing extra stuff like moving furniture. As for magickal workings, Monday would be when I empowered a dream catcher or worked a love spell if I intended to have sex in my bed. To me this makes sense because Monday is ruled by the moon and to me moons are sleep and emotions.

Tuesdays I clean my sewing room. Tuesday is ruled by Mars. This is creative fire and drive. I tidy up, work on designing, make plans, and toss old paperwork. Tuesday is when I think about bills just because my desk is in the sewing room. If I had something to mail, be it a bill, a present, or a quilt, I'd mail it on a Tuesday. After I pay bills, I like to banish them because nothing is more annoying than a late fee or having to prove a payment was made.

Wednesday is the bathroom. I do a lot of scrubbing. More cleaning occurs on Wednesday than any other day. I scrub the tub, toilet, and sink. I put out fresh towels. I scrub the mirrors. Magick in this room revolves around cleansing the aura, chakras, health, and beauty.

Thursday is the living room. I dust the bookshelves and flip the cushions. My altar is in the living room and I clean it. I replace candles and light incense. I try to make the room as harmonious as possible. Spells for this room involve peace and security.

Friday is the kitchen. I cook on the weekends and I don't like to cook in a dirty kitchen. This would be the second biggest cleaning day. I scrub counters, wash dishes, clean the microwave, mop, and write my grocery list. If I was going to clean out cabinets, clean the fridge, or plan a party, Friday would be my day.

Saturday is the day I clean porches. Most people are surprised I take special effort with the porch but this is the first thing people see when entering the house and it doesn't matter how clean the inside is, if they walked across a cobwebbed and muddy porch then they think the whole house is filthy. I move everything off the porch and sweep. Sometimes I wipe down the door. I water my plants. If I wanted to repot a plant, buy new plants, or hang a wreath on my door, I'd do it on Saturday. Porch spells include weather magick, banishing negative energy, working with totems, garden magick, and protection spells.

Sunday is the day I clean my store room. The store room is a combination pantry and garden shed. I store extra food, garden tools, the lawn mower, and dog food in the store room. Spells for gardening and abundance are performed here. This room seems to get dirty faster than any other area of the house because a.) it's outside and people are not as concerned about tracking in dirt and b.) despite having things well organized people tend to dump stuff here. Currently I have a desk that needs to move into the house, a sideboard that needs to leave the property, and several cans of paint I really don't want to store but my landlord doesn't want it at his house. On Sunday I try to put things in their proper place and I dust. Sometimes I mop. You can laugh at me for mopping an outdoor room, but if I don't mop then the room seems dirty no matter how clean the shelves are, the room starts to smell, and the bugs start taking over. I've been told I'm a little too clean but I'd much rather be too clean than have roaches.