I have recently moved into a new house. We’ve just had family and friends in our home for our Harvest Festival. I would like to cleanse my home, but something happened the other day. (Bear in mind, I have a strong tendency toward skepticism.) I feel fairly certain that I encountered a spirit in my house a few days ago. Shortly after our guests had left, I happened to be walking past the foyer when I caught something out of the corner of my eye that appeared to be a young girl, teenage, probably. I got this strong sense of someone perfectly safe and benevolent, just looking for a place to belong. We had gone to great lengths to make our house feel welcoming and comfortable for our guests, and it had a very strong feeling of family love, so I guess it wouldn’t be surprising that a wayward spirit might find it an attractive place to settle. I want to cleanse the place, but I don’t want to drive this spirit out into the cold. How might I protect them? I felt her presence again last night, and although I felt a little crazy doing so, I just addressed the room in general, saying that I know they’re present, I can’t see them, but I can feel them, and that they’re welcome to stay here.

My suggestion would be to the cleansing in multiple parts so that you don’t inadvertently banish her as well. Start by designating one room of the house as a safe space (so to speak) for the spirit. Let her know that you are going to be cleansing the rest of the house, but that she is welcome to stay in that particular room during the ritual. Once you’ve cleansed the rest of the house, you can then let her know that she is welcome to move into the other areas, and let her know that you will be cleansing that room next so that she knows to avoid it temporarily. Then after that part is complete, you can let her know that she is welcome freely in all areas of the house.

Unfortunately though, there’s no guarantee that she won’t be affected, even if you take precautions. At best, just make it as clear as possible that she is welcome in your home, and that you aren’t doing this to send her away – only to clear out negative energies/entities. Additionally, you could add an intention statement to your cleansing ritual to the effect of “I banish the negative energies/spirits and welcome the positive.” (or similar) But I would also be careful that you don’t end up leaving an open invitation for other random spirits (unless you are ok with that). Otherwise your home could get a bit more crowded than you were expecting.