Dr. Cheri Erdman, Celebrant

Serving Greater Daytona Beach Area, Volusia County, and Central Florida

Saying Goodbye: Moving Out
Saying Hello: Moving In

by Dr. Cheri Erdman, Celebrant
Originally Printed in
The Island Voice
May/June 2008

Regardless of the ups and downs of the real estate market, people leave their homes and move into new houses everyday. These goings and comings from a previous home to a new house bring up all sorts of feelings as we shift from one living situation to another. Even if we really want to move, saying goodbye to our current residence and saying hello to the new one is a threshold of moving from the known past to the unknown future. Many cultures have special rituals for honoring their homes as the place that holds their spirit as well as their bodies. 

Having rituals for moving out and moving in are helpful in mindfully saying goodbye to our past and intentionally saying hello to possibilities, symbolized by a new house. 

Saying Goodbye: The purpose of having a ceremony for leaving a home is to honor and express gratitude for what has happened there. If the leaving is one that the owner does not really want, then expressing sadness and loss will be part of the ritual. 

Someone I know told me of a ritual he created for his mother who was leaving her home of over 50 years and moving into assisted living. He walked her around the property and encouraged her to talk about her memories and he added his. They touched the trees and flowers and expressed gratitude to them for sharing their beauty. They walked through the rooms of the house and shared memories, laughing as well as expressing their feelings of sadness at having to say goodbye to their family home. 

If moving is your choice, then other ideas for rituals are:

• Include the new owners by handing over the keys or gifting them with a photo of the house in earlier days.

• Invite neighbors to your ritual to say goodbye to them -- you are leaving people and a neighborhood as well as a building.

• Keep something from the house as a talisman for remembrance.

Saying Hello:  There are many good reasons to have a moving-in ceremony. You can clear the space of old energy, preparing it for good things to happen. When you are stepping through the doorway you are literally crossing the threshold into your new life -- transforming your new house made of bricks and mortar into your home, a place of memories. Ideas include

• Bring in aspects of yourself in terms of new colors, symbols of good luck, photos of your ancestors to connect you to your history

• Bless the inside and outside of the house for protection. “Smudging” the rooms with a dried herb can do this – basil works well as it means “happy home.” Walk through each room and state your wishes of what will happen in that room.

Whether coming or going, rituals for our homes connect us to our lives in a deeply personal way. As the poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Where we love is home -- home that our feet may leave but not our hearts."

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