There’s an incredible feeling of lightness awaiting you when you’ve finally, at long last, tackled a task you’ve emotionally and psychologically belabored the hell out of and procrastinated over for so long you most likely ceased to recognize the dread and heaviness dragging you down every single time you walked into that room, passed that corner, put your make-up on in front of that mirror, or woke up feeling inexplicably anxious, unrested, and off-kilter and just continued on with your life, regardless. I’d say most of us stop noticing the power of the energies in our own spaces – the physical and psychological weight of a particular space (be it small or large) recedes and often we’re left with something extremely rudimentary to describe the feelings we’re then contending with, sharing basic and laconic expressions like “it sucks” or “I hate it” or “I don’t know what to do with it.” All of these simple statements are perfectly valid – a space, particularly within a home, can definitely suck, can most assuredly earn your hatred, and ultimately leave you feeling frustrated and unsure of what to do next in order to make it, well, better.
We’ve had clients, over the years, tell us how working with us has changed their lives. And, truly, that is the most wonderful gift a designer can be given – to give our clients a daily sense of loving their home, inhabiting a space that feels joyful, creative, inspired, bright . . . whatever the adjective may be. We’ve also, over the years, shown several of our “before” and “after” shots to our esteemed friend Heather McCall, gifted energy worker and space-clearing practitioner based in Brentwood, California, and she’s immediately mentioned how the energy of the space is entirely different once we’ve done our work. So we’ve often circled back to Heather’s sentiment, realizing what we do as interior designers is, at face value, inherently about making spaces beautiful, for sure, but what it truly is, on a much deeper level, on an intangible level, is about shifting darkness to light.
As Deb says, “Walking into a client’s home or any new environment, I can't help that my impression is initially heavily informed by my training as an artist, noticing immediately if it’s working or not in terms of the color, volumes, arrangement and flow. But over time as a designer, I’ve learned to trust my intuition, which is a response to more than just the aesthetics of a space or the collection of furniture but to its energy as well. Rebecca calls it ‘the fugue state.’ Those moments spent quietly standing in a room tend to bring up sensations of contentment or joy or unfortunately sometimes, unease or imbalance. In either case, it's often hard to pinpoint exactly the source.”
And so, given the relationship of good design and good energy, we wanted to talk a bit with Heather and share some of her infinite wisdom about what she does and how transformative it can be, how it differs and resembles what we do at Lily Spindle, and address the age-old question “why do ghosts love to mess with electricity?”
Below are excerpts from our conversation:
"how did you end up clearing spaces - did you do reiki on animals and humans first and then moved into the energy of spaces or which came first?"
So, I started with people - although it was the animals that brought me more fully into my own healing work. There is a long story attached to this but in short, after having taken a long break from healing work, a friend asked me to work on her cat, Riley, and what transpired in that session opened up my healing practice in a whole new way.
Do the space and the animal within it share a symbiotic relationship? Like, if the space is balanced, so is the animal (and the humans, as well)? Or is that a reach?
Good question . . . very often if I am clearing a house and there are animals in it, I’m guided to also clear the animal and also the owner. Sometimes the house clearing on its own will clear everyone in it but sometimes the animals will need extra clearing because animals never get cleared and they need it, too! Generally yes, if there is a happy home, there are balanced humans and animals living there.
Can you tell from a photograph if a home is imbalanced? Or is it more immediately felt in person? And could you describe the feeling you get?
Initially I’ll get a gut response from talking to the owners over phone about what is happening. Information or 'red alerts' will drop into my mind and physically these 'red alerts' can feel like a tightening in throat or stomach or even heart bracing. They will hit the body or my breathing or even chills - and then I know, I’m onto something.
Something Deb and I were talking about in regards to what we do as interior designers and our task of transforming spaces is that on occasion we can feel pretty stymied by a space – an entire room, a corner, a backyard or patio… do you think sometimes when we’re struggling to resolve a design dilemma in a particular space, it's related to energy interference?
This is a good question and a complicated one . . . I have been called to rooms that don’t seem to ’test’ badly as far as energy - for example, there are no entities in the space, no poltergeists, no curses, et cetera, but you can feel that the energy is just not moving. Sometimes this has to do with the construction of the rooms - angles and strange shapes, extra walls or cupboard blockages that don’t allow for flow. We talk about FLOW at lot in energy work, for humans and spaces. You want to experience this both with design and energy. Very difficult to transform the energy of a ‘dead’ space. You would want to bring in as much life as you can. I would work with ‘light’ and movement of light and you would probably implement nature/plants/ wood elements or even color.
I think that’s in part why we like to take photos whenever we’re first walking a client’s space. Looking at them as we progress with the design helps us recognize what needs the most attention, how we can transform elements of the space, and so forth. And it helps ALL of us to remember where we started and where we are now. By the way, we have some questions for you from our social media followers! We picked a handful of our favorites and we’ll start with this one… specifics as to how to clear each room – start in corner, middle, etc? what is your strategy for going through the entire house?
I usually start with opening windows and doors and in some cases opening closets and drawers. Start in the corners with with Reiki symbols, Palo Santo, tuning fork, et cetera - just follow your gut as to what the space needs. I always recommend a tuning fork and I like to use it with a crystal. I can actually see what this breaks up, which is why I know how effective it is. If you don’t have a tuning fork you can always clap! Do the corners of windows down to floor and door frame. When a whole house needs clearing I’d intuitively start with the biggest issue area and go down in order of importance. There are other techniques that I will bring in during a meditation but that in a nutshell is how I work. Another tip - when rooms have been cleared, they like a little alone time to settle so leave them be - always with doors and windows open and then go back for another bit of work later or just to see how it feels..
OK, and when do smudge sticks enter the picture, if at all? Before the space has been cleared, during, or after?
I will usually walk around the space and test - either muscle test with my fingers or use a pendulum to determine what kind of energy is attached to space. I then use pendulum to start clearing - I use a very specific pendulum that is made with titanium and sometimes copper. Then there are some other steps that I take to clear. I then start to smudge or palo Santo. It’s usually a last step for me.
Are there animal energies inhabiting spaces the same way human spirits or entities do?
Animals can certainly enter the space when I am there, especially if they belonged to the client or previous tenant. I have had many examples of them visiting for sure but it is not quite the same as Human energies. Occasionally you will come across a human ghost who is either confused or stubborn about leaving. Animals don’t seem to have the same density. They move on out easier. I always feel happy to mingle with the animals. Human ghosts can be tricky.
And, finally, do ghosts really like to mess with electricity?
The type of entities that are specific to electricity issues are poltergeists - and they can do more than mess with electricity. They can throw things, slide furniture, open doors, move things, shove, pinch and generally create havoc. They work off your fear and are very connected to the person, not so much the space. Some say that they connect during hormonal shifts as teenagers. Having said that they are connected to people not spaces, I was once in a haunted carriage house for a weekend some 30 years ago. In the middle of the night, the bath started running, the vacuum started vacuuming, the oven went on, as did the electric kettle and mixer and the lights flickered. I spent the night in a van with my two friends!
If you’re interested in booking a session with Heather, click here!
