“As long as you’re living under my roof, you’ll do as I say!”

It's a phrase spoken often, usually by parents with asshole teens mooching their way through formative years. But it has little effect on them, kids too old to spank and too young to know any better. But what about the asshole spirits occupying your space? Boundaries dealing with both are important. But do you even know if you live with untethered souls in your home?

“You do,” says one spiritual advisor. 

“Any time you move to a new space, I recommend you get it cleansed of lingering spirits,” says Thuy “Twee” Dam, Chief Happiness Officer at So You Boutique, located in Denver’s Golden Triangle. “There’s a lot of craziness hanging around most homes or offices; I’ve seen some really weird things.”

It sounds like a lot of hocus-pocus — the phrase, not the movie — the idea of disrespectful spirits hanging around. Yet the practice of spiritual cleansing has long, deep roots. It’s been a standard in Eastern medicine for nearly 3,000 years. And Dam will be the first to tell you, “It’s not culture specific; Native Americans, European Gypsies, Latino cultures, even the Roman Catholic Church has some sort of cleansing ritual.”

For eons, the practice has been nothing more than societal habit, like general hygiene. “You wash your hands after you go to the bathroom or before you eat — even though it’s likely you’re not going to die … but why risk it?” asks Dam.

People will know if their space needs a good cleanse, says Dam. Some of those include:

  • You're getting over a divorce or a break-up (feelings of hurt, guilt, fear, shame, anger, resentment and sadness can be hard to get rid of and can easily manifest in physical problems)
  • You have persistent financial difficulties
  • There are "bad energies," "bad vibes" or unexplained disturbances or lack of well-being in a home or workplace
  • You experience persistent relationship problems (recurring patterns)
  • When doing spiritual work such as a spiritual retreat or intense meditation
  • To remove a persistent feeling of negative, heavy energy surrounding you
  • Anxiety

“I thought it was a load of crap,” says Kurt Cogswell of Denver. “I did it because the girl I’m dating insisted we do it. She said an uncleansed place meant we weren’t ‘getting everything we should be getting’ out of our relationship.”

So he went for it. “I paid for a two hour cleanse and spent the first half hour just not trying to laugh,” Cogswell continues. “Then I started to kind of get some feelings of lightness and clarity. It might have all been in my head but, honestly, our sex life has never been better — we’re definitely ‘getting everything we should be getting’ out of our relationships now,” he laughs. “She may have tricked my head but she ‘tricked out’ my bed in the process.”

Whether the cleanse was real or it merely had a comforting effect on Cogswell’s girlfriend is up for debate; but the benefits were at least tangible for them.

Bonus as it may be, a fantastic sex life isn’t the only reason to cleanse your space, however. “Sometimes I have to do it for the spirit,” says Dam. “They’re trapped here or afraid so I have to open a portal to get them to where they should be existing. They’re angry or bored.”

She says they're the worst kind of spirits, the angry ones. And she's met a few. “Heck yea, I’ve met angry [spirits], they make noises or whisper — give you a general sense of unease,” she says. “I went to an apartment complex at Lowry once. It used to be across from a cemetary and I could just see all the spirits hanging around outside, it was a lot of work getting them to leave.”

For someone who stands just 4-foot 8-inches tall, Thuy Dam’s personality is giant. The Vietnamese spiritual advisor was raised Roman Catholic in Springfield, Missouri, and has been in business for nearly a decade, experience that packs a spiritual punch. “I was always that crazy little girl in school who was hearing voices,” she says, explaining it isn’t uncommon as most think.

Pets and babies are especially sensitive to spirits according to Dam. “Cats like negative areas, but not because they’re negative, but because they can neutralize the space. Dogs like positive spaces. Babies can be seen looking at nothing and just talking away — emoting — they’re engaging with a guide or a spirit,” says Dam.

“I’ve also met happy spirits,” she clarifies. “Sometimes they don’t want to leave, they just want to hang around and party; but even they’ve still gotta go!” 

Does she still hear voices?

“Hey, I didn’t choose the spirit thug life; the spirit thug life chose me,” says Dam with a smile.

[cover photo Brittany ⎈ Colette via Unsplash]