House Spirits | The Difficulties of Moving as a Pagan

Perfect timing! I’m moving my self again (4th time in 3 years gods help me) and this is an extra piece of info that will help.

I think I would do a little ritual where I would say goodbye to the apartment, thank the house spirit for all he has done to create a home with you and then invite him to come along, no pressure, just a 'there is a nice little space for you in my suitcase if you want to come along' and then wait and see 😁

Welcome back brother

Spirit says "that one doesn't belong on the mantle " .
😆 🤣 😂

Spirits come and go in my experience, according to your growth.
Your gut or intuition is the best gauge for decision making.
Don't get too comfortable, you're moving again.

Jacob...You truly a great Man! May Odin give you the knowledge on your travels. Skol💀🍺🐺

its awesome to see that youre actually doing this man!

I couldn't imagine not taking my house spirit with me. He is attached to me, not necessarily to the house. He is a member of the family. I wouldn't leave my pets behind. I would make him just as comfortable in my new dwelling.

I carry what I call a homestone, it's set in my mjiolniir amulet. The two together give me strength, the hammer acts as a moral guide abroad, the stone as an anchor to my lands. To me the connection is tangible and very real. Anyone else do this?

Looks like the house Spirit is packing

I inherited a house spirit from my great-grandmother. I've moved around an awful lot out of necessity and always invited him to follow us & stay with us; that we would always welcome him, have a place for him and appreciate his presence in our home. I did feel bad for having to keep moving him but he seems to understand that it was necessary for us to survive. I don't think the spirit will be upset to be invited to travel with you as you have been very kind & happy to have them with you in your home. My advice is when you arrive in your new home, set up their little area 1st thing and tell your companion that you've arrived in your new home so they can set up camp & relax :)

taking it with you would work great, make you a house traveling altar so you when you stay somewhere it will be easy to set up and take down thru your journeys this coming year

Have you read The Tradition of Household Spirits: Ancestral Lore and Practices by Claude Lecouteux?

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I never thought of house spirits to be fairly honest. The closest I could consider a house spirit is a tontuu, a finnish pagan version for me. Rhank you for the extra info😊

You could have always taken some of the items that wouldn't biodegrade and put them in a vent or tucked away in a place out of sight just to keep a little part of the spirit there. Taken some of the items with you to encourage the house spirit to come along with you.

Haven't had this issue yet, but will in the next couple of years now that the kids are off to college and the wife and I are moving. It will be hard to leave behind the fire pit and tree that I grew there over the past almost 15 years, and talked to and gave offerings to the Gods and land spirits under nearly every night. I hope those good spirits travel with us, but if they choose to stay, well I hope to find the new ones when we land in our new home.

I'm glad you take them with you.

I would explain to my house spirit that I need to leave and why, do a cleanse of the house with sage and tell my house spirit they are welcome to come with me wherever I set up their altar but it’s their choice to do so, if they want to stay then that’s up to them but if they change their mind then they will find me with the altar set up .

The house I'm in the house spirit is the old lady who lived here before she died.I couldn't take it away from her

I inherited the spirits of the land and my home from my grandparents who owned my house before I did. I would invite them to come with me if I was moving. I wouldn't demand it...I would just offer it up to them :) Good luck Jacob! Our hearts are with you always :)

I agree, invite him to come with you! If he likes you and isn't attached to the apartment, he'll probably join you! Who knows, maybe he wanted to travel and started putting these ideas in your head long ago!

I love videos about spirits in general and I'm very excited for your new series travelling and what you learn along the way. I am rather spiritually eclectic and for a while I've been wondering if Odin is, in fact, also a god in other pantheons going by a different name. There are a ton of similarities between him and Thoth, for example.

Safe travels Jacob! I admire your bravery and sense of adventure.

Hit the wall with a hammer to create a small hole. Do a ritual and place items between the walls. Get small drywall patch kit and fix the hole. Your offerings will stay there forever.

Come visit in germany. Would love to meet you and get some insight and advice for someone just starting the ways of the old. Skal!!

How do u know if there is a house spirit?

Kikimora?

Since you have "bound" the spirit to a totem (so to speak), then you should bring it with (IMHO). Otherwise, take the object/figurine to a crossroads and set it free from the constraint. Personally, I would bury the offerings.

I’ve dealt with different house spirits, but the most profound was the spirit of a former owner of a house I bought. Mind you, this was in a town that I have never lived in before.
She was kindly, but troubled by the way her family had handled her belongings. Closing was delayed for a month because they were fighting about who would finish cleaning up the last of her things. (Everything they didn’t want) I finally told them that I would finish the cleaning. I could feel her hanging around and she would come to me in my Dreamtime sharing her loose ends that needed to be addressed. Slowly I delivered keys that needed to be returned. Pictures and documents that needed to be shared and even finding a connection to people I knew 1200 miles away. So many times, when I would deliver the items, the people would comment, “That’s just like a thing Anna would do.”
She would also leave me gifts around the house through the years and I believe that she saved me when there was a house fire.
Anyway, when all of her affairs were taken care of, I could no longer feel her there. At first I kind of missed her, but then I was happy to have helped her spirit be at peace.
I know that’s not like most house spirits, but it as a part of my life for nearly 5 years, and it made an impact.

I think the key thing is letting them know your going and your things are leaving and they are welcome to come with you

I've thanked them and invited them to follow me if they wish. I explained what I was doing.

Sage cleanses… spiritual fecal matter? You don’t believe you destroy the spirit with sage, no?

What do you define as ‘cleansing’ because a non pagan can’t understand.

What if the house spirit doesn't want to come with you?

I haven't set up an altar but a few years ago I started saying goodbye to the house spirits if I was leaving for more than a day, now if I don't do it I get an uneasy feeling for not acknowledging them.

The consideration placed into this decision is so warming as the sincerity shines through. Gave a smile for sure. One very lucky house spirit and perhaps even greater blessings will come to your new hearth as a thank you.

Happy you brought up the spiritual conflicts. As paganism is a spiritually not neatly packaged such as seen within christianity. Essentially it takes our own research of material to peice together a larger picture. And while when in doubt we should seek information as you did, there are times when that isnt possible. However, the beauty of paganism regardless of type is that intuition is honored. In these cases, I honor my gut.

Also the brain processes and stores a library of subconscious information. This plethora of knowledge can pull on different information to synthesize an answer and manifest through the gut. A knowledge of itself, not clearly written but valid nonetheless.

I would take it if u like it but I'd ask it. Tell it to come or go but know it's welcome to go w you. Let it decide

ALWAYS my spiritual kin, trust your heart and instincts when it comes to decision "dilemas." As for myself, the objects that seem to resonate "home" or my base chakra travel with me when I relocate and are the first that appear on any altar placement. Blessed be.

I think spirits go with us so that they can stay with us. The exception is if we do a ritual to send them away or if there is an exchange of spirits due to any changes we make within and without.

How can I pray to Freya, Odin, Heimdall?

I feel one thing that seems to be wrong with the pagan community is this need to be "correct" or have everything be historical. Modern practices are ok too there's nothing wrong with starting new traditions or bring old ones into a modern world. My only pet peeve is when people make up modern practices then claim that they are part of some ancient tradition something that happens all too often. If it modern then just say so there's nothing wrong with that and if what you do is slightly different to what they did in the past that's ok.

Love all your videos

Lovely idea to take your house spirit with you. I would go with your gut.

I just found your channel, and I would feel bad leaving them there too. I would definitely take them with me while I traveled. I guess if your new place has a house spirit already they would understand that you’re just traveling through.

Get the house spirit it's own cozy home - such as a gutted clock with a door, but keep it open or let there be "windows" in it. You can put offerings in front of it and other personal trinkets inside of it. If the old clock (or whatever you use) has a handle on the top this will make moving next time much easier and a "family" move.

I make a little house for my house spirits (often out of a bird house from a craft store - they come in many sizes). I keep little things for them inside the little house so they're happy. When I start packing things up I say I am moving and you have the option of coming if you want, I'd love your company. If you want to come just go into your little house and on the last day I light a candle there. When I get to my new residence I light another candle and say we're here you can come out now. And since they usually hang out near the house, if I want to give them any little trinkets I put it in front of their house.

Love the pistol mag on the mantle. Is that a M&P?

I recently moved and learned of a brownie that has been with me and my family and has moved every single time with us. I found that they're super interesting and cool and now I value to pay attention. Before I didnt know, and I was getting frustated vibes all the time from my tarot cards and what I've been doing, and then I learned they were a brownie spirit who was frustated that we moved again. However, moving is a big part of life and so I wanted to instead honor this spirit and give them a home within my home, and any time I move their home would come with me, and if I ever had to give them a different home I would make them one.

If your house spirit is looking for a new tenant I am open! 😆😆

When I moved out of my family home to Finland, I performed a ritual of thanks to the wonderful Domovoi that my family has. I asked him to continue taking care of my loved ones and I genuinely miss his presence.

Just found out that I am 75 percent Scottish ((DNA test)) , and the rest Irish... I always wondered why I felt so strongly about the Pagan beliefs, now I know... Just wanted to share..

Yes, not easy to move. Also find that if I do move I sometimes still have an open connection to homes I no longer live in... Or perhaps the spirits therein. Thanks for sharing.