Rose Medicine Safisha
Safisha is the Swahili word for “cleanse”. This Safisha is centered on the Swahili ancestral medicine practice of working with Rose, a master plant teacher, for spiritual purification, emotional alchemy and renewal. It addresses the illness of the heart, a conditioned state of disconnection, and provides a sacred space to experience compassionate awareness.
Purification practices range from minor to major rituals that are used to dispel harmful energies, prevent psycho-spiritual diseases and maintain balance with the other-than-human world. These practices assist us in cleansing and clarifying our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual bodies. In turn, enriching our connection to our wider self.
Our heart center is the first energy center to form when we are within our mother’s womb, becoming the point for the subtle body and then the physical body to grow around. By directly working with the medicine of Rose, we open ourselves to the mysteries of the heart and the pathway of its everlasting wisdom.
When to do this Safisha
To discharge and dispel spiritual pollution/energetic debris in your field and home
To connect to the intelligence of your heart with Rose as a spirit guardian
To offer relational healing + repair to wildlife, forests, water bodies and other natural habitats that have been desecrated, neglected and abused
To release personal and transpersonal emotional energies of grief, despair, shock and poor self-regard
To deconstruct survival parts of self and strategies while honouring the power of your protective abilities
Walking the Path
Dedicate your Safisha to the wellbeing of the spirit of the earth, the elements within and without (water, fire, earth, wind and space), the land that you live on and the indigenous people of that land, your ancestral lineage, your guides, spirit allies and all those that walk with you.
How to do a Safisha
Part 1: Preparing Your Space
Open a door or a window to invite in the spirit of the wind to assist you in this work
Gather your items; three white tea light candles, sea salt, frankincense resin, a fireproof plate, a lighter, a bottle of rose water, one charcoal tablet, a white rose, a large bowl and spring water
Part 2: Preparing Yourself
Wash your hands with some of the rose water
Place your hands on your heart and recite your dedication out loud
Connect to your purpose for performing this ritual and generate a sense of openness
Part 3: Cleansing Your Space + Self
Start by performing an energy brush. Take long sweeps down your body, begin from the top of your head and move down to your feet. As your hands reach your feet, let out a sharp exhale. Continue this for 3-5 mins
Put on a protective shawl and then place your charcoal tablet on top of your fireproof plate and light it. After it is lit, take some pieces of frankincense resin and place them on top of your charcoal tablet
Gently lower your fireproof plate to your feet and bring it slowly up your body, focusing on your energy centers, until you reach your head. Fanning the smoke towards yourself. If you are able, turn your body counterclockwise as you do this
Afterwards, slowly walk around your home, starting with the back of the home, allowing the smoke to spread throughout the space. Visualise the smoke as alive and travelling with precision to unseen harmful energies and dissolving them
Give special attention to the corners of rooms, closets, the garage, and the bathroom as you move through your home
Keep your mind clear and focused on the dedication you set earlier and your purpose for performing this ritual as you walk through your space
When you have completed your walk through your home, leave the remaining frankincense to finish burning naturally in the center of the home
Part 4: Working with Rose + Closing the Ritual
Take your large bowl and pour the spring water into it. Add a cup of sea salt and a cup of rose water to the bowl. Stir the salt into the water in your bowl three times in a counterclockwise direction
Take the white rose and bring it to your heart. Speak intuitively out loud about what you are desiring release from, if you are doing this for land healing, apologise for the pain and suffering this land and its spirits have experienced and pray for its restoration
Allow any emotions, sensations and thoughts to flow through you as you do this practice. Take as much time as you need
Place the rose on top of the bowl of healing water so that it lies across it. Add your three tea light candles in front of your bowl and light them
If this Safisha is for you, leave the bowl of water in a tranquil space until the tea light candles naturally fade out. Afterwards, place the white rose on your altar. Take the bowl of water and pour it onto your body in the shower. Bathe as usual
If this Safisha is for land healing, leave the bowl of water in a tranquil space until the tea light candles naturally fade out. Afterwards, place the white rose in the area of land that you dedicated the healing for. If this area is very far from you, you can place your rose in front of a tree you have a relationship with. Pour the water as an offering
End the ritual by giving gratitude to the spirit of Rose and all those who walk with you. Visualise placing one rose flower in each of the four directions of your field. Rest in compassionate awareness