Most people get an urge to clean their house when the weather starts getting warmer. Some think it’s human nature to want to spruce up your home after the cold winter. We have more energy as the days get longer. There’s more sunlight, so we want to make sure the windows are clean to fully enjoy every sunbeam. Spring cleaning might be partly related to human nature, but there’s also evidence that spring cleaning rituals are thousands of years old and are born of cultural and religious traditions. Take a look at how other cultures approach spring cleaning.
Jewish Passover Rituals
One of the biggest Jewish festivals is called Pesach, or Passover. It’s a celebration of the story of the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. The festival is celebrated in spring. As part of the celebration, Jews refrain from eating leavened bread. The Torah commands that no leavened bread products should be in one’s house during Passover. Jews remove all leavened bread before Passover and clean their homes to eliminate any trace of leavened products. It’s this cleaning ritual that reminds us of spring cleaning.
The Persian New Year – Nowruz
Nowruz is celebrated at the spring equinox, usually around March 21 in the Gregorian calendar. It’s a celebration that has over 3,000 years of tradition. Many cultures begin their new year with a house cleaning. Iranians clean everything in the house, from top to bottom, to prepare for the new year. New clothes are purchased. Fresh flowers are placed in the home. The holiday is celebrated with friends and family. It makes sense to want your home ready for visitors.
Spring Cleaning For The New Year
Not everyone spring cleans in the spring. In Scotland, the tradition falls on December 31. Homes are cleaned up for the new year. One old custom is to seal the house up tight and walk through the home with juniper branches that are on fire. The smoke is allowed to permeate the home until the residents can hardly breathe. This blessing is followed by opening all the doors and windows to let in the clean outside air. It’s symbolic of airing out the bad luck of last year while allowing the good luck of the new year into the home.
Sweep Out the Old
The Chinese New Year also believes in spring cleaning, even though the date of the New Year is usually in January or February. The new year is prepared for by cleaning out the house and taking care of business so you can enter the year clean and fresh. New clothes are purchased as a symbol of the fresh start of the new year. In Buddhist homes, altars are cleaned before the new year. The decorations of the past year are taken down. New ones are put in their place. Cleaning the home is thought to make the home ready for the new year’s good luck.
Spring Cleaning Is Practical
Before homes were heated with modern heaters, coal and wood were commonly used to provide heat. After being closed up all winter, the windows and walls would be covered with soot and grime. When spring warmed up the outside temperatures, a general cleaning would be required to get the home back in order. Spring cleaning became part of the cycle of home maintenance.
Spring cleaning may not feel like a religious ritual, but people around the world take part in spring cleaning rites at the beginning of the season as part of their heritage. Whether it’s practical in nature or part of your cultural background, think of spring cleaning as part of your own spiritual journey. What do you need to clean up in your home to start fresh?