Blog: How Space Clearing and Applied Shamanism Transformed Our Historic Home
By Barry Lipscomb
When my husband Eric and I moved into our new home, we knew we were stepping into history. Nestled in a wooded area about a mile from the Delaware River, our house—originally built in the 1840s—had once been the Permanent School, serving local children until it closed in 1903. Since then, it had taken on many lives: a seasonal vacation home, a community recreation center, and finally, a residence once more.
The land is beautiful and powerful—bordered on three sides by converging creeks, backed by a stone outcropping, and dotted with remnants of old structures: an unused caretaker’s cottage, a crumbling privy, and even the ruins of a building with only its fireplace still standing.
Not long after moving in, we began to experience bizarre electrical issues. Ceiling fans operated unpredictably, remote controls refused to work—or controlled the wrong devices entirely—and most curiously, our thermostat fluctuated wildly, sometimes reading 20 to 30 degrees off from one moment to the next. After multiple replacements and inspections that turned up no wiring problems, we were left without a clear explanation.
I turned to my spiritual practices for support—smudging regularly and drumming to stabilize the energy in the house. These rituals helped, but only temporarily. When I traveled for work in early winter, the disruptions returned with intensity, culminating in a particularly fraught experience.
During a drumming session one evening, I felt a presence try to enter either the drum or my own energetic field. It was abrupt and unsettling. Our usually unbothered cat bolted and hid for nearly an hour. I felt under psychic attack—unprepared, ungrounded, and deeply shaken. The drumming intensified and I felt at a standoff with the presence. Eventually it receded and I spent hours smudging, burning copal, lighting rose candles, using Isa Sprays and toning my crystal bowl to restore balance.
A fellow Applied Shamanic Practitioner journeyed on my behalf, and her guides did further clearing work. The thermostat stabilized again, and we soon replaced it for the fourth—and so far final—time.
Still, the experience had left its mark. I no longer felt safe drumming in my own home. That changed during a session with my Depth Hypnosis Practitioner, where we journeyed together. I was shown a new way to drum—deeply grounded in the Lower World and channeling from the Upper World. That journey not only eased my fear but strengthened my practice, anchoring my drumming in a way that felt powerful, safe, and aligned.
Finally, we scheduled a clearing with the Space Clearing Society. The difference was immediate. Both my husband and I noticed the shift in the house’s energy—lighter, calmer, more welcoming. Even more validating, others noticed too. Recently we had neighbors over for dinner and then a few days later had our fireplace serviced. Both of them commented on the quality of energy in the house. Neither of them were people you would suspect to be attuned to energy. Yet, they noticed something significant enough that they commented on it. I think that speaks to the space clearing and the drumming I now do daily.
Now, daily drumming has become a regular part of my spiritual practice. What began as a frightening encounter with the unknown has transformed into a deeper relationship with our home—and the land it rests on.
