How to clean the altar to welcome Tet according to feng shui?

Cleaning the altar to welcome Tet at the end of the year is extremely important, it should not be done carelessly or carelessly, because that will cause the loss of fortune.

According to Eastern spiritual culture, the altar is the place where gods and ancestors are present, helping to bring luck to the homeowner. Therefore, it is always placed in the most solemn position and is also often noticed. Especially at the end of the year, almost every family cleans the altar, displays a beautiful tray of five fruits to invite gods and ancestors to celebrate Tet together, and bless their descendants with a new year of peace and prosperity.

Regarding the time to clean the altar, many people believe that it must be done right after sending the Kitchen Gods to heaven, because this is the time when "the gods are away", and if you move the altar items, you will not be reprimanded.

When cleaning worship items, you should clean each item one by one, do not leave them lying around (Illustration photo)

However, according to feng shui expert Nguyen Manh Linh - Director of the Center for Applied Feng Shui Architecture Research (University of Construction), the ancestral altar is a solemn and pure place, so it needs to be paid attention to and cleaned regularly, not necessarily waiting until near the Lunar New Year. The important thing is that when doing this, it must be done sincerely and seriously, showing respect to the ancestors and not being concerned with other matters.

Accordingly, before starting to clean , the homeowner needs to take a bath and burn incense to "ask permission" from the gods and ancestors. When trimming the incense sticks, the homeowner will take them out little by little until there is an odd number left in the incense bowl (usually 3, 5, 7, 9). The remaining number will be burned into ashes, dumped into the river or buried at the base of a tree.

It should be noted that incense sticks or other worship items should never be thrown into the trash or in unclean places. In fact, many families often keep incense sticks year after year, layer upon layer, with the meaning that it will be easier for ancestors to return or for the homeowner to have more fortune. However, according to expert Nguyen Manh Linh, this is just a superstition that each person thinks up. We should regularly trim incense sticks so that the incense bowl and altar do not get dirty, causing loss of aesthetics, and avoiding fire.

The altar is a solemn and pure place, so it needs attention and regular cleaning (Illustration photo)

Also at the end of the year, many families have the need to re-ignite the incense bowl. However, according to feng shui experts, this should only be done in certain cases such as when moving into a new house; the house wants to combine or separate the incense bowls or the house is unfortunately experiencing bad luck. When re-igniting the incense bowl, it is necessary to pour out all the old ashes, wash the incense bowl and then re-ignite.

“In the past, most of us still thought that the person who picks up the incense bowl must be a wise person, a teacher or a magician. But in reality, anyone can do this, it would be best if it was the pillar of the family (grandfather, father, eldest son). The person performing the task must be sincere, with clean hands and feet and clothes,” said Mr. Linh.

The expert added that when cleaning the incense bowl, you need to use ginger wine and gauze to wipe clean from the mouth of the incense bowl down. After cleaning, polishing, and repairing the incense bowl, place it on the altar and the homeowner should not move the incense bowl anymore. Note that when adding new ash, it should be 1-2cm away from the mouth of the incense bowl. When completing the steps, you need to light incense to invite the gods and ancestors to return.

According to spiritual experts, the water used to clean the altar should be alcohol (crushed ginger and then poured in alcohol, soaked a towel in alcohol for at least 30 minutes before cleaning) or warm water, do not use cold water.

If the house has a Buddha altar, Buddha statue, or Buddha picture, do not use alcohol to clean it, but use a cloth soaked in clean water and clean the Buddha altar first, then clean the ancestral altar. Use a clean cloth soaked in ginger wine to clean all the worship items. Then use a dry cloth to wipe them again. Wipe each item in turn, do not let the worship items roll around, but arrange them neatly and solemnly. Finally, put the worship items back in their proper place, change the water, change the jar of rice and salt (if any), pray to invite the gods and ancestors to return, and report that you have finished your work.

Source: https://giadinhonline.vn/don-ban-tho-don-tet-nhu-the-nao-cho-dung-phong-thuy-khong-bi-tan-loc-d204228.html