One of the things I love most about the Goddess Inspiration Oracle by Kris Waldherr is that it includes many lesser-known and even obscure Goddess alongside those that are familiar to me. I appreciate the chance to learn about Goddesses who may have been overlooked in my mythological education, and to find connections with Goddesses from pantheons or cultures I may know little about. 

This week brings the Baltic Goddess Haltia, Goddess of the Hearth and Home. She has much in common with the Estonia Goddess Holdja, and with Hearth Goddesses more generally. Honored among the Baltic Finns as the guardian of the hearth and hearthfire, Haltia lives on today as a general name for the house faeries or spirits who guard homes, water, graveyards and other places where humans dwell and carry out our daily activities.

Haltia's message in the Goddess Inspiration Oracle is to encourage harmony in the home as a way to invite good luck and blessings. While my home is very harmonious on the emotional and relationship levels, physical harmony in my living space has always been something of a battle for me. I am the child of two children of the Depression, and I have carried some of their borderline hoarding tendencies forward. Many years of poverty also left their mark, as I find it difficult to let go of items which might prove valuable or useful down the line. While I have been steadily facing up to the emotional and spiritual reasons behind my tendency to clutter, it's not easy work. 

One of my goals for this coming  year has been to work steadily on clearing my space, and having Haltia's support come in just as I'm moving into the active Spring season feels right. My partner and I are considering moving from our home of 5 years in October, if we can find a place that better suits our needs and our new commutes. The idea of moving is daunting, knowing how much stuff is packed into our apartment, and I've been striving to shift my mindset into "moving mind" now so that we can use the next months to prepare, in hopes of a smoother moving experience. I am so grateful to have Haltia along for the ride.

Some questions I'll be asking myself this week, and which I invite you to ponder as well:

What does it mean for me to have a harmonious home? What does that look like?

What can I do to foster that harmony?

What can I let go of in order to make my space clearer?

What is it easy for me to let go of?

What is it hard for me to let go of?

What can I do each day to promote harmony in my home?