I’ve been inspired today to write about Hestia/Vesta and my emerging relationship with her.

At first I thought I was supposed to be calling her by the name Hestia, but in the last couple days I’ve become more and more convinced that she wants me to call her Vesta. There’s a statue of Vesta that I’m absolutely coveting for my kitchen above the stove. Then came finding this beautiful prayer to her that resonates greatly with me out of Classical Living: Reconnecting with the Rituals of Ancient Rome by Frances Bernstein:

Every morning I wake up and clean off my oven for her. I light a stick of incense and tell her good morning. This morning I added sweeping the kitchen floor to my humble little ritual, because it seems her realm in my home is slowly extending outwards – A welcome presence at that!

You see, my apartment is an utter wreck. About the time I started this blog, I decided to get back into my spirituality and actively practicing my religious beliefs – Which meant I had to rebuild altars that have been sadly vacant in my home.

I stumbled across an article (http://www.wiggage.com/witch/hestia.html) on Hestia being the goddess of the hearth and home. Not that I didn’t know it already, but that seemed to launch me into a frenzy of sorts – a good frenzy at that. Suddenly my mind was cleared of seeing my apartment as one huge mess, and it was turned into manageable tasks in the kitchen. Then it turned into motivation to actually keep the kitchen clean.

Behold, gentle readers! Duty to a goddess has revolutionized my cleaning habits! Spirituality has begun to give me the motivation to strive to neat and tidy! Kitchen witchery is turning me into a domestic priestess!

Seriously, though, my life has been revolutionized by it. My Virgo boyfriend is thrilled. My energy pathways in the house are clearing up and getting a little less funky – Which seems to be helping with my AD/HD (have you noticed I’m a mess, yet?). I’m finding myself actually happy to be doing cleaning instead of it feeling like a chore.