Top 6 Steps to Clean the Ancestral Altar on Tet Day for Good Fortune

Every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it is a tradition to bid farewell to the Kitchen Gods and send them back to the heavens. On this day, families prepare offerings on the ancestral altar to report the events of the past year. Therefore, it is a common practice for people to clean and arrange the ancestral altar to welcome the new year.

Many believe that they must wait until after the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, once the Kitchen Gods have ascended to the heavens, to clean the ancestral altar. Otherwise, it may disturb the divine spirits. Cultural experts, however, note that there is no documented evidence supporting this belief. Throughout the year, individuals can choose any auspicious day to clean the ancestral altar. The most popular time is at the end of the year, coinciding with the ritual of bidding farewell to the Kitchen Gods.

Before proceeding, the homeowner will light incense to seek permission. All the incense collected throughout the year should be reduced, then transformed along with gold coins. However, depending on circumstances, the homeowner can clean the ancestral altar on another day, as long as it's before the 30th of Tet. Before performing this task, according to folk beliefs, descendants often light incense, read incantations to seek permission from their ancestors.

Incantation

'I bow to Amitabha Buddha!

I bow to Amitabha Buddha!

I bow to Amitabha Buddha!

I bow to the Nine Sky, Ten Directions Buddhas, all Buddhas in the Ten Directions

I bow to the father king Jade Emperor, the mother queen of the earth, the five directions of the earth, the dragon veins of the earth, the God of the East, the Four Seasons and the God of Land.

The faithful one is named:………………………..

Residing at the address:…………………….

Today, on the .. day of the 12th month, 2019, realizing that oneself is not completely pure, leaving the incense covered in dust, I sincerely repent.

The faithful one respectfully announces to the venerables (depending on the altar worshiping deities, guardian spirits, or ancestors…), choosing an auspicious day today seeks permission for the faithful one to cleanse to allow the altar to be solemn and serene, hoping the venerables demonstrate guardianship.

May you grant me the strength to clean and make it beautiful, for the incense to be peaceful, for the spiritual part to be tranquil, for the home to be prosperous.

We humans, with flesh and blood, full of sins, only know to respectfully repent if there are any mistakes, please forgive and overlook them generously.

(Completing three bows).'

According to Eastern beliefs, to change the energy and welcome positive things, people often use fragrances in their homes to bring good fortune to the family. Since ancient times, our ancestors have used five-fragrance water from 5 types of plants to clean the ancestral altar. However, nowadays, many families only use commercially available chemical solutions to clean the altar. Feng shui experts share: 'We should limit the use of ready-made solutions because we don't know what the outside fragrances are made of and no one can confirm their origin. It's best for everyone to carefully maintain the tradition of making five-fragrance water.'

Five-fragrance water is made from ingredients such as dried wormwood, dried cinnamon, cedar leaves, grapefruit leaves, fragrant leaves, and some other types of local leaves with their own unique scents, possibly adding orchid flowers for fragrance. All are boiled into water with 5 aromatic scents, covering the altar space.

Another note, in the case of a family just going through a funeral, you can add smashed ginger wine. If the homeowner is male, ginger wine should be left for 7 days, and if the homeowner is female, ginger wine should be left for 9 days before mixing it into the five-fragrance water. This has the effect of dispelling negativity, covering the space very well.

Additionally, some documents claim that there is no need for elaborate cleaning of the altar, just ginger wine is enough, but this is entirely incorrect. Most families use wooden altars, and using ginger wine for hygiene will damage the wood and may cause it to burn. Therefore, it is necessary to mix ginger wine with five-fragrance water to reduce the heat of the wine.

Transform the incense sticks into ashes. The ashes of the incense sticks after transformation should be released in a clean place with flowing water, no litter or pollution. Do not throw the ashes in the trash, mix with impurities, or leave them in an impure state.

After cleaning and trimming the incense sticks, the homeowner places the worship items back in the correct position, changes the water, replaces the salt rice heap (if any), and prays to invite the deities, grandparents, and ancestors. Prayer for the return of the deities and ancestors (after completion of cleaning).

Organize the prepared worship items. Light 9 memorial incense sticks:

'I bow to the 9 heavens
I bow to the 10 directions of the earth
I respectfully bow to the Buddhas of the 10 directions
I respectfully bow to the 10 directions Buddhas
I respectfully bow to the current officials, the current scenes, the officials who govern, the spirit soldiers.
I respectfully bow to the five directions, five elements, wealth deities, kitchen deities.
The faithful one is:.....................................................
Residing at:.............................................................
Today, on the New Year's Day, an auspicious day. I have chosen a suitable time to purify the incense again.
Now the current affairs have completed, also pray for the return of the incense for me to continue dedicating my heart to worship and consolidate my position.
May the south be prosperous, the new year brings new luck.
Please bless the faithful one for peace and convenience. Traveling to and from places.
A life of good karma brings, and bad karma goes.
Wealth and prosperity abound, current affairs progress.
Pure heart I have.
Ceremoniously, I offer.
If there are any deficiencies in the negative aspects, I respectfully ask for forgiveness and protection.
Hoping the sacred spirits descend, we respectfully announce.
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
Namo Amitabha Buddha!'

Start cleaning the ancestral altar when the incense has burned out. Use warm water, alcohol, or ginger water to clean the worship items. Lower the items to be cleaned down first (Note: Never lower or move the incense burner. According to folklore, moving the incense burner in the wrong direction can bring bad luck to the homeowner). Prepare a large and tall table, cover it with red fabric or paper, lower the worship items (offerings, portraits, flowers, water bowls, etc.) down, then place all the worship items neatly on the table. If the altar has shared offerings with different deities, they should be placed in separate locations. Do not clean the items directly on the altar.

Use a clean cloth soaked in ginger water to wipe all the worship items. Then use a dry cloth to wipe again. Clean each item one by one, do not let the worship items scatter, but stack them neatly and solemnly. After cleaning the offerings, proceed to clean the incense burner. When cleaning the incense burner, leave only 3 incense sticks. For incense burners of the deceased within 3 years, if it's a male, leave 7 sticks, and if it's a female, leave 9 sticks. Trim all the incense sticks of deities, keeping only 5.

Brooms or altar-cleaning cloths are usually used separately to minimize cross-contact. The cleaning water for the ancestral altar should be clean water first. Then use white wine with ginger (or wine – five-fragrance water) to thoroughly clean the altar.

When cleaning the incense burner and offerings, hold them in place with one hand and use a clean, damp cloth sprayed with ginger-infused wine, floral water, or five-fragrance water to clean them thoroughly. The most important thing is that we must do this sincerely and seriously to express our respect to those above.