Open the Windows, by Sheila

How it works

Three steps. Nothing comes in the mail.

You pay once on a secure Stripe checkout. No subscription.
Your download opens on the next page. The page that comes up right after you pay has the PDF and the EPUB, plus the two printables. Nothing is sent by email, so bookmark that page.
You save the files on your phone, tablet or computer. The link works for 30 days, so keep your own copies.

Free with the book

FREE

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FREE

Included today, no extra cost

Plus 2 printable bonuses

free ~~$24~~.

The Clearing Checklist. A clearing in ten minutes, minute by minute, a three-minute version for busy days, and the house room by room on the back. Keep it by the broom. Worth ~~$12~~, free
Simmer Pot Cards. Three simmer pots, an herb spray with no oils, and how to simmer safely, on cards you cut out and keep in a kitchen drawer. Worth ~~$12~~, free

I. The problem

Everybody tells you to burn something. Nobody mentions the smoke alarm.

Sage, palo santo, incense, a candle in every corner. That's what you hear. Then you try it in a real house, with a real lease, a real cat and real people who have to breathe it.

"Next time, try the window first and skip the smoke." My mother, the evening I told her about the alarm.

The alarm. It went off over my head before I reached the bedroom. I pulled the battery out, and found it on the counter three days later. Please never do that. The book has what the U.S. Fire Administration says to do instead.
The person who can't stand the smell. A partner, a roommate, someone with asthma. Nobody should have to breathe your ritual to live in their own home. Nothing in this book burns, and if someone has asthma or allergies, their doctor comes first.
The lease and the cat. You rent, or the cat walks through everything. Every ritual here works in an apartment and leaves no scorch mark, and the book has what the ASPCA says about essential oils and diffusers around pets.
The sage and palo santo question. Is it running out? Is it yours to burn? The sources don't agree and the label doesn't say. The book lays out what each source says, what one California tribe asks people to use instead, and why I don't buy either one.
The house that feels heavy. After an argument, after someone is gone, after a houseful of holiday guests. There's a chapter for each. A house can't fix the people in it, and the book says so.

What I use instead of smoke

Four ways my mother would have recognized, and one pot on the stove.

Air	Two windows open, on opposite sides
Your own two hands	A broom, sweeping toward the door
Water	A damp cloth across the threshold
Sound	A bell, or three claps in the stillest corner
The stove	Orange peel, cinnamon and rosemary
What it costs	What's already in your house

From Part 2. A simmer pot is cooking: you stay in the kitchen while it's on.

Nothing to light means nothing to watch, nothing to hide from the landlord and nothing to explain to the smoke alarm.

II. What's inside

Five parts. Nothing to burn, nothing to buy, a ritual you can do today.

The safety notes come from the U.S. Fire Administration, the NFPA, the EPA and the ASPCA, and the history from the people whose customs these are, in their own published words. Where the sources disagree, as they do about palo santo, the book says so.

Part 1 · Why I Stopped Burning Things (4 chapters)

The morning the alarm went off, what white sage means to the people of its land, the palo santo question, and smoke, candles and the people you live with.

Part 2 · Air, Water, Sound and Your Own Two Hands (8 chapters)

Open the windows, sweep it out the door, water and salt, bells, clapping and song, the simmer pot, sprays and your cat, plants and light, and words at the door.

Part 3 · Room by Room (4 chapters)

The front door, the kitchen, the bedroom, and the room where people argue.

Part 4 · When the House Needs It (5 chapters)

Moving in, after an argument, after someone is gone, after guests and holidays, and with the seasons.

Part 5 · Keep It Simple (2 chapters)

What I don't buy, and a clearing in ten minutes.

See all the chapters

Before You Light Anything
The Morning the Alarm Went Off
What White Sage Means to the People of Its Land
The Palo Santo Question
Smoke, Candles and the People You Live With
Open the Windows
Sweep It Out the Door
Water and Salt
Bells, Clapping and Song
The Simmer Pot
Sprays, Oils and Your Cat
Plants, Light and the Things You Love
Words at the Door
The Front Door
The Kitchen
The Bedroom
Where People Argue
Moving In
After an Argument
After Someone Is Gone
After Guests and Holidays
With the Seasons
What I Don't Buy
A Clearing in Ten Minutes
The Last Window
Your House on One Page
A Note From Sheila

Three boxes that run through the book

Try it this weekA few small things to do in your own house, most of them free.
Over a cup of teaShort stories from my mother's spring mornings and my own.
Safe and soundThe safety notes that matter, with who says so.

At the back: Your House on One Page, the four ways, room by room, the moments a house needs it and the safety notes in one place.

III. Who it's for

I can't promise your house will feel different. I can show you how to open it up.

Opening a window won't bring you peace, keep anyone safe, mend your health or change your luck, and I won't pretend it will. What it gives you is a ritual that's yours: cheap, gentle, smoke-free and old enough to have some company.

It's for you if

The smoke alarm, the smell or the lease makes burning things a bad idea
Someone you live with has asthma or hates the smell
You have a cat, a dog or birds
You've wondered about white sage and palo santo and never got a straight answer
The house feels heavy after an argument, a loss or the holidays

It's not for you if

You want a guarantee of protection, peace or luck. Nobody honest can give you one
You want a spell, or something to buy. There's nothing to buy
You need medical help. That's a doctor, not a ritual

If someone at home frightens you or hurts you, a window or a bell can't help with that, and it isn't your fault. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free and confidential, day or night: call 1-800-799-7233. If you're in danger right now, call 911. If the heaviness is in you and won't lift, call or text 988.

IV. Who I am Sheila

Every first warm day of spring, my mother opened every window in the house.

The big ones in the front room, the little one over the kitchen sink, and the bathroom window that stuck and had to be thumped at the corner. She propped the back door open with a brick and swept toward it, singing, never all the verses of anything. "Out you go."

I do the same now, with her little brass bell. I've read tarot for myself most of my life, the way she taught me, and I've never charged anyone for a reading. I live in a house with a lot of plants and windows that open. The three sticks of palo santo a neighbor gave me are still in their paper sleeve in a drawer, never lit, and there are no oils in my house, because an orange cat from down the street likes to visit.

This book won't promise you anything. It will show you how to open the house up.

V. The e-book

Pay once. Read it on any device, today.

$49.99$27

$49.99 is the regular price. $27 is the launch price.

This is an e-book, a digital download. Nothing is printed or mailed.

23 chapters in five parts, plus Your House on One Page
Plus 2 printable bonuses, free (worth ~~$24~~)
A 109-page PDF laid out like a book, and an EPUB for e-readers, tablets and phones
Download on the page that opens right after you pay. The link works for 30 days, so bookmark it
No copy protection, on all your devices
Pay once. No subscription.
Money back within 48 hours

Get the e-book · $27

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VI. My other book

A tarot deck in the drawer because 78 meanings felt like homework? My other book needs none of them.

Pour the Tea, Pull a Card is for the Sunday nights after the windows are closed: read any card from its picture, its suit and its number, with three small spreads, the cards that scare people, how to read without getting hooked, and what to say when the family finds your deck. For reflection, not prediction.

Both e-books together are $39. When you press the button to get this one, you can choose both.

Only want the tarot book? It has its own page →

VII. Questions

Before you ask

Is this a printed book?

No. It's an e-book: a 109-page PDF and an EPUB. Nothing comes in the mail. You can print the PDF yourself, and the two bonuses are made to be printed.

How do I get it?

You pay on a secure Stripe checkout, and the page that opens right after has your files. Nothing is sent by email, so save them there and bookmark the page. The link works for 30 days.

Will this protect my home or bring me peace?

No, and I'd be careful around anyone who promises that. These are simple rituals with their history, not remedies. What they give you is a fresh start you make with your own two hands.

Do I need sage, crystals or anything special?

No. A window, a broom, a bowl of water, a pot and your own voice. A bell if you have one. Part 5 is about what I don't buy, and why.

Someone at home has asthma, or I have a cat. Is this for me?

Nothing in this book burns, and the chapter on sprays and oils covers what the ASPCA says about pets. But I'm not a doctor or a vet: if someone at home has asthma or allergies, or a pet who's unwell, ask their doctor or vet first.

I rent. Can I still do this?

Yes. Every ritual works in an apartment and none of them leaves a scorch mark. I can't tell you what your lease says about open flames, so read it or ask your landlord.

What if I don't like it?

Write to me at info@oldbenchbooks.online within 48 hours of your purchase and you'll get your money back.

The last page

Before you light another bundle, open a window.

Take out the trash. Open two windows on opposite sides of the house. Sweep toward the door. That's how my mother did it every spring, and it's how you can start this week.