What is sage smudging?

Sage burning (aka smudging) is a 2,000-year-old indigenous American practice also common throughout Native American & Neo-Pagan traditions which include the burning of herbs to bless, protect, and cleanse negative energy.

Smudging cleanses and rejuvenates your energy and even your crystals. Sage smoke changes the ionic composition of the air and can have a direct effect on reducing your stress levels.

Common herbs in a smudge stick include; Sage, white sage, lavender, sweet grass, cedar, and Palo Santo. Palo Santo wood “holy wood” is from a mystical tree found in South America. Sweetgrass wands call forth the energy of peace & love.

How often can I smudge?

You can’t over-smudge! Anytime you’re feeling a funk coming on or need to detox from drama, bust out your smudge stick and get to cleansing!

Ideal times to do a smudging ritual:

o   Moving into a new living space

o   Starting a new job

o   Starting your own business

o   Before & after a guest enters your home

o   Before & after yoga or energy healing session

o   Before & after meditation

o   After an argument or illness

o   Upon returning home from crowded situations

o   Following an illness

o   After a breakup

o   Blessing a room

o   To create a protective shield around your home

o   After purchasing antique furniture or 2nd hand clothing

o   Feel more connected to Source

It is important to use a new bundle per cleansing when you finish either let it burn out or gently press it out. There are various ways to do a smudging ritual such as on yourself, in a room, or around an object.

Smudging can add new depths to meditation, yoga, and create sacred space. Mindfully incorporate it into your spiritual practice and daily life to feel more connected to Source.

Simple 3-Step Smudge Ritual

Step 1 – Use dried sage that’s bound by a thin string. You can find dried sage at a local herb shop, Whole Foods, or holistic market.

Step 2 – Light the bundle by holding a flame to it until it begins to smoke. If a flame appears – gently blow out the flame.

Step 3 – Once you have a nice smoke. Direct the smoke with your hand or feather over your body from feet up to head & back down. Visualize the smoke taking away with it any negative energy from your life. Repeat this mantra until you intuitively feel like you’ve finished.

Say: “I now release and send all negative energy to the light.”

3 Steps to Purifying Yourself and Your Space

Purify yourself. For increased or balanced energy or for lifting your mood, follow this procedure

Start here: Stand tall with your legs wide and your arms out to your sides. Have a friend light and blow out your smudge stick until it’s smoldering like charcoal. Using a large feather or several feathers held together to form a fan, waft the smoke from the smudge stick in circles around your body. Don’t forget to circle your head and your feet with the smoke.

Symbolically “wash” your hands in it. Either start from the head and work your way down to the ground, “stomping” out the energy with your feet, or start from the feet and work up, letting the smoke dissolve into the air above you.

Say: “Goddess, cleanse my aura of all negative energy. Let my actions and even my thoughts be for the benefit of all beings.”

Purify a room. Shift stagnant energy and “clear the air” after an argument by using this ritual

Start here: Starting with the Northern corner of the room, allow the smoke from your smudge stick to billow in it. Be sure to crack a window or door so the energy has somewhere to release out of.

Say: “North, I cleanse you. East, I cleanse you. South, I cleanse you. West, I cleanse you. I now purify these four walls so that only peace, light, and goodness reside here. This room is now cleansed.”

Purify an object. Cleanse negative energy or to restore your spiritual connection to a crystal, deck of oracle/tarot cards, or piece of clothing or jewelry

Start here: Hold the object over your smoldering smudge stick. Move the object slowly back and forth in the smoke trail, letting it hit the object, split into two trails, and then dissipate.

Say: “Goddess, I ask that you purify this object, cleansing it of all residual negativity. Let this tool become a conduit, allowing Spirit to flow through it efficiently and abundantly, giving me clear and relevant insight into my questions and pursuits.”