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Smudge Guide

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Complete guide to cleansing and purifying your sacred space:

What is Smudging?

Smudging is the practice of spiritual cleansing with smoke, especially from sacred herbs. You can smudge a person, a place, a building or an object.

“Smudge” is both a noun and a verb- a bundle of herbs burned as incense is also called a smudge.

Commonly used smudge herbs:

White Sage—negative energy clearing

Rosemary—to treat wounds, headaches and colds

Cedar—cleansing and balancing

Pine Needles—blessing and strengthening

Palo Santo—cleansing and harmony

Sweetgrass—healing and purification, brings positive energy

(Perfect to burn after smudging with a more potent energy cleanser)

Dragons Blood—lucid dreaming, purification and calming

Juniper—protection and harmony

Yerba Santa—purification and calming

Rosemary—protection

Lavender—calming

Eucalyptus—cleansing sick rooms, heals and improves respiratory function

Rose Petals—meditation, calming and attracts love

Desert Sage—negative energy clearing, protection and calming

Ruda Rue—healing and protection

Shasta Sage—eliminates toxins from the body

Royal Sage—spiritual cleansing and calm

Why smudge?

Smudging is done to remove bad energy and bring a feeling of peace and clarity. Most people can tell when a place just doesn’t “feel” right. Smudging is a remedy for that.  

Smudging uses the natural qualities of aromatic plants, along with the smudges, prayers and intentions, to improve the psychic environment.  

It is an act of will that removes negative influences and sets a positive intention for your home, tools or workplace. Some people also use smudging as a first step in setting sacred space.  

Smudging is a way to invite higher spiritual vibrations into a place of healing or meditation.

Do you need to be religious to smudge?

Smudging itself does not require any specific religious beliefs. Smudging is based on intention. All you really need to believe is that you can cleanse yourself, your space, and your possessions. 

Many spiritual paths use incense to help draw one’s thoughts to the Divine. Most also hold in common the benefits of prayers, blessings and acts of hospitality. There is no conflict between smudging practices and any world religions. However, if you have concerns you can always speak with a leader within your faith. 

How to Smudge your Home

So before you begin..

Say a little prayer or invite your Spirit Guides and Angels in. Ask your Divine helpers to assist you in purifying the energy of the home….this is always you first step.

Its recommended to open ALL the windows in the house before you begin. This gives negative energy a place to exit and allows nice, fresh air to come in!

Now let’s start smudging….

Light your smudge stick over the dish.  

You’ll want it to create as much smoke and as little flame as possible. We recommend carrying a candle lighter with you through the house in case it burns out.  

Once the smudge is lit, you’ll need to cleanse yourself!  

If you’re going to walk around cleansing the home, you’ll need to be pure first…this all starts and ends with you. Direct the smoke towards your body starting at your feet and up to your head and then back again.

Now, begin walking around your home (with your smudge), keeping your intention clearly set in your mind.  

Walk into corners (you’ll want to sage every corner in every room) and imagine pulling stale and negative energies from them. You can use your hands or a feather to direct the smoke where you want it to go (just steer clear of getting it in your eyes or nose).

Picture everything you want to to let go of exiting your open windows. Some people recommend starting in a certain room of your home, but we recommend let your intuition guide you. If one family member has been sick or on edge we recommend usually start where they spend the most time.

Pay close attention to unused areas of your home as they can collect stale energy. Take as much time as you need during this step and allow your intuition to really guide you.

As you walk, you can also say a prayer or blessing such as:

Cleanse this space, remove the past

I’ve found my happiness at last

Fill this space with joy and love

Send your blessings from above.

Ending the Smudging Ceremony

There are two ways to wrap up….just choose whichever one you feel most guided towards. You can always end it different ways each time too!

Option 1

Once you’ve finished walking around your home, you can lay the smudge stick in your fire-proof dish and allow it to work itself out naturally. (Obviously do not leave it unattended). If I choose this option, I love to have the dishes near me as I meditate or journal.

Option 2

After you’ve finished smudging, you can also manually rub your smudge stick out. After it’s put out, but the sage or ashes to signify the finality of the negative energies, that lived in your space.

Tip: If you like the idea of burying the smudge stick and it going out naturally—do both!

Smudging Takeaways

At the end of the day, smudging has the best effect when it’s personal and lead by your intuition.

Go with what you feel is right and don’t worry about saying the right prayer or moving in the right direction around a room.

When you’re ready to sage again (and trust me, you’ll be ready soon), use a fresh sage stick and go for it! There’s no need to wait for a special occasion to purify your space.

How Often should I smudge my home?

Most people smudge on an as-needed basis. These are the most common occasions for performing smudging rituals.

When moving into a new space. You wouldn’t wear used clothes without washing them and some people won’t move into a new home or office without smudging. Smudging helps clean-up the psychic debris from previous occupants, so their energy won’t influence your thoughts and emotions. (If you’re a real sweetheart, you can also smudge when moving out to make the space welcoming for the next resident.)

When there has been a psychic disturbance. Some events will leave their mark on a space in the form of yucky energy. They can be major disturbances ( such as hauntings or acts of violence), or minor disturbances, such as when people in the house have been quarreling).

To mark an important positive change. Smudging is a way of hitting the reset button on a home’s energy, so it makes sense to do it when you’re ready for a fresh start. For example: when you’ve finished seasonal housecleaning, when a toxic person moves out, or when you’re celebrating breaking a habit or addiction.

When it’s that time again. Some people do smudging at regular intervals, as a kind of scheduled spiritual hygiene. Regular smudging keeps your home’s vibe fresh and stops anything negative from taking hold.

General Safety Instructions:

1. Place your burning smudge away from curtains, lampshades and all those objects that could catch fire easily
2. Make sure that you have a ventilated area. We all need fresh air to breathe and thus, while you take in the aroma ensure that you take in fresh air too.
3. Never leave the burning sage or smudge stick unattended. If you are going out of your place or going to sleep, put out the sage by dipping the burning end in water.
4. Never ever burn a sage inside a closet. Burning it in the wardrobe or closed space would lead to a potential fire hazard.
5. Keep the burning stick away from the reach of children as well as pets. Innocent curiosity might cause some serious damage.
6. Always place burning sage in a incense burner on a heat resistant surface. Please be aware that the outside of the burner may get very hot!

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