What's Smudging you ask?

A Feel Good, Smell Good Ritual.

Read on to learn how to Clear your Space.

A smudging ceremony should be performed as often as once a week for regular cleansing. You may also want to do it whenever you’re out of sorts or have been surrounded by negative energy, moving or cleaning out a your new space.

It’s best to do smudging with full awareness, in a mindful manner - you may even want to practice meditation for a few minutes before proceeding.

What you need:

  • Loose dried ceremonial sage bundle, sometimes referred to as a wand and bound together by a thin string.
  • Or a stick of Palo Santo or Holy Wood, or a braid of Sweetgrass
  • You can find them all at Majestic Hudson Boutique.
  • If you have a sage herb plant you can make your own! All you have to do is bundle it together with a string, tie it and hang it upside down in a cool, dark space until it has completely dried out.
  • A fire-proof burning surface, like a smudge pot (ceramic bowl) or abalone shell.
  • Matches or a lighter.

Before you begin, open up a window for ventilation.

Light your smudge stick or wand with the matches or a lighter, and then gently blow out the flame, allowing the material to smolder. Focus your energy on the smoke, its aroma and purpose. If a true flame appears, shake the bundle carefully, or blow on it until it turns to embers and smoke. You may need to re-light the bundle a few times during the smudging process.

Once the smoke appears circle the bundle or wand or use a feather to direct the smoke over your body, moving from your feet all the way up to your head and back again, staying connected to your breathing throughout the session. You may use this ritual on another person as well. This is considered to be a sacred sage ceremony that allows you to shift to a cleansed, positive state. You always begin the cleanse  with yourself and those around you before you begin smudging your space.

Move around your house/space, starting at your main entrance. Gently wave the smoke around, focusing especially on the corners of each room, as they’re said to accumulate the most stagnant energy. The entire time, envision the smoke clearing negative energy, waving the smudge bundle up and down as the smoke fills the area.

Move through your space as many rooms as possible and pass the wand over the edges of each window and door as you continue through each room of the house or workspace. In order for the smudging ceremony to be most effective, the smoke needs to cover every room, closet, door, vent, and window.

Ideally you are effectively directing and dissolving all the negative energy out of your space.

Don’t forget about spaces you do not normally use, like closets, cabinets, attics, basements – be sure to smudge all rooms, hey - keep smiling and take it all in as you clear the air in your safe and sacred space. When you reach each doorway, ask that the room be sealed and protected. I often leave a bundle or incense stick burning fully at each door entrance during the ritual. Especially my foyer.

Once you’ve smudged your whole house, allow the herb bundle to burn out.

You may want to bury the remaining smudge in your garden, as a sign of completing the ritual.

Fini!

 

Think about what is necessary.

Live simply + Smudge Stuff. ;)