If you’re not familiar with it, smudging is the common name given to the Sacred Smoke Bowl Blessing, a powerful cleansing technique from the Native American tradition. Smudging calls on the spirits of sacred plants to drive away negative energies and put you back into a state of balance. It is the psychic equivalent of washing your hands and used as an essential preliminary to almost all Native American ceremonies.

I use smudging to cleanse myself particularly if I’ve had a yucky day or have had to deal with difficult or unpleasant people. I use it as a prelude to all kinds of spiritual and magical work it’s like a kind of psychic power shower. I use it to cleanse my home and office. I use it all over the place,as it is really a soulful tool.

Homes and bodies are not just made of purely physical matter; they also vibrate with subtle, invisible energy ...you might know it as chi, prana, etc... Cleansing a space and our bodies with techniques such as smudging clears away all the emotional and psychic "garbage" that may have gathered over years or even hundreds of years. It’s like spiritual house cleaning.

These ideas are not new nor are they part of the new age "movement." Native American tradition dates back centuries and most traditional cultures, have age old forms of cleansing and blessing ritual. Even the West retains relics of it, although we have long forgotten the true purpose behind many of our rituals and ceremonies. The incense wafting through a church or temple is cleansing the atmosphere just as surely as the medicine man’s bowl of sacred smoke, or smudge. The bells that ring out on Sunday morning were originally intended to purify the whole parish through sound and lead the community from everyday space into worship.... Just as the shaman’s drum can lead us on sacred journeys into the world of the spirits.

BASIC SMUDGING FOR SELF-CLEARING

There are many ways to use smudging. I suggest this as a simple way to get started. As you become more proficient, you may well find you want to use different words or actions. That’s fine – just be guided by your intuition. But always treat smudge with great respect.

YOU WILL NEED

: smudge stick, a lighter, a small ceramic or stone bowl, or a large shell (a saucer will do), a large feather.

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Light the end of your smudge stick and let it burn for a few minutes until the tip starts to smoulder. You may need to fan the flames for a while to get the smudge really going. Then extinguish the flame so the smudge stick smokes.
  2. Call on the spirits of the smudge to cleanse and protect you, saying: "Sacred Sage, drive away all negativity from my heart; take away everything unworthy and impure things that can tear my heart."
  3. First waft the smoke towards your heart. Hold the smudge stick away from you and use the feather to waft the smoke towards you. Then take the smudge smoke over your head, down your arms and down the front of your body. Imagine the smoke lifting away all the negative thoughts, emotions and energies that have attached themselves to you.
  4. Envision breathing in the smudge, visualizing the smoke purifying your body from the inside. (Note: be careful if you suffer from asthma or respiratory difficulties. Experiment cautiously).
  5. Now bring the smoke down the back of your body towards the ground. Visualise the last of negativity being taken back into the earth, away into the air.
  6. Repeat your smudging once again, this time as you smudge, imagine yourself being surrounded by gentle, loving energy. Breathe in positivity, courage and love.

You can also do this throughout your home taking special care to blow the smoke into each corner of each room for space clearing.

I hope you find this useful and as beneficial as I do :)

Many Blessings ~Amanda