Clear your body, mind and spirit. Smudging is a deep, tribal metaphysical cleansing that is used for cleansing and promoting health. A ritual purification. A spiritual practice. It clears the energy. 
Our spaces including our body space can get cluttered, both physically and energetically. Everything in a space is absorbing the vibration of the space…our breath, our blood, our clothes, our furniture, our family. When a space is not attended to, bad vibes can hang around and it feels heavy. A clean space feels light and positive.
Smudging connects us to the creator, our higher spirit, and to the blessings. It purifies our body and our souls and brings clarity to our ever busy minds. It is especially potent and important in times of crisis and times of ceremony.
You can smudge your body, or you can smudge a space, or both. There are heaps of ways you can smudge and give attention to clearing the energy of a space. The easiest way is to simply use your thoughts. Pray.
You can move air around with a feather and create a breeze of clear intention.
Using the healing property of sound will smudge a space. “Sharp, sudden sounds—often metallic ones—vibrate on a frequency beyond what our ears can detect, compelling the objects and atmosphere to resonate in harmony and neutralizing the space. These frequencies even penetrate resistant energy blocks that smudging alone can’t always get rid of. It’s an all-encompassing ~cleanse~. Different methods of sound cleansing date back thousands of years, across cultures—such as Tibetan bells and singing bowls. While these sounds are powerful, you don’t need to splurge on expensive instruments to cleanse your home. You can use pretty much anything that makes a noise, even if it’s just your hands.” Kerry Ward
The simple smoke from a fire is a smudge. You can use mists. Rattling gum leaves is used in our country. You can burn scented leaves like bay and lemon myrtle. Resins and incense are burnt to smudge. Sticks of wood can be used like Palo Santo, Cedar and Sandalwood and other holy woods. A range of herbs can be used and there is a theme of white green plants around the world. If you are using these sacred plant medicines, source them in a sacred way and use them sparingly. Give any ash to Mother Earth representing the negative outside our lives.
A very popular, and very old smudging practice is the use of sage. Sage is bundled into smudge sticks and dried. The smoke from dried white sage changes the ionic composition of the air, and has a direct effect on reducing our stress response lifting our mood and focus. It removes almost all of the bacteria in the space…and it keeps the bugs away!
Use a sacred vessel to carry your smudge stick. We use a tidy cast iron pot with sand in the bottom to stub out the smudge when you are finished. Once your smudge stick is lit, you can use your hand or a feather to direct and waft the smoke over the face and body and visualise the smoke taking away with it any negative energy and returning with goodness and light for a fresh start. You can say an prayerful incantation like: “Let this smoke take the darkness, and return with light”, or you can make up your own. The person being smudged can guide the smoke towards their body with their hands, inhaling it deeply. You can target parts of the body, for example the ears for improved hearing.
When smudging a space, direct the smoke into every corner and everything in the space while focussed on the intention for the space. Clearing in prayer.
What you can smell is the scent of thousands of years of people coming together on purpose in meaningful ceremony. It is said this smudge smoke has healing powers, and carries our prayers to our ancestors.
x
In loving service 
