How to Smudge (cleanse) the Native Way!             ; 

Smudging is a way of using the smoke from burning herbs as a way to cleanse the body or aura, an object, or a given area in a dwelling of negative influences.
I use this ceremony of "cleansing" for my house each change of season and after traumatic events occur.    It lifts the negative energy that accumulates within the dwelling.  It can be used for many purposes and in the healing ceremonies as well. Smudging can also be used before cleansing with sea salt also.  To cleanse with sea salt after smudging:


Spread sea salt in the four corners of the room and sweep all to the center.  Lift the used sea salt into a dust pan and remove to the outdoors where you will bury the salt in the earth.  I use both the smudging and the sea salt each spring after an especially hard winter where my home has been closed tightly to keep the warmth in.


I use smudging to "cleanse" crystals before using them  and for protecting my home from some recent stress producing events. I am aware that the skillful use of these smudging herbs can assist in warding and banishing ceremonies if used properly and with reverence. The three most used plant material for smudging are sage of all types, cedar and sweetgrass. I use pineapple sage that I grow myself and also I grow sweetgrass in containers.
Others use lavendar and ginger but I prefer the above herbs as they burn clean and light.


Sage

There are two major genii and several varieties of each genus of Sage that are used for smudging. Salvia, or the herb sage used for cooking, comes in two major varieties: S. officinalis, commonly known as Garden Sage, and S. apiana, commonly known as White Sage. Salvia varieties have long been acknowledged as healing herbs, reflected in the fact that its genus name comes from the Latin root word salvare, which is the verb "to heal" or "to save." Artemisia is the genus commonly considered "Sagebrush", and is more common in the wilds out here in California. There are two major varieties to the Artemisia genus: A. californica or Common Sagebrush, and A. vulgaris or Mugwort. There are many other varieties of both Salvia and Artemisia, and all are effective in smudging. Sage is burned in smudging ceremonies to drive out evil spirits, negative thoughts and feelings, and to keep Gan'n (negative entities) away from areas where ceremonials take place. In the Plains Sweatlodge, the floor of the structure is strewn with sage leaves for the participants to rub on their bodies during the sweat. Sage is also used in keeping sacred objects like pipes or Peyote wands safe from negative influence. In the Sioux nation, the Sacred Pipe is kept in a bundle with sage boughs. I would think special crystals could be so protected this way as well.


Cedar

True cedar is of the Thuja and Libocedrus genii. Some Junipers (Juniperus genus) are also called "cedar", thus complicating things some. Some Juniper varieties are cleansing herbs, especially J. monosperma, or Desert White Cedar. But for smudging, the best is Western Red Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and California Incense Cedar (Libocedrus descurrens). Cedar is burnt while praying to the Great Spirit (Usen', the Source -- also known to Plains nations as Wakan Tanka) in meditation, and also to bless a house before moving in as is the tradition in the Northwest and Western Canada. It works both as a purifier and as a way to attract good energy in your direction. It is usually available in herb stores in chipped form, which must be sprinkled over a charcoal in a brazier. You can also use  a piece of charcoaled mesquite for this purpose, rather than the commercial charcoal cake.  They now sell in many online stores braided sage, cedar and sweetgrass for smudging that you can use.


Using Smudging:

Burn clippings of the herb in a brazier... not a shell as some "new age" shamanic circles do... it is an insult to White Painted Woman to do this, especially with the abalone shell which is especially sacred to Her. If the herb is bundled in a "wand", you can also light the end of the wand that isn't woody and use that. I like the latter way. I like to use small copper lined smudging pans that I have had in the family for years to smudge. Direct the smoke with your hands or with a Peyote (feather) wand over the person or thing you wish to smudge. If you can see auras, look for discolored places in the aura and direct the healing smoke towards those places on the patient's body. For cleansing a house, first offer cedar smoke to the four directions outside the house. Then, take a sage bough and go throughout the inside of the house, making sure the smoke penetrates every nook and cranny of the house. It might help also, if you have a power animal, to visualize your animal doing these things, to also dance your animal, and if you have a power song, to sing that too. Then finally, run through the house with a white candle that is well protected, to "light up" the house. Careful not to burn it down when you do it!!! There are smudging ropes that are a mixture of the above three herbs but I like to burn the herbs separately.


Final Thoughts

Smudging should be done with care, with reverence, and in an attitude of LOVE. Show your respect and honor to the plants that the Universe has given us for our healing, and they will return the favor by keeping us well and free from disease and negative energy.

Aloe Vera plants, though not to be burnt, are good for the cleansing angle as well. Keep one or more potted Aloe Veras in the house (modern varieties are too tender to plant in anything but full shade outside) in organic (wood or ceramic, never plastic or metal) pots. To honor the plant when you transplant it, sprinkle the roots with corn meal and smudge it with cedar once it is transplanted.
The spirit of Aloe Vera is a good protective spirit, and if you burn yourself, can also be used to heal your skin. Be sure to ask the plant's permission before cutting part of the leaf off for the healing juice. If you don't, the protective power of the plant will cease, and you will be left with but an inert houseplant... and perhaps some bad karma to boot.

I hope this helps you all in clearing and cleansing!  Many Blessings to you.

Rosie

Tags: Spiritual Metaphysical Cleansing

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