How to smudge your space

What is smudging?

Smudging is an ancient ritual in which sacred herbs are burned for cleansing and healing purposes. Many herbs can be used, but dried White Sage appears to be the most common. The smoke produced by burning the herbs is said to attached itself to any negative energy, which is then carried away with the smoke. That’s why it’s always useful to have a door or window open to the outside during your rituals. After a ritual, you return the ashes to the Earth and if you want to, you can thank the herbs and any beings that help you for their healing and aid.

Scroll down for possible benefits and how to’s…

My personal experience

I first smudged my space about five years ago, when I was living with my ex-partner and his family. It was a busy household, and I spent most of the time in my room or outside in the garden to try and get away from it all. I was incredibly sensitive to the different energies around me from beings both past and present – the house was a 100-year-old ex-dairy farm, so it is safe to say there was a lot going on. Being so young in my spiritual journey, I didn’t realise that a lot of the negativity I was feeling came from a collective shadow. As an empath (a person who is highly sensitive to energy), I took these feelings on as my own and let them define my every-day life, trying to suppress the various thoughts and emotions I experienced, burying them away along with my own emotions, in the hope I would never have to deal with them.

After a few lucid dreams about an unwelcome but passive lady who would come and visit me in my room, I browsed the internet on ways to cleanse my space in the hope that I would no longer be spooked in the middle of the night, leaving my awake for hours, not knowing that this lady meant me no harm. I stumbled across smudging, but I doubted the information I was given and didn’t peruse it.

A couple of weeks later, I visited my godmother. We got to talking about sprits, and she told me how her daughter was sure she was an indigo child and regularly smudged her room to clear negative energy. She gave me a spare Abalone shell and eagle feather and told me to buy some dried White Sage. I read some tips and tricks about smudging – I was worried about disrespecting herbs and sprits; and after deliberating for some time, one evening decided it was time to give it a go.

I closed the door of my bedroom and opened one of the windows a crack. I started on my side of the bed, and lit my sage stick with a lighter, holding the shell underneath to catch any ashes. Using the eagle feather, I wafted the smoke into the room, as I walked slowly around it, clockwise. I asked the sage to remove any negative energy from the room, any negative spirits. I asked (someone, though I did not know who at the time) to help me fill the room with positive energy, with love and peace. It all felt rather familiar. I thought I recognised the smell of sage, it was beautiful, and I found the whole process quite relaxing; but this didn’t stop my ego from telling me what I was doing was weird and silly. Nevertheless, I carried on and when I had made my way around the entire room, I stubbed the sage stick out clumsily on the shell and put it in a little box in the wardrobe on a shelf above my head. I disposed of the ashes in the garden under a big tree, thanking the sage for its power and healing (yes, I still felt a little silly – that’s your ego for you!).

The results were subtle at first, I admit I felt a bit lighter. Although I was not visited in the night for quite a while after, being the negative person that I was, I was disappointed it hadn’t worked any immediate miracles; and I continued to entertain the negative, intrusive thoughts.

It wasn’t until I moved out a couple of years later, that I took up the practice regularly. By this time, I had started to practice daily gratitude, I was becoming more aware and responsible for my thoughts, I was protecting my energy and accepting guidance from my higher self, my angels and spirit guides. I had started regular work on my spiritual growth and had found and regularly studied the work of anthroposophist, Rudolf Steiner.

Now

I believe smudging your space is just as important as physically cleaning it, if not more so, and it’s an important part of my Reiki sessions. My Abalone shell, smudging sticks and feathers sit proudly on one of two altars in my bedroom. I probably smudge my own space once or twice a week – whenever I feel like it. Sometimes it’s a big deal – I play music and meditate before and during, other times it’s a quick one-two around the room before bed or whenever I feel the energy is stagnant.

During a smudging ritual, I will ask the herbs, my higher self and my angels and guides to help me transmute the negative energy into loving awareness before it is released, and to send any negative entities into the light to continue on their evolution. I’m a big fan of Palo Santo and Yerba Santa with White Sage, and I keep blackbird feathers instead of eagle feathers now. Most of the time though, I won’t use feathers at all – I mindfully waft the herbs in small circles as I walk clockwise around the room, so that the smoke goes where it needs to.

What are the possible benefits of smudging?

• Relieves stress
• Purifies the air – removes airborne germs
• Removes stagnant or negative energy, negative entities and helps loosen thought forms (did you know thoughts are things?!)
• Increases the vibration of yourself and your space
• Promotes wellbeing and positivity

The extent to which you feel or notice the benefits of smudging, depends on your sensitivity to energy. This varies from person to person and can depend on a variety of factors such as diet, including alcohol and sugar consumption, past karma and mental wellbeing.

How to smudge?

1. Get yourself some herbs – White Sage or Palo Santo work well, but there are lots of options out there. You can buy smudging sticks or kits online or at your local holistic shop, if you have one. If you’d prefer, you can connect with me here, and I’ll be more than happy to put together a bespoke smudging kit for you.
2. Get yourself an Abalone shell or a little bowl to catch the ashes. You can use any kind of feather or no feather at all.
3. One you have your materials, it’s time to prepare your space. Choose a quiet time of day, where you can take a few minutes to yourself without being disturbed. Close the door of the room you want to smudge (or go wild and smudge your whole house) and open a couple of windows a crack.
4. If you want to, you can play some relaxing or inspiring music during the ritual.
5. Light the end of the smudging stick with a lighter for approximately 30 seconds. This can take longer sometimes. Be careful not to burn yourself on your lighter.
6. The tip of the smudging stick should smoulder and release white smoke. If your stick catches fire, shake it or blow on it gently to put the fire out.
7. Using your feather, your hand, or just the smudging stick: guide the smoke over yourself first, and then walk slowly clockwise around your room, guiding the smoke as you go, catching any ash in your shell or bowl.
8. You don’t have to ask for anything in particular, it’s your intention that matters, but if it feels right, you can ask the herbs, your guides and/or your higher self to help you remove any negative energy from the room, and replace it with loving awareness, love, peace, joy or creative energy – whatever feels right for you.
9. When you have finished, you can either leave the smudging stick in your shell or bowl, on a heatproof surface to stop smoking, or you can stub it out in some sand.
10. Afterwards, return the ashes to the Earth (you can do this after each ritual, or you can wait until you feel the ashes need to be taken outside) – under a tree or other plant – thanking the herbs and your guides for their aid and guidance, and the tree or plant for theirs. Trees don’t only absorb carbon dioxide – they also absorb negative energy! Always return the ashes to the Earth, never discard them inside.

Things to remember about smudging

1. Don’t overthink it – do whatever you feel comfortable with and just go with it
2. It’s all about intention
3. You may feel silly – that’s okay
4. Be mindful of fire and hot ashes

I can’t be bothered to smudge, but I feel the energy is stagnant and needs refreshing?

• Try burning incense. My favourites are Sandalwood, Palo Santo and Nag Champa
• Open some windows – this gets stagnant energy moving
• Place crystals around your room or home, remembering to cleanse them regularly – the easiest ways are under running water (but be careful – some crystals don’t like water), in a bowl of Lavendar, or on a windowsill in sunlight or moonlight. You can also smudge crystals to cleanse them.
• Book a home cleanse here.

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