Smudging and Native American Spirituality

by Sean Culloty

As I started to write this article, I was reminded of a poster I had seen. On it was a solitary and noble Native American Indian looking out over the Great Planes of America. At the bottom of the poster was a prophecy of the Cree tribe. It read:

Only after the last tree has been cut down
Only after the last river bas been polluted
Only after the last fish has been caught
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten

People are waking up to the reality of that prophecy, consciously making the effort to 'walk in beauty and live in balance'. Native American spirituality is, amongst other things, about living in harmony with each other, as well as Mother Earth. Smudging is an aspect of Native American spirituality, so I will endeavour to put things into context.

The spirituality practised by the Native American peoples was not a religious tradition in the way we might perceive Christianity - a set of dogmas demanding faith. Nor was it a moral code
of rules demanding obedience. The Old Ways of
the Native Americans were away', like flowing with Tao is a way for Taoists, or living one's Dharma is a way for Buddhists. They were paths to harmony with life, and ways to live from this centre of balance. It was the immediate experience of nature that formed the root of the People's spirituality,
rather than theoretical beliefs.

The Native American Peoples held the view that spoken words have power. Power, like strong medicine, that blesses the giver and the receiver when shared. Thus there were no holy scriptures,
no stone tablets handed down from on high,
because Great Spirit revealed itself in the miracles of natural life and the visions of the people.

Whilst there were medicine people~women as well as men - with highly developed spiritual gifts, they were not like a clergy, passing on second hand inspiration to a passive following. Each member of the tribe was encouraged, and sometimes required, to nurture their own direct link with the unseen
world through their relationship with nature in sacred ceremonies and through vision quests. All Native American rituals served as opportunities to bring the participants into harmony with themselves,
their tribe and with all of life. Sacred rituals, smudging and sweat lodges all purify, the
participants by reaffirming for them their interconnectedness with each other and with their world. As 1 heard it said in a recent men's group,
'We are one'.

Plants to Purify;

When Great Spirit created the world, and the four kingdoms - mineral, plant, animal and human - it gifted all of the creatures with unique powers or'medicine'. From watching the animals interact with plants, the early peoples learned which
plants were safe to eat, and which had sacred gifts to help the people live in balance and to cure their ills which were an imbalance. Four of the plant people were found to hold special gifts for the two-legged people; these are tobacco, sage, sweetgrass and cedar. While tobacco is not an element of smudging, I will shed some light on it.

Tobacco was smoked in the peace pipe during council meetings for its calming effects. it was used for cleansing and healing, and to connect people with the spirit world. Like any strong medicine, like a double-edged sword, tobacco becomes a poison and causes illness when habitually abused and treated without proper respect.

Sage, a powerful medicine, is burned as a protection against malevolent energies. It is used to establish a sacred boundary at the beginning of rituals and ceremonies. Sage is a purifier, an element of smudging that has the power to draw away the negative energies that afflict the aura, the body and the soul. It is also a powerful herbal remedy, useful in treating a host of physical disorders.

Sweetgrass is a reed-like plant that grows in marshlands. Its leaves are braided together to remind us of Mother Earth. It is sometimes bound up with sage in smudge sticks, or burnt by lighting the end of the braid and waving it through the air. The Lakota people use it to call the good spirits for blessing, and to send prayers to Great Spirit on the rising smoke. Sweetgrass is believed to carry within it the deep wisdom of the Earth .

Cedar is of the same spiritual family as sage and sweetgrass, although milder than the former and stronger than the latter. It is combined with
them sometimes in smudge sticks, or may be burnt on its own to clear the air after illness. The fruit and leaves can be boiled and the mixture taken internally as a herbal remedy for coughs.

Smudging;

I have mentioned smudge sticks, which are bundles of the sacred plants bound together using cotton thread. The loose plants can also be burned over charcoal embers in a ceramic bowl, seashell, or incense burner set aside for that specific purpose. If you plan to use a seashell, line the bottom with an inch or so of loose sand or gravel so that the heat does not crack the shell, or burn your hands when handling it.  Smudging, or ‘sweeping the smoke', is a simple but powerful purification method, often used before ritual. Sage is a traditional choice of herb to use is it is the strongest cleansing herb. Break tip the leaves with your hands. With any prayers that you feel appropriate, place it into a pot or shell. Burn the herbs until they give off clouds of smoke. Remember that strong medicine is not always
pleasant. The negative energies that cling to you may try to convince you that the smudging is offensive or noxious. Sweep the smoke from the
smouldering herbs with a medicine feather or your hand. If you use a smudge stick, you can sweep the smoke by waving the stick itself. Bathe yourself, or the person you are working with, in the purifying smoke.  Smoke rises, so start from the bottom of the body and work up to the head. When you reach the top, flick the feather or your hand, dispersing
any negative energies that may have been dislodged from the person's aura. Make sure you smudge the back and front of the person. Trust your intuition; you may feel that their heart, hands or loins may benefit from extra smudging. In this way can also purify and sanctify objects, animals and places. It is the interaction between the herbs you choose, the particular feather you use, and the intent within you that makes the ceremony special.

When white European settlers came to the New World, the native peoples welcomed them with open hearts, open minds, and a willingness to share the bounty of the land. The notion of owning the land was inconceivable to them. With whisky, guns, disease and Victorian values, the settler s crushed a great nation. The native peoples were not allowed to practice their rituals, their ceremonies, their sweat lodges for one hundred years between 1873 and 1970. Now that some of us are waking up to the truth of �?walking in beauty, and living in balance'
there are still a few Native American peoples prepared to welcome us with the same open hearts, open minds and willingness to share.

Much of this article was inspired by the book, 'Principle of Native American Spirituality�?by Wa’na’nee’che�?BR>(Dennis Renault) and Timothy Freke published by Thorson , ISBN
0-7225--333-0.