SMUDGING ...using smudge sticks...
Using a smudging tool is part of many Native American traditions. The burning of herbs for emotional, psychic, and spiritual purification is also common practice among many religious, healing, and spiritual groups. The ritual of smudging can be defined as "spiritual house cleaning." In theory, the smoke attaches itself to negative energy and as the smoke clears it takes the negative energy with it, releasing it into another space where it will be regenerated into positive energy.
Common Herbs Used in Smudge Sticks
Sage / White Sage
Cedar / Pine
Lavender
Sweet Grass
Mugwort
Copal
Who is Smudging?
Religious Groups
Native Americans
Healers
You Can Too!!!
Purposes of Smudging
Ceremony / Ritual
Cleansing / Purification
Clearing / Freeing / Releasing
What To Smudge
Yourself
Crystals
Personal Objects
Home / Office / Healing Space
When To Smudge Yourself
When your spirits are low
After being around someone who is sick or depressed
During meditation
In prayer
How To SmudgeYourself
Put the smudge stick to flame using a match or candle light. Blow or wave the flame with your hand to put out the fire. Allow the smudge stick to smoulder, freeing the smoke to circle in the air. Fan the swirls of smoke around your body's aura from head to toe.
Smudging is a cleansing of energy by burning sage, and sweet grass.
Sweet grass 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. Sweet grass is believed to carry within it the deep wisdom of the Earth .A gift from the Creator, It is said the grass never dies.
Sage is the cleanest smell of the desert. A powerful medicine, it is burned as a protection against negative 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
Tobacco was smoked in a pipe during council meetings for its calming effects. it was used for cleansing and healing, and to connect people with the spirit world.
Our thoughts and prayers are carried in the smoke and to the creator.
It is a visual representation of our thoughts and prayers being transported.
Cedar is of the same spiritual family as sage and sweet grass, 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, is a simple but powerful purification method, often used before a 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