I’m going to get on my soap box here so I can shout to everyone: There is no wrong way to smudge.
Anyone who tells you that you’re doing it wrong or that there is only one right way to smudge is an asshole.
Okay that’s a little harsh. I apologize on behalf of my aging ovaries and lack of decorum. It seems that, lately, I have little patience for rigid ideology, discouraging words and shaming.
I should be more understanding. People act from where they are. Maybe the person was taught that there was only one way to smudge and they never questioned it. Perhaps, they’ve been scared into submission by their teacher and only knows how to share their fear.
Maybe they’re just secretly insecure about themselves and are trying to hide it through superiority. Or… they’re just a know-it-all, control freak pretending to be enlightened.
I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.
There is no wrong way to smudge.
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So what the heck is smudging anyway.
Smudging or Saining (as it was known to ancient Celts), is the practice of using the smoke of certain herbs to clear the energies of a space. It was most commonly used in preparation for rituals or ceremonies. Think of the Catholic priests walking around the church with the incense, wafting the smoke into the pews of parishioners.
Traditionally, way back when men were in charge and/or roles were pretty rigid, this act was done by the divinely appointed clergy of the tribe or village. But folks, in the 21rst century we know we are all divine and we are the priests and priestesses of our own lives. So that argument is null and void.
Smudging is a little controversial these days. The term is most closely associated with Native American practices however it has been used in many different cultures and traditions so I promise you, you’re not appropriating anything. You have a right to develop your own practice and use the tools and techniques that you have available.
Once again, there is no wrong way to smudge. There are no rigid rules or required learning or lineage. There are, however, common sense safety precautions and some best practices I’ve discovered along the way. Let me share my 20 years of experience.
What you Need
Three things are needed to smudge. The dried herbs, a fire source and your pure intentions.
I’ve done my research and experimented with different options and other people’s rules. After years of doing this I’ve learned a few things. The first is there’s no wrong way to smudge and the second is crack open a window so you don’t die of smoke inhalation. Other than that you’re fine.
But since you’re here, let me share my experience and point out some safety precautions. continue
Why would you want to smudge?
I smudge to clear the negative energy. When nothing is going right and everyone is in a bad mood, it’s time to get the sage. Sometimes, someone will visit with a gray cloud of negativity and it lingers when they leave. *Sometimes that someone is me.*
I’ll also smudge when we can’t seem to shake the latest bug that’s going around. Studies show that sage smoke is antimicrobial, meaning it kills those tiny things that make us sick.
I also smudge before rituals, spell work and card readings; mostly because it gets my head in the game. It was part of my ritual when I first started and its habit now.
What are your intentions?
The “Why” is going to determine your intention. Intention is everything in life. If you’re smudging because the room feels heavy and uncomfortable then your intention would be to clear the heaviness and restore a feeling of calm and peacefulness. Your thoughts should be there, imagining what you want to feel, as you waft the smoke around.
I get that sometimes you can’t get in the right head space. I’ve been there.Your so stressed out that you can’t imagine anything else but it feels awful and somethings got to give. Smudge anyway, it’ll still help. It’s more effective when you can keep your focus on the intention, but somethings better than nothing, so go for it.
What are you going to use?
There are a ton of options if you look in the right places.
White sage is the most popular and most controversial. It used to be hard to find. I could only order it from two or three on-line retailers (this was way before Amazon). Last Christmas I found it at Hot Topic, Spencers and 5 Below! I guess its really trendy with the kids.
The problem with it being trendy is the risk of endangering the plant in its native habitat. It only grows in the dry arid temperatures of the American Southwest.
If you happen to live in the Southwest and can forage for your own, (I’m a little jealous) know there are a variety of Sage bushes that work just as well. Varieties include blue sage, desert sage and black sage.
*Careful, black sage contains small amounts of thujone, you know, the woo-woo chemical that made wormwood notorious. *
Other Options
If you can’t get (or don’t want) White sage, there’s always Kitchen or Garden Sage. This is the kind you cook with. It works just as well as white sage although it smells a little different. It originated in Europe and grows well in gardens. I’ve been bundling and drying mine for years.
I also use Russian Sage which is good for manifesting. It’s more of a decorative shrub but smells great.
Cedar is the herb of choice for smudging new places. It offers protection and wisdom as well as clearing the area of negative energy.
Juniper is another ancient tree that can be bundled and burned. It has the added property of inviting prosperity.
Sweet grass from the Plains is believed to invoke feelings of love and kindness.
Palo Santo is wood from a slow growing tree in south America. It’s endangered from over use and some countries put a ban on its export. I use it sparingly and only when the kids are sick; it has healing properties.
If we go back to the garden we can snip some Rosemary. It smells good, clears the air and boosts your personal outlook, inspiring confidence and clarity of the mind.
Lavender is a favorite at Green Witch. It adds some calming vibes.
Lemongrass is energizing.
There are others but I haven’t used them and can’t attest to them.
To buy or create.
I’ve been making my own smudge sticks for years. (You can find them here.) I use a combination of Russian sage and kitchen sage. The Russian sage had thin wispy leaves so I wrap the fat leaves from the kitchen sage around them to keep everything in.
Occasionally I’ll add other herbs like lavender and rosemary. Although I have to point out that burning kitchen sage and rosemary together smells like Thanksgiving.
Common Sense
Before I go any further, lets talk fire safety and common sense. Put all the metaphysical stuff aside. Forget about all the drama that’s got your panties in a bunch. Think about what you’re about to do. The actual physical act. In your hand is a bundle of dried leaves and sticks wrapped in string. You’re about to set that on fire. In your house. Feel me now?
Awesome. Let’s remember that your fiery bundle of herbs will be subject to all the laws of the physical universe including, and most importantly, gravity. Once you blow out the flame, your bundle will still be smoldering with hot embers. This is what you want. This is going to produce the smoke that will rid your space of negative energy.
However those embers are a fire hazard. They will fall away and drift to the ground or the pile of papers you haven’t filed yet or your duvet cover leaving little melted holes. (guilty)
Don’t give up Yet!
No worries. You’re going to designate a vessel to catch those embers before they catch your couch on fire. I have two. One is a ceramic pot the Renaissance Man made in art school the other is the mini cauldron I’ve had for years. You could also use a small ceramic bowl, a coffee cup, an ashtray or a seashell if its big enough.
As you walk through your space with your smoking smudge stick, you’ll carry your smudge pot with you, frequently tapping the ash and loose embers into your firesafe container. And even though you’re totally focused on your intentions and may even be muttering a mantra or spell, you WILL BE mindful of those embers and stop what your doing to make sure you snuff out any ambition little buggers that floated away.
Deal? Deal.
Now when your done smudging, you’re going to snuff out the embers in the vessel. Just smoosh the burning side into the bottom of the vessel and give it a few twists until it stop smoking. Now be careful, you may want to put the vessel on the table, some fire safe vessels like cast iron or ceramic will get hot.
You don’t have to use the whole wand in one smudging. I can usually get 3-4 full house smudgings out of one stick. Oh! Also, save the ashes to make black salt.
Great! Now if this is all you can do. This will work. Sometimes there are time constraints, sometimes its more of an energy or emotional constraint. It’s okay. Just lighting your smudge stick and wafting the smoke around you is enough to alter the energy. Sometimes, that’s all you need to move in a better direction.
Another thing you want to keep in mind is that some people are sensitive to smoke and some herbs are more allergenic than others. Always open a window to let the smoke carry the negative energy out but also so you don’t die.
Now lets talk about Good practices.
More often than not, we’re opting to smudge because the space feels negative. We’re looking to clear out the bad juju so we can feel better.
I found that a good old fashion cleaning does wonders to boost the effects of smudging. Its mundane and boring and takes some effort but if you pick up, toss the trash, put away the clutter you’ll start feeling better before you even smudge. And you’ll have fewer fire hazards to worry about.
If you want to get really serious, purge things you don’t need, organize the things you keep, wash the floors, move the furniture to wash behind and sweep or vacuum under them. (It’s not something you can do in a day. I usually take a few weeks out of the year to do the whole property purge.)
You’ll be amazed by how much better it feels even before you smudge. Sage is believed to release negative ions that neutralizes the positive ions found in dust (dander, pollution, mold, etc). But getting rid of the dust that’s laying around allows the sage to work on the crap that’s still in the air.
Food
Some traditions frown upon smudging around open food. I don’t have much of an opinion because I don’t usually have food out when I’m smudging. It doesn’t seem to effect any offerings during rituals, at least not that I’ve noticed. My deities haven’t complained. I don’t think I would ever smudge while I’m cooking or serving dinner. Two different intentions. Also, I imagine it would make the food taste funny. Most smudging herbs have a strong odor.
Smudging around pets & small children.
Be extra cautious if you live with animals or small children. Their lungs are smaller and tend to be more sensitive to allergens. Make sure to have windows open and even confine your pets in another room while you smudge.
I’ve not had a problem with cats or dogs. The cats tend to hide until the smoke clears but afterward they’re all up in that room. Cats just naturally gravitate toward positive energy. The dogs didn’t care, but I had lazy dogs.
As far as kids, it’s never bothered my littles. They used to walk around the house with me lending their positive vibes.
The older ones, though…
One Sunday, I’m smudging the house and have worked my way into the kitchen. Lucky comes wandering out for a bite to eat and starts coughing this ridiculous exaggerated cough.
“What are you doing?”hack*hack*hack
“Smudging”, I answer, trying to keep my focus.
“Why?” he asks in between obnoxious coughing fits.
Dark&Twisty pipes up, “It’s to get rid of the bad juju and negative energy!”
Lucky rolls his eyes, “Your killing me here!” he groans as he turns around and walks back out of the room.
Dark& Twisty looks at me and says, “Looks like it worked!”
My bundle is smoking what do I do now?
I’ve sat and watched heated discussions on the actual process of smudging. It’s amusing because everyone thinks they’re right but it’s totally not important. Trust your gut!
Some people believe that you have to smudge yourself first. Waft the smoke around you and let it cleanse your aura. They’re not wrong. It’s a good practice and it will also allow your to clear your head and get your brain in the right space. Sometimes you’re the one emitting the negative energy that clogging up the house.
Thanks to my diminishing estrogen levels, I find myself smudging myself often.
However, it’s not absolute law. If you feel like you just need to jump into smudging the room, go for it! Your aura is going to get cleaned because you’re in the room with all the smoke, focusing on light happy juju!
Which Way do I go, George, which way to I go.
Left or Right? Top or Bottom?
My mom had a system for cleaning a room. Walk in and go right. Whatever was directly to the right of the door way, start cleaning and work your way around. Top to bottom because gravity… This is how I initially started smudging as well.
But the more I learned about the craft, the more I would incorporate it into my intentional actions.
In the craft, to move clockwise is called deosil, (dee-OH-sil) We work deosil when we want to bring things to us. When were looking to attract positive vibes, abundance, joy, happiness, peace.
The opposite or counter-clockwise is called widdershins ,(pronouced like it looks). We move widdershins when we want to banish to do away with things like negative energy, poverty, depression and other heavy energies.
Hey! How does the witch find her coffee table in the dark??
~Widdershins!!!!
Sorry, not sorry.
So applying this to smudging, more often than not you’re going to be walking through your space counter-clockwise or widdershins to banish the negative energies.
However, as you become more practiced and start smudging proactively, you may want to play with other herbs and invite other energies into your life. For example, Cedar (wisdom), Juniper (prosperity), Rosemary (Confidence).
What about the Moon?
You can also take it a step further and work with the lunar energies.
From the New moon to the full moon is referred to as a waxing moon. During the waxing moon we focus on growing and attracting more of what we want. So during the waxing moon we smudge in a clockwise direction (deosil) to bring positive energy into our space.
From the Full moon to the new moon as the moon is getting smaller or waning, we focus on the things we want less of. So during the waning moon, we smudge counter-clockwise or widdershins to banish the negative.
You can file this information under good practice but it is NOT LAW! Trust your intuition. If it feels like you should be doing something else, then do it.
You are Divine. You know better than anyone what’s best for you at any given moment!
How do I know it’s working or when I’m done?
Once again, trust yourself. You’re done when it feels like your done.
I did read something a long time ago about interpreting the smoke stream.
If the energy is heavy and full of negative energy, the stream of smoke will be thin and wispy. Once the negativity is neutralized the smoke will expand and appear more cloud like with less defined boundaries.
You’ll discover when you first light your smudge stick, the smoke is thin and wispy but as you go around the room it get less defined. You can call it working or you can call it the nature of smoke. So, basically you’re back to trusting your feelings.
Another fun thing to do with the palo santo, is to light it around sick people. The smoke will bee line to them as if it knows where to go.
Okay this only happened once. The padawan and my nephew, the teddy bear, were all snotty and gross and hovering around me because they were little and didn’t feel good but it was funny.
The smoke would swing back and forth toward whoever was closer to me, which caused the child to back up allowing the other child to move in. That was a fun 15 minutes.
Neither of the boys understood why I was laughing so hard.
There is No Wrong Way to Smudge
Alright back to the point, There’s no wrong way to smudge! I hope my little soap box speech cleared that up. You can’t do it wrong. Even if you half-ass it, you’re still getting some benefit. So quit freaking out, quit asking every forum and every metaphysical group how to smudge. You’re going to get a million answers. Somethings you just have to learn by doing!
Good luck and happy smudging!
Other posts you may like:
What is Grounding, How to do it & Why you Absolutely Should.
