Smudging & Cleansing – How to Perform a Smudging Ritual

Before You Begin the Smudging Ceremony, tidying your house prior to a ceremony and allowing enough space and time for the ritual is essential so you don’t feel rushed.

Remember when performing a “Space Clearing” Smudging Ritual, why you are doing it is key. Before you start, Meditation for at least five minutes to calm your mind and spirit is a great practise, take some time to contemplate what your wishes, reasons for the ritual and what the intentions are for your home and family. When you “Clear Your House”, there’s a vacuum space created, then after the ceremony you need to “Welcome your New Wishes” into the newly cleared and open space.                                                                               

Tools and lngredients required ~ TOOLS ~

Whether you are a Novice or an Experienced ‘Smudger’, there are some standard tools and ingredients which you use.

  1. A BOWL suitable for holding a Smudge Stick or Palo Santo wood whilst burning. Sand can also be used within the Bowl to help extinguish the Stick or Wood after the Ritual is completed.
  2. An INCENSE HOLDER preferably an enclosed Accessory such as a Long Box or a 3-in-1 Holder where you can use it for both Sticks or Cones. An enclosed Accessory will aid with transporting the Incense and it’s smoke around the house or person, making it safer and cleaner to use.
  3. An OIL BURNER will be needed if you wish to use Aromatic Oils for the Ritual.
  4. A FAN or FEATHER to move the smoke over a Person or into the corners of a room, cupboard, or spaces although you can use your hand but these tools support the thought that the use of a tool eliminates the HUMAN element from the Ritual.
  5. A LIGHTER rather than matches due to the smoke produced when struck.
  6. A CANDLE or TEALIGHT to help you relight a smudge stick or Palo Santo wood when or if it loses its glow and embers die out.

 

lNGREDlENTS

 

  1. A SMUDGE STICK made from any Herbs or Flowers which are known to be both Spiritual and have Benefits when used during a Smudging Ritual, such as Californian White Sage, Cedar, Juniper, Lavendar, Rose and more.
  2. PALO SANTO can be used in any of its forms of Powder, Wood Chips or Chunks and Wooden sticks.
  3. INCENSE which is also made from the same Herbs and Flowers, in either stick or cone forms.
  4. An AROMATIC OIL which also contains similar Herbs and Flowers.

Now that you have all your Tools and Preparations in place, you can begin the Smudging Ritual.

A Home or Open Space

1. Start at the Front Door of the home or the outer most edge of an area and light your Candle then the burning material of your choice.

2. Begin to move around the home or area, moving mindfully and with care, Walking Clockwise around the entire perimeter of the home or space. Be sure to allow the smoke to drift into even the hidden spaces, like Inside Closets, Basements and Dark Corners.

3. If there are Stairs, move over them as you come around to them.

4. Keep moving Clockwise until you Complete All Rooms Upstairs and returned to the main floor.

If you feel comfortable then it is also helpful to “Chant A Mantra or Prayer”. This is done to aid Concentration and Focusing during a ceremony, it is also a way to fill the space with more “Cleansing Vibrations”.

Moving around a home or space like this is called “Circumambulation”. This is a practice that’s been done for Centuries in Ancient Cultures to make an area more Sacred.

Smudging A Person.

In order to perform a Smudging Ceremony around a person, it is best, yet obvious but seldom done, to gain the acceptance of the “Smudgee”. They must also prepare for the Ceremony by Meditating prior to the ritual.

Smudging a person is easy, start at the front of the body, moving down from head to feet then whilst moving around the Smudgee, in a clockwise direction, repeat the technique on each side then at the end, together repeat a Mantra, prayer or a Wish containing the reasons for performing the ritual.

Closing the Ceremony

When you have completed the ritual on a Home, Space or Person, it is time to chant your final Mantra, Prayer, or a Wish. During this time you should “Visualize the Entire Home, Space or Person being filled with Bright White Sunlight” and speak out loud “your wishes” then close the Smudging Ceremony, calmly and slowly.

After the Ceremony, it is advisable for you to extinguish any Candles, allow all Smudges, Woods, Incense, and any other items to cool and stop burning before putting them away safely and secure. Whilst waiting for the equipment to cool it is an opportunity to take time out for yourself as well as any “Smudgee” and Meditate, listen to music, or simply burn any soothing Incense to ensure a Calm and Restful Environment.

And Finally

At Scented and more, we pride ourselves with our knowledge and understanding of the Smudging Ritual and are always willing to help others. We also research all products and ONLY sell Genuine, Quality and Authentic products and are well aware that not all retailers can say the same and where possible we offer helpful, supportive, and valuable advice which we find our Customers appreciate.

Please note that we DO NOT SELL OR ADVOCATE the use of Abalone Sea Shell as a container to catch ash etc during any Smudging Ceremony. This shell belongs to an ENDANGERED SPECIES OF ANIMAL, not very Authentic plus there are better alternatives avaliable – DON’T BUY THEM. For more details read the article on this website.

We would advise customers to take care when buying certain Ingredients such as Smudge Sticks as there are retailers who will sell Poorly made Smudge which can contain any number of different items including dust and flower stems or leaves. Palo Santo can also be sold from Poor Quality woods and it has even been known that some retailers have sold PINE wood soaked in Palo Santo Oil then dried to be sold as Palo Santo Wood Sticks. Californian White Sage should be bought from retails who can trace the source of this product as it is well known that some Manufacturers and Producers will import SAGE from Mexico into California where it is then re-packaged and marked as “Californian White Sage” – this practise is done for Leaves for Smudge Sticks, Ground Plants for Incense, and distilled Sage for Oils.