Apr 28 2009
What is Smudging
Sorry to disappoint, dark passengers, but that’s not a ginormous joint in the picture; it’s a sage bundle used when performing a smudging. Wait. What? You don’t know what a smudging is?
Looks like you’re in the right place because I happen to know a little something about the practice of smudging.
Why might one need to do a smudging? In my case, I had a presence in my house that I very much wanted to no longer be hanging around. There are any number of theories on what this particular entity was; however, I can say this was a highly negative, lower vibration kind of energy that would drive anyone bonkers. As an Empath, I experience the emotions of those around me - even the dead, apparently - so you can imagine why I was motivated to get it out of here.
And to do that, you perform a smudging, dark passengers.
A smudging is a form of blessing done by a number of cultures as part of a number of spiritual practices. There are different tools recommended for each kind and different words, prayers or incantations that go along with each. Since I don’t know any native languages, I’ll stick to telling you what I did, then we’ll get into some of the variations.
The smudging I did required two different kinds of herbs: sage and sweet grass. The sage is used to expel negative energy/dark spirits from the space while the sweet grass is used to invite positive energy/angelic beings into the space. (You might also substitute lower vibration for negative energy and higher vibration for positive energy.)
Is the smudging sounding a bit too “new age” for my Christian peeps out there? You can do this in conjunction with any of your favorite Scriptures or in the name of Jesus.
Basically, you light the sage bundle and let it burn for a bit until the white smoke is going. Start at your front door and work your way clockwise through the house (or single room, depending on your needs). You’ll notice that areas with higher concentrations of dark/negative/malevolent energy will cause the sage to smoke more than other place. (I totally thought that was crap, too, but I promise you, it worked just like that for me.)
A fun side-note: I have a lot of smoke detectors in my house and in the areas where there was a lot of sage smoke, my smoke detectors never so much as peeped. Just sayin’.
As you go through all the areas with the sage, you’ll want to either say the prayer or incantation you’ve decided to use. Or you can make it up on the fly…like I did. Be firm. None of this, “Uh, I’d sorta like you to leave me alone now” crap. This is your space. Order the entity out of there. Believe in what you’re saying.
If you don’t believe in what you’re doing, even a little, do you really think anything out there will take you seriously?
Once you’ve gone through the entire space, you’ll go back through with the sweet grass instead of the sage. This time, invite positive energy, light, love, happiness, angels, Divine Beings - whatever floats your boat - into the space. Still believe what you’re saying, but you don’t have to be quite as forceful. I mean, would you want to go hang with the angry peep?
Thought not.
Other variations of the smudging include the use of cedar blocks, a feather to waft the smoke, salt, peppermint, etc.
Does a smudging work? Well…yeah. It’s been nearly a month now and my home happily remains a positive sanctuary from the chaos outside.
Have smudging questions? Let me know. I’m not the expert, but I can speak from experience and I’ll help anyway I can.
Jen
“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”
What a coincidence, I was telling my hubby the other day that I wanted to do a smudging of our apartment if not just our bedroom (I’d forgotten the term smudging, but that’s what I meant), I just haven’t gone searching for one of my blogpals’ description of what she had done. I remember it being rather complicated, perhaps because she used all 4 (5?) elements, one after the other, per room.
I like your method better! Simple, and to the point!
Now, do tell me where I can find the material for this… and what keywords I’d need to punch in to google to find a provider/supplier/shop near me!
Hmm…I knew there was a reason I felt I had to post about the smudging tonight instead of the vortex I’d planned to post a picture of.
A couple of things I may have forgotten to put into the post…Make sure you have a plate or ceramic bowl with you to catch the ashes and burning herb bits. Also make sure you’re talking in each room you smudge. I felt like a moron walking around my house “talking to myself,” but it’s still important. Also, you’ll want to kind of waft the sage bundle around so the smoke will disperse.
For supplies I would start by looking on witchvox.com to see if there’s a member retailer in your area. They usually have hours, links, phone numbers, reviews, etc on their site of the various shops. There are also some online stores, but I prefer to be able to walk around in the shop so that I can get a feel for things. (It’s hard to explain, but I pick up on the “vibes” of a place and won’t buy anything if the store has a strange vibe to it.)
Some search terms to try might be: “pagan supplies” “esoteric supplies” or “occult supplies” - best results with the first two terms, I’ve found.
If you end up ordering online, make sure you get a good price. A bundle of white sage leaves and a woven strand of sweet grass are fairly inexpensive. I don’t exactly remember, but I think I paid less than $20 for both. And it was only that much because I opted to buy the giant sage bundle because I wasn’t sure how quickly it would burn or how much of my house it would cover. I was pleased that I had plenty of each leftover with enough to smudge my mom’s house and at least half of each herb left for later on.
Sorry…way longer and more rambling than I meant.
I just noticed that the ads on here updated for this page. Looks like you can get the white sage bundles from one of those ads as well. I haven’t seen what it links to, but I’d imagine it’s an online retailer.
Something to keep in mind if there’s nothing close to you.
Hi,
My girlfriend told me a story about asking a spirit to leave a house she lived in years ago. I have forgotten many of the details but it involved lighting a white candle and staring at it. After a while a bright white light filled the room and she could see the outline of the spirit at the door, so she asked it please to leave her alone, that she didn’t want to harm it etc. And it worked, she had no more problems.
My question is, does this process have a proper name?
Nick
To be honest I’m a little skeptical about this, but on the other hand, it worked for you. Aromatheraphy is a great thing for some people. I wonder if the sage and sweet grass help with a sense of well-being and clarity.
I’ve used lavender scents and chamomile tea to help me sleep. I used many other herbs and oils.
i have even resorted to using ground sage when i couldn’t get to a sage bundle, or there wasn’t one available to me. (on a side note, the following year, i grew my own sage, and made my own bundles.) i just heap the sage into a cone-like formation on a heat safe plate and walk the room with that. i also do anyone in the home that wants a ‘cleansing’ as well by making circles around their body in a counter-clockwise direction and inviting peace, gentleness, etc. into their bodies.
my mom used to think i was nuts. but my kids are grown now, and have adopted this ritual themselves as well as are teaching their kids about ‘cleaning.’
i wish you well.
neona
Nick - I’ve actually never heard of that. I wonder if she was going into a trance of sorts. It is my guess that it wasn’t a malevolent spirit in the house because they don’t usually respond to politeness…
Shakespeare - Yet another reason why this blog replaced the one of the vortex last night.
I have a theory that we’ve all got visitors from time to time, but most people don’t notice them because they aren’t sensitive to their level of energy/vibration/whatever. I hope it helps your aunt. Not being able to feel safe and comfortable in one’s own home is no picnic at all.
Sue - I think most people are skeptical about these sorts of things until it effects them firsthand.
As for aromatherapy, I’m allergic to virtually everything on the market - especially lavender. If it did effect well-being then it must also work on cats because all three are no longer scared of that room - and they have been for the past few years to the point that I had to finally close it off. Sydney has also stopped crying at the bedroom wall that had a problem…
Neona - That’s really interesting. I didn’t know ground sage would also work. Really good to know!
I really would have preferred to simply ask them to leave me alone. Good to know that works on some spirits.
Unfortunately, it’s everyone. I think that’s the main reason I always used to hate being out in public. Too much emotional garbage coming at me from all directions. Probably why I have so many headaches, too. (Doctors can’t find an actual reason for all of them so they just say it’s chronic migraines.)
I have found that it tends to affect me a little more when it’s someone I’m close to. Not too bad when they’re really happy or excited, but anything else basically sucks.
You might be a lucky Empath if you can only pick up on the people you’re close to. If I had my pick, I think I’d rather be an animal Empath than a regular one. It would be nice to be able to pick up on everything Sydney Cat is trying to tell me when she jumps up onto the bed and starts chattering up a storm. Then I could be the cat whisperer…oh well.
I recently tried the smudging with sage and found that it works very well. The first time I cleansed myself, I felt like a ton of bricks lifted right off of me, it felt incredible. Afterwards, I felt very light and airy. However, as the day progressed, I started to feel a little sick so the next day I smudged myself again. I’ve been doing it for a week now and as each day progresses, I feel better and better. I guess I must’ve collected a ton of negative energy in my space from all these years. I only recently decided to try it because it kept running through my mind that I needed to smudge myself. I’m not sure where I even got the idea of smudging but I started to read up about it more and coverted. Now, I would like to try sweetgrass to invite positive energy, angels, into my space but am not sure if I have to do any special prayers? Can you tel me if it’s okay to use sweetgrass the way I did with sage walking through my home but inviting positive energy into my space OR if I have to do special prayers and so forth??
Hi Ava.
There’s not really any sort of a set protocol about what you have to do or say. There are those who would tell you that you need to use a feather and cedar blocks or recite something in a Native American language I’m unfamiliar with.
In my experience, that wasn’t necessary. You can use a prayer or scripture if there’s one you’re fond of, but simply walking around the house expelling the negative/dark/lower vibrational energy from the space with sage and then inviting the positive in with the sweetgrass. I’ve actually done two smudgings of two different homes at this point. In one I specifically referenced the Cross and in the other I didn’t. Both worked.
I think the most important thing is to really believe in what you’re doing and saying during the smudging.
Let me know how it goes!
Jen
From what I know about Smudging, with Sage grasses, it doesn’t keep the Angry Spirits away for very long, and even if You put the Sweet grasses with the Sage grasses even that doesn’t keep the Angry Spirits away for Much longer.
This is what I have seen, and learned from personal experience. I’m sure that there are other people out in Cyber Space who would have similar views about this point.
There is much more that I have learned in My 13 Years as a Sorceress about Dehaunting Houses, with Successfull results that Smudging alone with either of these keeps the Spirits away from Haunting the House that is Anchering Them to the site.
It comes from the Broken recording that is made up of all the Swet, Oils, Vibrations there in from The Spoken, and Chemical Energy that holds these Ghosts to the Sites.
Incents alone can not break down the Oils, Swet, and Chemical Energy Print that Hold these Spirits to beleive that They would rather be trapped there in that Location, rather than Cross over to the Other side. If anyone has anything that They would like to talk to me about dehauntings. You can contact me at on my site.
To Nick The Process is called Candle Visions, and it is used with Empathic abilities are focused upon, to see a person that You are trying to communicate with, but usually this does not effect a Trapped Spirit that is Anchered to a Haunted House, by the Chemical, Oil, Swet residue that is on everything that Those spirits Spoke, Cried, Laughed, Mated, Eat, Played, and Lived, and Died around. To accomplish the Total De-haunting a Psychic Janitor would have to have a Specific Cleaner to De-Haunt that Type of Property. Such as I have with Mine. Best Wishes on Your Friends results. She probibly didn’t have a well anchered Spirit, and was able to tell Her, or Him to leave by just the Command, and Threat. Good for Her.
Sorceress - Thank you for your opinion. You and I will have to agree to disagree on the smudging issue as your experience has quite clearly been radically different from mine…as well as each and every person I have discussed this with. A smudging, a true smudging has very little, if anything, to do with incense. I would more closely relate it to the law of attraction and the elements of sage and sweetgrass are based upon a Native American practice. (Though I don’t know which tribe it came from.)
Perhaps it is a simple matter of the power of belief. When I perform a smudging, I have certainty that I have the authority to expel the entity/lower vibrational energy from the space and, thus, they leave and do NOT come back. Perhaps it is the strength of my belief manifesting the result I not just desire, but expect. And when I perform a smudging for another, it may well be their belief that I have the absolute authority to expel the energy…thus, once again, leading to the manifestation of the expected result.
It’s been a number of months since I did the smudging as I was instructed by the people I’ve learned from (50 years combined experience between the two of them…perhaps the most genuine people I’ve ever known as well…Wish there were more peeps in the world like them…) and the entity has not returned. (Thankfully, but I’m fully prepared to deal with any future low vibing spirits that may follow hubby or I home). I will say that there is now a new presence here, but the energy is quite different, definitely benevolent/higher vibrational/etc. To this point, it’s not communicating so we co-exist. As far as I’m aware, only myself and one cat are even able to sense the presence, whereas the entire household was affected by the now-gone entity. (But as I discussed on my sister site, that wasn’t a haunting; it was a hunting that was quite specific to me…unfortunately.)
I haven’t discussed this here, yet, but I was chatting with a friend about the theory of how our own negativity, anger, rage, jealousy, fear, sadness, etc can build up over time and manifest an entity. (I think it was Paranormal State that brought up the possibility of a woman manifesting the poltergeist attack she was under in her home.) The mind is quite a powerful thing. I doubt this is the source of all entities yet it would hardly surprise me to find out it was that energy that manifested some of the occurrences. Fascinating to ponder - especially when considered in conjunction with the concept that those things we perceive to be real may only be real because we make them so.
I think there might be a communicational wire crossed about the candle vision thing with regards to Empaths - but thank you for the name of that because we weren’t coming up with it. While Empaths may try to commune with a person/spirit/entity as anyone else would, empathic abilities are neither defined nor based upon a communication with another - at least, not one that would require the use of a candle. I wonder if you’re thinking of a Telepath (or another kind of Intuitive/Sensitive) because Empaths sense and/or experience the emotions of others. A true Empath would not require use of a candle to sense emotions…and the empathic ability itself wouldn’t necessarily lend to the ability of being able to see an entity or spirit; that’s a different gift/ability altogether. (For anyone on the planet reading this blog who managed to miss it in numerous previous posts, I am an Empath and have been one my entire life.)
Psychic Janitor? Never heard that one before. Love it!
Thank You for the Compliment, and Yes, Many different Psychic gifts can come in small batches, and the Psychic can find that They are atuned to One Particular Craft ability that Helps them help other people who may need it in Their line of Work, which We call Witch-Craft.
Though there are many Witches that also have many Abilities all in one, which they can interuse, and Intermix with one another. Each one adding to the other for what ever special task at that time that the Psychic Witch needs to use in His or Her Craft. It all depends upon the Problem that is in The Present time that it is asked upon to be taken care of. Fantast Blog, and Comments. What Type of Psychic do You call Yourself?
Sorceress - Once again, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree because I do not subscribe to the “witch” terminology. I find it to be a negative and dangerous stereotype that leads the uniformed masses to associate those of a more esoteric faith/belief system or psychic gifting with Satanism, the dark side of the occult, “evil” and so on. I actually don’t associate psychics with witchcraft as I find them to be two wholly different things.
What type of psychic do I call myself? I don’t. I just go by Jen.
For a fact, I know I’m an Empath. I’m also a Sensitive. Beyond that…? No clue. I control street lamps with my emotions (they go on when I’m happy; off when I’m sad). I’ve exhibited precognition, clairvoyance and clairsentience - that I’m aware of - but I wouldn’t consider myself a Precog, a Clairvoyant or a Clairsentient. Honestly, I feel no desire to give myself a “psychic label” at this point.