Marcella’s Sage
HOW TO USE SAGE FOR CLEARING
I use a special white
SMUDGING -HISTORY & INSTRUCTIONS
Smudging is the common name given to the
sacred smoke bowl blessing.
Saging is a powerful cleansing technique from
the Native North American Tradition. Smudging calls on the spirits of sacred
plants to drive away negative energies and restore balance. It is the art of
cleansing yourself and your environment using simple ritual and ceremony. For
thousands of years smudging has been a part of Native American tradition but
now its power of cleansing is available to everyone.
THE POWER OF SMUDGING
How can smudging be so powerful? The answer
lies in the subatomic world of subtle or spiritual energy. Homes and bodies are
not just made of purely physical matter; they also vibrate with quiet,
invisible energy.
Cleansing a space or our bodies with
techniques such as smudging clears away the emotional and psychic 'energy
debris' that tends to collect or hang onto us. It is a like spiritual spring cleaning.
The effects of smudging can be surprisingly
swift and dramatic. The rituals can help you banish stress, attract
love, sooth you, or give you energy.
They can bring your family closer together
and let you adjust to the healing seasonal rhythms of the year. Above all they
can turn any space, however humble, into a soothing sanctuary - a place of
renewal and happiness.
The History Of Smudging
Smudging may seem a very modern practice. We
read about city dwellers using it to sell their apartments or improve their
business luck. But smudging has been used for thousands of years. When you light a smudge stick you are connecting with a spiritual
tradition that originates from the depths of time.
A Tradition From The
Mists Of Time
It is impossible to say for certain when
smudging began. Perhaps early civilizations came to realize, through sheer
trial and error, that the smoke generated by setting alight particular herbs
had beneficial effects for humanity. Certainly many cultures have an old
tradition of driving animals through smoke to kill off pests and diseases.
Nowadays modern science has proven that certain herbs do indeed have cleansing
powers, acting as strong pesticides.
Aside from this beneficial and practical
aspect of burning herbs, humans have become aware that smoke ascends to the
heavens - to the world of spirits - almost as if it were acting as a spiritual
messenger.
The idea of purification through smoke is
certainly not the sole preserve of the Native North Americans.
Most rituals have some element of cleansing,
and incense or herbal smoke mixtures that are burned. Around the world - from
The
Originally, mixtures of sacred herbs and
resins were burned in a special bowl. Smoke was then wafted around the person
or place needing purification and cleansing. However, smudge sticks (bundles of
dried herbs tied together with colored thread or a strip of hide) offer an
easier way of smudging that is just as effective.
The herbs most often used in smudge sticks
are sage and sweet grass. Sage drives out negative thoughts, energies, spirits,
and all influences. Sweet grass is used to attract positive energy after all
the negative energies have been banished by sage.
Native Americans see smudging as a way of
shifting between various levels of reality _ connecting us here in the
material, physical world to the subtle realm of spirits.
How to Smudge
An
abalone shell is the accustomed Native American vessel to use for holding the
sage. However, any small, flat, heat-proof container will do.
Leave the sage as is, tied with the string in
the bundle. Light the sage and let it flame for a minute or so. Extinguish the
flame so the sage is smoldering and smoking.
Take the smudge container and using circular
clockwise movements, encircle yourself with the smoke. The Native American
custom is to use a very large feather from a poultry bird, such as a turkey.
Using the feather, fan the smoke all around the room going around windows and
doorways. I always say a prayer as I do this asking for all negativity be
released, opening up for all that is good and holy. If possible, open some
windows and doors to allow the smoke to leave.
You can do this for the whole room and even
the whole house. Start at the most northerly room and working again, clockwise,
through your home, let the smoke from the sage permeate throughout. Try and
finish off the smudging process by ending up at an open door. You should have
come full circle around your home.
A note of interest. Whenever I have done this, it has never set off any of my smoke
alarms, which I have found very strange indeed. Now it MAY set off yours, so be
prepared to disconnect it during your smudging and be SURE to re-engage it upon
completion of your smudging.
I say a little prayer over and over as I do
my smudging, asking the 'powers that be' (Spirit of the sage) to remove all
negativity and unwanted energies.
IT WORKS!!!!...when first doing this on a
regular basis, you may find yourself feeling agitated or uneasy and not sure why.
It is because you are 'clearing' with the help of the smudging. This would
indicate that there is a lot of 'negative' energies in
your environment. I do not have a set amount of times to smudge. You will find
your own feel for how often for yourself.
Sage is the most potent herb for smudging but
you can also use cedar and sweet grass.
Enjoy your new found source of clearing
yourself and your environment!
Presented to you by
Rev. Marcella Zinner. M.M.A. ChT.
727-785-8780