Smudging is an ancient form of ritual alchemy used to change, shift, and transform using the element of air.  Smoke from dried sage and other sacred plants change the ionic composition of the air and reduce your stress response.  It’s like taking an energetic shower when you take the time to smudge your sacred spaces, home, office, and your body.

Your cleansing bundle from Bijou Organics contains a selenite wand and palo santo stick wrapped separate from your herbs as they are to be removed prior to lighting your smudge.  More directions on them below. What remains is your Sage, Holy Basil, Rosemary, and Rose.

Light and hold your cleansing smudge stick over a fireproof container like an abalone shell or glass dish at all times to prevent burning or glowing herbs from falling to the floor as you smudge/cleanse.  Take a moment to reflect and meditate on what you desire to cleanse or clear with your smudge stick. If you’re new to this practice, try to be open minded about it and it’s outcomes. During your meditation notice if the smell evokes a sense memory for you. Where does it resonate in your body? Do you feel a spiritual connection, an earthy or ancestral stirring within?  This is the smell of thousands of years of spiritual communion and ritual of the ancestors. The use of incense, resin & plant smoke, and vapor to connect humans to the higher spirit world is easily traced through the ages.

You can use a feather to direct the smoke through the air, but it’s also fine to simply wave your smudge through the air gently to waft the cleansing smoke where you desire  it. All conflict, anger, illness, or malice is absorbed by the smoke to be released and cleansed from the energy field of the person or space.

This ancient mystical ritual is simple to incorporate in your daily or weekly spiritual routine, or anytime you feel the need for a little aura polishing. In theory, you can never smudge too much!

Selenite wands are a versatile crystal tool used for energy cleansing, meditation, healing, and more. Referred to as “liquid light”, Selenite has the ability to quickly unblock stagnant, stuck energy to promote a healthy, smooth flow of energy throughout your body.  Selenite is a form of gypsum crystal. This soft, but powerful, mineral is extremely important to work with, as the selenite healing properties are greatly beneficial for everyone. It helps to stabilize and balance the emotional body. Selenite wands can also be used to clean and clear other crystals that you aquire of any negative energies they have picked up.

Palo Santo literally means “holy wood”, and it is just that. When it is burned, the smoke is believed to have both medicinal and therapeutic healing power. Traditionally, it is burned by Incas, indigenous people of the Andes, Shamans, and medicine people for spiritual purifying, energy cleansing, and healing.  Palo Santo is often used by Amazonian shamans in sacred plant spirit ceremonies; the rising smoke of the lit sticks is believed to enter the energy field of ritual participants to clear misfortune, negative thoughts, and to chase away evil spirits. Its use reportedly dates back to the Inca era.

The most ideal and necessary times to smudge your aura and/or space would be:

• When you move into a new living space
• When you begin a new job or start your own business
• Before and after a guest enters your home
• Before and after a yoga or healing session
• Before meditation
• After an argument or illness
• Upon returning home from crowded situations

Here is your simple 3-step smudging ritual to begin:

1. Set your desired intention for your cleansing smudge bundle (aka Wand).  What would you like to cleanse from your body or space?
2. Place your bundle on any heat-proof burning surface like an abalone shell which is a traditional vessel used by my Indigenous American ancestors that represents the element of water. Light the bundle by holding a flame to it until it begins to smoke. If a true flame appears, shake the bundle gently or blow until it is just embers and smoke. It’s not uncommon to need to re-light the cleansing bundle a few times during the ritual process.
3. Once you have a nice smoke going, use you hand or a feather to direct the smoke over your body from your feet up to your head, then back down again. During your ritual, visualize the smoke taking away with it any malice, illness, ill will, or evil of any kind.

The cleansing ceremony lifts the veil between the everyday mundane and the sacred, so you are literally shifting energy at will with your intentions!

Once you have smudged your body, begin to move through your space. Wave the smoke into all corners, across doorways, and into shadow spaces. To maintain the atmosphere of ritual, keep repeating your desired intentions in your mind as you diffuse the smoke.

Once your space is cleaned allow the cleansing bundle to either burn out or gently press it out in your heat-proof shell or container. Ideally, you should try to use a new smudge for each cleansing.