How to smudge your house?
There are many different ways to live a happy, healthy life. We are passionate about exploring the wide variety of methods which can be employed to enjoy a spiritually and emotionally enriched and balanced life. One such method which can be very useful to many is house smudging. If you have not heard about house smudging, then this quick guide will take you through all the key bits of information that you might like to know before you get involved.
What is smudging?
Smudging has its roots in ancient practices most notably associated with certain customs of some indigenous tribes of the United States. The key goal with smudging is to cleanse a space and, in so doing, invite positive energy into that place. Traditionally, this process of cleansing would involve the burning of plant materials, and this practice more or less remains today. If you are using the smoke method, then this smoke will fill the area and, as it rises up into the air, it takes all your positive wishes and intensions. Lifting your positivity, it is said that the smoke connects your positive intentions with the heavens.
Thus, as an act, this process of purification is much to do with the idea that humanity can connect with aspects of the natural and spiritual world. With this closer alignment of the human with the environment and the energies of the world, life can be lived in a more positive manner. The act of smudging has its versions in many different cultures, across different religions and eras, and even in secular society. Anywhere where herbs, oils or resins are being burned in order to create a positive mood in some ways has a connection to this practice of smudging. However, there are specific organic materials which tend to be burned in the Native American tradition of smudging.
What you need for smudging?
The herbs which are most often used in smudging are those such as sage, cedar, sweet grass and lavender, with a particular emphasis on sage. These herbs are wrapped together to make a smudge stick. If you are using sage then the type of sage you want to use is white sage, this is a popular and common herb used for smudging. Before you start the ritual, you will need to tidy your home, or whatever space is being smudged, so that it matches the clarity of your purpose. Make sure that you have a candle or matches to hand to relight the smudge stick if necessary. Similarly, make sure you have a container full of sand readily accessible. This is so you can quickly and easily extinguish the smudge stick when you have completed the ritual.
Other than that, the preparation will be mental and spiritual in nature. Make sure that you set aside time before the ceremony to meditate so that you approach the act with a calm and peaceful mind. Also, you should make sure that you have some clarity on what your ideal space would be like, in terms of mood and feeling. In this regard, the smudging ritual is useful in part because it provides you with an opportunity to stop and think deeply about what changes you would like to see in your home environment.
How to smudge?
Once you are prepared, the process consists of lighting the stick not so that it is burning but rather smoking. With your lit stick, walk slowly through your home, starting at the front door. It is important not only to move slowly, but also to move mindfully. Be present when moving through each room, making sure that you have an awareness for what is around you. Walk with care, ensuring that the smoke makes its way into all the areas of your home, even the closets, corners, basements and cabinets. Alongside this circumambulation, you can also chant a mantra if you are comfortable doing so.
Choose one that feels most meaningful for you, and spread the sound through the space in the same way that you spread the smoke through your home. You then close the ceremony by circling back to the front door. As you do so, visualise the home filled with bright and refreshing sunlight, then repeat your intention for the home one more time to complete the ceremony. You can repeat this ceremony at certain points in the year during which you feel that you and your home would benefit from this process of refreshing and re-energising the space.