Lighting the Sage
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Clearing the energy in yourself and your environment
You can cleanse yourself and your environment through the sacred ritual of smudging.
Smudging is the act of burning sage with the intention of purification. It is also believed that smudging can open our energy field, allowing us to be more connected with ourselves and others on a deeper spiritual level.
If you have friends or family joining you, you can perform the smudging together for each other’s sacred spaces.
To perform this ritual you will need:
Your white sage smudge stick; or alternatively, your abalone shell filled halfway with sand;
loose white sage; and a towel to place under your shell
A lighter or matches
I also recommend you download my Smudging Prayer to use in conjunction with smudging for optimum results.
***Throughout this ritual you may also use a feather to wave over the sage for distribution, but I would caution you to know from what bird the feather is taken to understand its energy***
To begin, ask yourself, what is the intention of this smudging? What do I want to purify in me and the space around me? Prior to lighting your sage, take a minute to connect with the energy of Mother Earth and bring it up into your body through the soles of your feet. Visualize yourself rotating Earth energy throughout your whole body with 3 deep breaths. Then, open your hands and raise them with your palms facing up in a receiving gesture and welcome energy from Divine Source to pour into you from above. Breathe deeply and circulate this energy through your body just like before. With your connection well established, you are now ready to begin!
If you are using the loose sage, place a small amount of it in your shell on top of the sand and light it. For the sage bundle, light it at one end.
Read the smudging prayer that I created three times to set the energy of this ritual . Then continue saying it throughout the process.
After lighting the sage, you will begin smudging yourself first. If you have a friend or family present, you can smudge each other, and then smudge your spaces together.
Smudging
Taking your feather, or alternatively using your hand, wave it near the smudge stick to encourage it to smoke more. Being mindful to be safe with the smoke and embers, begin to feather the smoke towards yourself starting with the top of your head, moving towards both arms, under your arms, then towards your heart and abdomen, finally completing the feathering of the smoke towards both legs. Carefully raising your left foot, smudge the bottom of your foot and then the other foot. For your back, you can step into the smoke and wave the smoke toward your back to clear the energy there.
After performing this process on yourself, and feeling refreshed and purified, it is time to move on to smudging your sacred space. If you have never smudged your home or if it has been a little while, I recommend clearing your whole home first, and then moving to your sacred space last.
Starting the same way as when smudging yourself, close your eyes and ask yourself, “What am I releasing; what am I purifying?” After setting these intentions, it is time to begin. As this is a ritual of release, it is beneficial to move through your space in a counter-clockwise direction during the smudging. Starting from the top of the space to the bottom, reaching all corners, tracing the frame of each window and doorway, wave your feather or hand in the direction you are needing the smoke to go. Complete this process with your sacred space and feel the energy transform until it feels light.
Upon completion of the smudging, place your smudge stick on a small plate and allow it to naturally finish smoking, and if using the shell, your sage will naturally stop smoking as well. Be sure to safely extinguish any flame or burning embers before continuing.
With Love, Silke
