How to Introduce Smudging into Your Home: What is Sage?
Burning sage in the home creates a safe space, a safe mind and a safe soul
After a long day of work, it’d be nice to relax. Take a long bath, get some tea, or just go to sleep cause who has the energy? Burning sage in your home is surprisingly simple with many health and spiritual benefits that can transform your home into a place of peace. Imagine a home where you could feel safe and calm no matter what’s happening in the outside world. How a home should be: a safe, relaxing space.
The entire premise of smudging is clearing out the old and make space for the new.
How Did We Start Burning Sage?
Burning sage is a form of smudging, which is the spiritual practice of burning herbs and utilizing the smoke for their spiritual benefits in ceremony.
The first historical record of cultures burning sage for its spiritual benefits was in Native America, who used it to repel insects and get in touch with the divine. It is native to California. However, the earliest record of using smoke for spiritual practice can be traced all the way back to Egypt in the 25th/24th centuries B.C. Burning white sage was also a spiritual practice used to cleanse the spirit during ancient times.
Now, it’s becoming an infamous addition to new age spirituality, although it’s a practice is as old as time.
Burning white sage is like an “energetic shower,” cleansing your aura and banishing evil spirits around you. This can be especially powerful in the home.
The Spiritual Benefits of a This Practice
The primary type of herb used in smudging is white sage, but there are some others that can be used as well. White sage is primarily used to cleanse out negative energy and evil spirits, but other herbs such as cedar purifies the air in your home, and lavender has an intense relaxation effect.
Although, white sage also has the ability to purify the air in your home. It can purify up to to 99% of mold, pollution, pet dander, mold, and yes even repel insects.
The intention of ridding the home and yourself of evil spirits and toxic air is simple: protection – for yourself, your family, and for the space. That feeling of “someone watching you” or not feeling “at home” will dispel after a smudging session of white sage.
In addition, the smoke from these herbs have healing properties. It reduces muscle tension, eases pain, and heals the body internally. You can use the smoke around your body to help accelerate the healing process by healing the spiritual body. Spiritual and emotional trauma manifests into physical ailments, so this is crucial to well-being (stress kills).
Even more, the smoke from the white sage can have antioxidant effects on the brain. This results in clearer thinking, a potential for better memory, relaxation to muscles in the body, and overall calmness.
An added bonus as well: If you live in a poor air quality area, ironically, the sage smoke can improve the condition of those that suffer from asthma, respiratory issues, and general coughs as well as colds.
How to Smudge Sage as a Spiritual Practice
The Elements
You must be aware of the elements within the process of smudging sage. Water, fire, earth and air must all be present within the process. A clay bowl or sea shell represents water, smoke represents air, the flame represents fire, and the herbs represent earth. It syncs in with the natural order of the universe and creates an even deeper sense of balance. This increases the effectiveness of the practice.
Setting Intentions
With all of these benefits, it’s easy to just burn it and go on about your day. Setting intentions, however, can amplify the spiritual experience. Taking a moment to think about what you would like to gain from a smudging session. Are you trying to heal your body? Did you just have a rough day at work? Can’t sleep? Aligning your intention to the practice is what makes it so powerful in the first place.
Best Times to Burn Sage
Sage compliments other spiritual practices incredibly well. Practices such as new/full moon rituals, daily prayers, meditation, and cleansing your crystals to gain more insight and clarity are amplified with burning sage.
More often, you can use it:
- through hallways where many people may walk often
- in your rooms or spaces where there has been tension – either from an argument, depression, miscommunication, etc.
- when you feel scared at home and need peace
- when you move into an a new home to cleanse any lingering energy and make the space your own
- after your company has left your home
- or simply coming home from work or having to interact with a lot of different types of people
It is at these times when we need spiritual cleansing the most, but if you are feeling stressed, anxious, or the like, you can also smudge whenever you need to.
The Methods for Smudging
- For spiritual body healing: Let the smoke drift to the desired body part until the tension has released. (You can also use a feather to wave it)
- For crystal cleansing: Have your crystal in a place you know it won’t be touched, and use a feather to wave smoke over the crystal before you use it. This dispels unwanted energy.
- For overall cleansing and banishing of evil spirits: Light the sage stick, and leave it in a heat-resistant bowl (a clay bowl, ceramic or sea shells work fine). Let the smoke flow until it naturally stops. Open your windows to let the smoke drift the negative energy out of your home.
An additional step can include a moment of gratitude after you finish smudging. There are no time limits for how long or little, simply a moment to be with yourself.
Important Note: Do NOT blow the smoke. It’s bad for you to inhale the smoke that close, but more importantly, it mingles your own energy with the energy of the sage. You can simply use a feather to fan the smoke in the direction of your choice.
Alternatives to White Sage – Many More Types of Smudging
- Sweetgrass: used to attract positive energies
- Cedar: used to purify air that would otherwise be toxic
- Lavender: used to calm your energy and stress
- Incenses: the feminine energetic counterpart to herbs such as sage and the above mentioned that have more masculine energy. Can even create more balance in the home, or can be used when the sage smoke is too strong. You can get these from your local liquor store, herb shop, a spirituality store, or African store.
Final words
Smudging can have powerful effects on your home and soul. It’s a very simple spiritual practice, but has so many complex benefits. There are more reasons than not to incorporate this into a weekly practice.
It can be purchased at vintage online marketplaces such as Etsy, or Black-owned spiritual shops such as Queen Hippie Gypsy.
Let me know in the comments down below how sage has worked for you!
Cover photo used: Photo by Ginny Rose Stewart on Unsplash
