SMUDGING

Some ideal (or necessary) times to sage 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 any illness
• Upon returning home from crowded situations

And here is a simple sage smudging ritual to try:

1. Use loose dried white sage or a white ceremonial sage bundle (aka wand), which is usually bound together by a thin string. Or, if you have a sage plant, you can make your own — just bundle and tie it, and then hang upside down in cool dark space until it is completely dried out.
2. Next, place it on any heat-proof burning surface like an abalone shell, 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. If you are burning loose leaf sage, the best method is to use a ceramic burner or a small cauldron.
3. Once you have a nice smoke going, use the feather wand to direct the smoke over your body from your feet up to your head, then back down again. As you do this, visualize the smoke taking away with it any negative energy from your life.

If you feel comfortable with this incantation, repeat the following:

“I Clear away any unwanted negative, bad energies and turn them into positive happy & loving energies”

As you say your incantation, you are shifting energy at will. 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 the incantation in your mind as you diffuse the smoke.

Once the space is cleared allow the sage bundle to either burn out or gently press it out in your heat-proof shell or container.