SAGING, SMUDGING, CLEANSING, BLESSING...WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND HOW DO YOU DO IT?

SAGING, SMUDGING, CLEANSING, BLESSING...WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND HOW DO YOU DO IT? 

We’ve gotten quite a few emails lately asking specifically about saging—or smudging if you prefer. What is it? How is it done? What do you use? What does it accomplish? Can you do it yourself, or must you have a person in the paranormal field do it? 

What is saging? Saging is the process of burning sage and directing the smoke into an intended area, or onto yourself or the physical form of another person for cleansing. Often for personal cleansing, two people will work together, taking turns to smudge each other.  One of my sons watched the procedure when someone came to me for personal cleansing.

“Huh," he finally said. "Kinda reminds me of when we buddied up in the Corps to paint each other before combat. We counted on each other to make sure no skin was left exposed to give us away to the enemy. Mutual trust. A good thing. Hoo-ah. Carry on, Mom.” 

(Yes, I shake my head a lot. Try not to roll my eyes anymore, because if you’re a proponent of the Law of Averages, they are going to get stuck one day.) And smudging is almost like what my son described. The difference between cammo painting and saging, is that saging removes the negative and unwanted energies instead of covering them up. The similarity is that you trust each other to leave nothing exposed for negativity to cling to.

Sacred sage has a long spiritual history with Native Americans. The burning of sage and directing its smoke over the hands, face, and body is part of many ceremonial traditions. What most people don’t realize is that sage burns an antiseptic smoke! No, it won’t stop the plague, but it does rid the air of common germs.

Sometimes another substance is burned with sage; sage and cedar is a common combination, as is sage and Sweet Grass. Other combinations are used according to the purpose you wish to achieve.

 

To cleanse a dwelling or business, you begin at the exterior doorway. Make sure to use your smudge materials in a fire safe manner! Make sure you are rested and in a good frame of mind prior to starting, because when done correctly cleansing can take a lot out of you. Light your sage stick (or sage leaves). When they are burning well, gently blow out the flame, taking care not to send any embers out of your shell or bowl. They will smolder from that point on. (If they go out, relight them.)

 

*Quick Note: (If you don’t have the necessary items, we offer them on our website store, from a deluxe Blessing Kit with a sage bundle, abalone shell ash catcher, tripod stand carved from a single piece of wood to rest or display your shell, and latigo bound dispersing feather, all in a convenient storage container. We also have a basic sage stick and feather combination; or sage by the stick; or individual dispersing feathers. We even have small emergency sage kits, with a quick lighting charcoal tab and loose sage leaves. I’ll post pics and links for you at the end of the blog.)

Starting from the entrance doorway, slowly work in a clockwise movement, covering the perimeters of that entire room, high and low. Do NOT smudge that exterior doorway yet! The purpose is to push any negative energies out, and you want to leave them an exit. Pay attention to push smoke into the high corners of the room as you proceed. If there are closets or permanent cabinetry (kitchen cabinets and drawers; bathroom cabinets and drawers, etc) open them and direct sage smoke inside. Smudge around any windows and connecting doorways. Speak words that denote your Faith. Many recite St. Michael’s prayer in each room as they complete it. Give audible instructions. You don’t have to yell, but be strong and forceful. I usually say, “Anything negative or unclean, you are not welcome here. Only the good and protective may stay. Only positive energy may reside in this place. Anything of an evil nature must leave this place, and leave now, and is not allowed to return!” I believe using your own words carries more meaning or what some call power, so don’t be afraid to speak what is in your heart or on your mind. But if you aren’t comfortable trying this by yourself for the first time—or ever!—it’s perfectly acceptable to call someone in. We all learn skills from each other, and this is no different. Some things we try we never become adept at (like my attempts at oil painting.  No, we won’t discuss it. LOL) So there is no shame or harm in turning what we aren’t comfortable with over to another who is versed in it.

As you finish that room, move to the next, working the entire dwelling in a clockwise motion. As you get back to your starting point, speak your words again. Claim your space as your own and ask for Faith, peace, protection, and love to be the strongest forces dwelling there. As you tell anything unclean, negative, or evil to leave a final time, smudge the exterior doorway, mentally sealing it against everything but good.  

If you want to keep negative energy at a minimum, saging and cleansing isn’t something you do one time and forget about it. It’s rather like sweeping your floors clean. It feels wonderful immediately after you do so. But as we go in and out, grains of sand are tracked in, a few here, a few there. If it rains, mud comes in with us. Even opening a door allows dust and even the occasional leaf to drift inside.

Energy is much like the grains of sand, the mud, the dust, the bits of leaf. We pick them up without realizing and carry them home with us. Our friend having marital trouble? When we talk to them to offer comfort, we bring a bit of it away with us. Stresses at work? We bring bits of that worry home. When we care for the ill or infirm, we tend to absorb a bit of their suffering as we try to ease it, and carry it away with us. The accident, the abuse, the grief we witness or share marks us with its energy. Ill will toward us, particularly undeserved ill will, attaches its negativity as well. And like those grains of sand on our floor, it grits and chafes, makes us uncomfortable in our own space. So like sweeping the floor clean, we need to regularly cleanse those accumulated negative, unclean energies from our personal space.

Don’t want to bore you or make you feel like you’re held hostage at your computer or phone screen, so I’ll leave the personal cleansing for another post. But I promise to get to it soon!

Here are those links I promised!

 

Blessing Kit contains large sage bundle, abalone shell ash catcher, carved wooden tripod to rest or display your shell, and latigo wrapped dispersing feather, all in convenient storage container.

https://squareup.com/store/mgcpara/item/blessing-kit 

Basic smudge set consists of sage bundle and dispersing feather.

https://squareup.com/store/mgcpara/item/economy-blessing-kit

Single sage bundle, large.

https://squareup.com/store/mgcpara/item/white-sage

Dispersing feathers. Sold singly.

https://squareup.com/store/mgcpara/item/dispersing-feathers

Emergency Sage Kit (shown front & back) contains quick lighting charcoal tab and loose sage leaves. Handy for Paranormal Investigations! Keep several on hand! https://squareup.com/store/mgcpara/item/emergency-sage-smudge-kits

Hope this answered a few questions! If you have other questions or wish to comment, please, please, please make use of the comment section. We love the interaction! If you're shy, feel free to email us. We love hearing from all of you! 

Remember, our MGCParanormal motto is “Focused on finding the Truth . . . .”


~Happy Ghost/Bigfoot/Urban Legend/UFO hunting from the entire Team at MGCParanormal!~

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