My Sacred Beauty Rituals: Part 3
I am so excited to share one of my long-time favorite Sacred Beauty Rituals with you-- it's one of the simplest, quickest practices to calm the mind and uplift the spirit. Smudging is a traditional ritual used by beautiful Native American and indigenous cultures worldwide to purify space, people and objects. It's practiced by burning sacred plants, such as sage, cedar, sweetgrass and palo santo, with the intention to clear negative energy, connect to our spirituality and other metaphysical purposes.
When the herbs or woods are burned, they emit a smoke and fragrance which are believed to have both aromatic and symbolic effects. I personally can attest to smudging benefits, as I have been burning sage and frankincense in my home for many years. Some of the reasons I'm inspired to smudge are:
- to clear the physical space when I move into a new home or host an event
- to clear my energy during meditation and upon coming home after a day out in the world
- to clear our home after a disagreement with my partner or a family member
- to clear my crystals or any previously used items I purchase
How to Smudge
It's really simple to practice smudging! All you need is your sacred plant of choice and a small, cast iron bowl or abalone shell. The bowl or shell is important to catch any embers after lighting your smudge tool, as well as a place to rest and extinguish it.
1. To start, open your window a crack to let the smoke and energies release. Then light the tip of the sage/sweetgrass/palo santo. It's helpful to use a candle, as you will have to hold the plant in the flame for a moment to get it going.
2. With the smudging plant in your hand, gently wave it over your body or areas of the home you wish to clear. Be intentional with this by reciting your wishes for the ritual either out loud or in your head. For example,"May this sage clear any negative, stagnant energies and welcome in beauty, creativity, love, abundance..."
3. When you're finished, be sure to extinguish the smudge tool in your bowl, don't assume that it went out if you don't see any smoke. Please be safe!
What to Smudge
There are many wonderful herbs, trees and resins that you can choose for your Sacred Beauty Smudging Ritual. I love to use sage for more of a deep clearing ritual (it creates alot of smoke) and palo santo for a quick energy-clearing (it extinguishes quickly). The nice thing about palo santo and sweetgrass is that they leave a beautiful aroma in your space just by being there. You can learn about all the smudge burnables and their individual properties over at Mountain Rose Herbs, they have over 15 different kinds!
What do you think about this ritual? Have you tried smudging? I would LOVE to hear from you!
This post is sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs. Please know that I only partner with brands that I have tried, love and trust. I’m inspired to share their products because I believe you will benefit from knowing about them.