Smudging for Millenials - what really is it?

Ever walked into a room, taken a deep breath, closed your eyes and simply felt good? That’s clean, positive energy. You’re not crazy or strange for feeling it, because energy, itself, is “real” and very explainable. 

Energy is in constant motion, its positive and negative polarities can be easily guided. Just as we have discovered ways of guiding electric energy, there are ways of guiding that negative energy you feel in a place, a piece of land or even energy surrounding a person.

One way of doing so? Smudging.

I’m not talking about something “becoming messily smeared by rubbing it”.

I’m talking about the burning of sacred herbs, to unleash the potent healing energy of the plant to neutralise and purify the energy.

If you’re like many young people today, you’re probably thinking it sounds too complicated, ritualistic or spiritual.

But that’s a narrow way of looking at the world. It may not be as simple as flicking a light switch, but the scientific benefits are real.

Smudging is usually done by lighting the tip of a smudge stick (a bundle of healing herbs tied together) with a candle light, then gently waving it in the air till the tip begins to smoulder. You can then guide the smoke coming from the smudge to specific parts of your house, or parts of your body.

Burning sage and other herbs neutralise positive charges and release negative ions, and have antiseptic as well as bacteria-killing properties. In 2006, a scientific paper entitled Medicinal Smoke was published, showing reviewed research from more than 50 countries. It was found that dating back to ancient times, smoke administered medicinally is typically used to aid lung, brain, and skin function. It was also found that the passive fumes doubled as an air purifier. 

Too “spiritual”? Is there even such a thing? Perhaps too misunderstood.

So why am I so passionate about clearing negative energy and welcoming in the positive (aside from the obvious)? 

Back where I’m from in New-Caledonia we often use herbs for healing purposes.

In fact, believe it or not, “black magic” is revered and used widely by the locals and we often purify our houses and ourselves by using herbs.

Sometimes negative acts or thoughts bring negative vibes in a home or on someone - I mean how common is the saying “good vibes only” these days? 

Ten years ago, my mother had a lot of negative energy surrounding her, some people actually referred to it as a dark entity - the label is irrelevant really. I’ve always been open-minded and connected to nature so it was no surprise that I could sense it.  She wasn’t herself and she’d been having nightmares every night for months. It wasn’t until I visited a healer one day in an effort to help her out and that I was thankfully introduced to smudging.

Initially, as you could imagine, I  didn’t really know if what I was doing was right. All I can say is that my intuition told me my intention was important.

I smudged the house for two weeks, almost every day until Mum started to feel better and her nightmares disappeared.

Since then, smudging has become a habit for me and my family. It makes perfect sense to me really. In so many other aspects of life, nature seems to provide us with exactly what we need to find balance. So why should energy healing be any different?

Not to mention it is a practice that has survived thousands of years. And some discoveries do stand the test of time - like electricity which was apparently stumbled upon by a couple of Ancient Greeks in 600 BC. 

The ancient Chinese burned a herb called (moxa) for healing and it was used a lot in the therapeutic practice of traditional Chinese medicine. Mugwort has been used alongside acupuncture for thousands of years in China.

The smoke of imphepho, or African sage, is used by South African indigenous healers and the Egyptians, Greeks, and many other cultures used frankincense and myrrh in religious ceremonies.

History is a great teacher - as is personal experience.  So if you’ve been thinking about giving smudging a go, I obviously say go for it. Call it scientific or spiritual, because it’s both really - it’s dealing with natural energy.

 I have a full hand-made collection of smudge sticks and am more than willing to answer any questions you may have around how to use them correctly.