Need Some New Energy? Try a Smudging....

Whenever I am in need of some new energy, a new twist on things, or getting rid of a sour spell of inactivity and dour mood, I get out my smudge stick and clay pot...and I "do a smudging..."

Smudging is a Native American ceremony, or ritual, of burning herbs to cleanse away old energy in order to bring in new energy. The idea is that by burning a smudge stick made of dried herbs (bound together with simple string) and then moving it around a specific object, person or place -- such as a room or area in a home -- the gently wafting smoke carries negative energy away leaving new opportunity for positive energy to enter.

Smudge sticks are available in many varieties and easily obtained on the internet. Different herbs offer different kinds of energies to invite into your space. I use one of dried sage and lavendar. The herbs, as plants, represent the element of Earth.

Typically, smudge sticks are burned in one of two different kinds of "pots" -- clay pots or abalone shells. The pot is used to collect any ashes that might fall from the stick as well as to extinguish the stick at the close of the smudging. An abalone or shell pot represents the element of Water for the concept of Life. Smudge pots are also easily obtained on the internet and there are wonderful selections to choose from.

I use a red clay pot from the island of Antigua that I found over 20 years ago. When I first found it on the island, I had no idea what I would use it for. But I loved its deep red color, its simple shape, and the fact that a local potter had made it by literally digging up the clay earth from his local setting. For years it was packed away, I rarely had it out on display. But when I got divorced and moved to my new home as a mid-life single mom, I found it in one of my boxes and out it came. It was perfect for the smudge sticks I had received as gifts from friends ~ red earth clay for grounding, red earth clay that had been surrounded by water on an island. Now my smudge kit was complete.

For me smudging is about breaking a cycle of dead energy, starting anew, bringing new life and new ideas and new people into a situation that has been dormant. It is also about clearing away negative thoughts, patterns, actions, and routines. Shaking things up. Out with the old. In with the new. It's about anticipation, excitement, setting intentions, making wishes, clarifying dreams, having goals, and asking for the Universe for manifestation. I love smudging because I can feel somewhere deep inside me the glory and the beauty of this ritual...I feel powerful when I am smudging. I feel sacred. I feel connection. And I know good things are coming because of it.

When you begin to smudge, the remaining two elements are invoked...Fire and Air. As you light the end of the smudge stick, there is Fire. Fire is about courage, passion, and strength. As the stick gently burns, the soft, billowy smoke rises and curls into the Air. This is for the space where all of our dreams, thoughts, and wishes reside. Now all of the four elements are represented. There is balance. All that is needed now is your own spirit to guide you through the process of smudging.

So you see smudging is intense but it is good. When the smoke starts to burn and it is wafting through your space, there is indeed a new energy, a sense of calm anticipation, that ensues. Before I begin, I always set the stage, so to speak. I clear my mind with meditation and I begin to reflect on the changes I want to incur in my life at that time. I carefully and specifically invoke exactly what I want the smudging to bring...

My first smudging was three years when I moved into my new home, where I live now. I deeply wanted the smudging as a way to bless my new living space, to clear out the old energy of its past inhabitants, and to make new wishes, dreams, and invitations for what would take place in my new life and in my new home for me and my little boy. I was single now and had big dreams for what was to come.

I invited six of my very best girlfriends to join in the ritual with me. A friend of mine led the smudging. To prepare I had made a list of intentions that I wanted to come true for each room of my new home. For example, I had been very isolated in my old neighborhood and feeling a strong lack of soul connection with neighbors. As we smudged my new living room I invoked it to be a place where new friends would gather, soulful conversation and good times would take place, there would be joy and companionship, and new relationships and friendships would be forged in this space. It felt so good to set these intentions, to be purposeful about it, and to be clear. As I watched the smoke dance about the room, I imagined old feelings of loneliness and despair leaving my body. As the smoke dissipated and eventually disappeared, I imagined new feelings of camaraderie, bonding and connection take hold.

At the front door, as my friend smudged the entry way, we released all negative energy existing in the home from prior occupants into the open air outside, and we invited in love, peace, harmony, safety, security, warmth, protection, and happiness through the front door and into the house. At this time, I also asked for special saints and goddesses to come live with me and my son.

In my son's bedroom, as we wafted the lit stick around his new room, the smoke curled about and created delicate swirls and designs in the air. I asked the Universe at this time to help my son heal through the divorce, to sleep well and grow healthy in this room, to have fun with his friends in this room, to enjoy his playthings, to feel safe and secure in this room, to feel that it was a place of comfort and security for him, that he would love being in it and that his happiness and health would continue to flourish here....

Similar intentions followed for every room of the house...I asked for creativity, new ideas, new skill sets, and new dedication and resolve in the room that would become my art studio. I asked for health, good food, good habits, good times, and a feeling of ease in my kitchen, a room I am most often stressed in, where I often feel the least confident and the least comfortable.

We even did the attic, the garage, and the crawl space...out with the old, in with the new....each friend took a turn smudging some area of the house...there was a tone of seriousness but also lightheartedness ~ this was a new beginning and my friends were happy and excited for me.

We opened every cupboard door, every closet, ever drawer...and allowed the smudge smoke to waft in and out....clearing away anything negative gathering and hiding in the corners of these little and often overlooked spaces in a home.

As the smoke drifted throughout the house, it was filled with the pungent but warm and luxurious scent of sage and lavendar. It was heady and delightful. When we got to my bedroom, all of my friends and I gathered in a circle and each one of us received an individual smudging. My friend who led the smudging wafted the stick around each of us one at a time, starting from head to toe, and as she did so, each of us meditated and reflected on our own personal journeys, wishes, and dreams....inviting in newness and releasing what was no longer needed.

This particular smudging took about an hour to complete. It was strong and potent and I did see many changes come to fruition over the next two years. I wrote, illustrated and published my book, The Pinwheel Girls Takes Flight, after having found a new sense of energy, creativity, and determination. I made new friends and new, helpful, interesting people entered my life. I feel, still to this day, a deep sense of calm, serenity, and peace in my home...each time I enter through the door, the house, it seems to hug me, deeply and with much happiness when I arrive. My son is thriving and happy, healed and optimistic about his future. I eat well, I have lost weight, I sleep well, and I've become healthier living here. I feel safe physically and emotionally. Negative people don't enter ~ there's isn't a place for them here. And most of all, I feel that I am doing here what I set out to do...starting anew, making my wishes and dreams come true, being who I was meant to be, and thriving.

You don't have to have a major life transition in order to do a smudging. You can do one any time you feel like it but I tend to pick certain times. My birthday. A full moon. The New Year. An anniversary of something significant. Or just when I have the funky blues or I'm in a rut about something. You don't have to do your entire house either! Just one room, one area, one object, just yourself, a doorway, a closet....anything you want to "clear out" will do.

If you are needing some new energy to enter your life, try a smudging...have fun with it, but give it the seriousness and careful reflection it needs. Why? You'll get what you wish for. So be specific, make it good and right for you.

Photo Caption: My smudge pot, smudge stick, and a feather to help waft the smoke...

"...you are bigger than life...reaching, expanding, connecting..."
Stage 5, The Pinwheel Girl Ascends