Loose White Sage

What Is Smudging?

Smudging is an important ceremonial purifying ritual in many North American Indigenous cultures. The practice has a long and rich history that extends way before white witchy practices brought it onto Instagram feeds near you. Before smudging was popularized, it was illegal — at least, for Indigenous folks. “It was illegal for Natives to practice their religion until 1978 in the U.S., and many were jailed and killed just for keeping our ways alive, including my great-great grandfather,” Ruth Hopkins, a Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer, tells Bustle. Smudging was part of those banned religious practices. Today, Native people are still fighting to be able to perform these ceremonies in hospitals. Smudging, therefore, is not to be taken lightly.

Because of all that history, when non-Native people burn white sage to "smudge" their homes or other spaces, it minimizes the cultural importance of this ritual. Instead, advocates say non-Native people can learn to cleanse their spaces in ways that are culturally and ecologically sensitive.

In addition to cleansing the air of unwanted bacteria, the benefits of smudging, and producing negative ions are many, including:

Increasing your sense of well-being and improving mental focus. Smudging removes the debilitating effects of excess positive ions in the air in a way that’s been described as a natural antidepressant

Clearing negative energy. The smoke helps to change the molecular structure of both the air and energy, which produces a cleansing effect. As the sense of smell is strongly linked to memory and instinct, smudging is very effective for combating feels of anger, fear, anxiety, grief and depression.

“Nature’s antidepressant.” It seems that the negative ions produced from smudging offer serious antidepressant effects – so much so it’s said to be at least as effective as a prescription antidepressant without the side effects.  

Clearing the air. In addition to bacteria, smudging can help clear the air of pollen, pet dander, dust, mold spores and other potential allergens to improve allergy symptoms.

Cleansing objects. Not only can smudging cleanse a room, but it can cleanse objects. Whenever you bring a new object into your home, especially something like an antique that’s likely to have been exposed to negative energy over the years, you can use a smudge stick, allowing the smoke to pass over the time to help clear it so that it doesn’t affect you or your environment.

Relaxing effects. Smudging can offer calming, relaxing effects that are known to help lower blood pressure, relieve stress and tension and normalize breathing rates, as the negative ions produced are absorbed directly into your bloodstream – they may even help to fight off damaging free radicals that can lead to premature aging and disease.

Increased energy. Studies have found that the negative ions produced also help to normalize serotonin (that well-known feel-good hormone), in the brain, which can help boost one’s mood, improve focus and create a more positive outlook.

Improved sleep. An Italian study showed that negative ions can help improve sleep patterns, also have positive effects on regulating serotonin production.

Instructions:

Just before you begin, open up a window for ventilation and then place the herb bundle onto your heat-, fire-proof surface. Light it with the matches or a lighter, and then gently blow out the flame, allowing the material to smolder. Focus your energy on the smoke. If a true flame appears, shake the bundle slightly, or blow on it until it turns to embers and smoke. You may need to re-light the bundle a few times during the smudging process.


Move clockwise around your house, starting at your front door. Gently wave the smoke into your air, focusing especially on the corners of each room, as they’re said to accumulate the most stagnant energy. The entire time, envision the smoke clearing negative energy, waving the smudge bundle up and down as the smoke fills the area.

Don’t forget about closed spaces, like closets and cabinets – open their doors and carefully smudge the inside too. Be sure to smudge all rooms, including your basement, garage, laundry room and the like. When you reach each doorway, ask that the room be sealed and protected from this point on while you smudge the outline of the doorway, passing through it to keep any more energy from passing while you conduct the clearing.

Move directly into the next room following either the floor layout along the walls. Remember to pass the wand over the edges of each window and door as you continue through each room of the house or workspace. In order for the smudging ceremony to be most effective, the smoke needs to cover every room, closet, door, vent, and window. The idea is to walk to each entrance, clearing every room so that you’re pushing all the negative energy out toward the front entrance.  Since you want all of the negative energy to leave your home, think of it as trying to direct a fly outside your door.

Once you’ve smudged your whole house, allow the herb bundle to burn out. You may want to bury the remaining smudge in your garden, as a sign of completing the ritual.