With the onset of the New Year, burning sage to smudge your home is the perfect ritual to release and clear the old energy to create space for the new. To tell the truth, I had no idea why people smudged. One of my close friends used to burn a sage wand in her boutique after “nutty” people came in as a way to feel better and chase out the bad vibes they left behind. I remember not quite understanding it and thinking how it must be good because she believes in it and it seemed to work.
The first time I was inspired to perform my own sage cleansing ritual, I was moving to a new showroom space at the High Point furniture market and decided to do a blessing ceremony to amplify my ability to receive. I anchored citrine crystals in each corner of the showroom for abundance and burnt sage to clear the old energy from the last exhibitor in the space. As sage smoke swirled through the air, all of a sudden around the corner came a group of designers, “I want to be smudged,” they all chimed in at the same time. One by one, I performed a white sage ceremony clearing their auric field and then my neighbor asked me to smudge her with sage too. I felt so strange during the ceremonies like I had stumbled into something that felt so familiar that I knew how to do it without having done it before.
The next day, my neighbor told me that she had a lucid dream that night. In the dream, a giant magnet hovered over her pulling out toxic energy from her body, and the next morning she felt healed from past negative experiences she was holding on to and couldn’t release. I was blown away and delighted by her experience. Maybe there was something to this white sage smudging ceremony, after all. Fascinated, I began researching and looking deeper into the science behind sage smudging.
The origins of sage smudging began with Native Americans as a sacred ritual performed for thousands of years, a ritual of purification and cleansing of the physical and spiritual bodies. They associated sagebrush with purity and the spirits of the heavens.
Modern Smudging is also used to cleanse interior environments and energy fields and to keep us disease free. I felt excited discovering this because I believe in living life naturally and partnering with Mother Nature when designing our homes, interiors and staying healthy.
I have discovered in life we are each responsible for our own healing and creating environment’s that support our well-being. I believe we are not separate from the natural world but inner connected and we create harmony around us by the way we think. It is through our thoughts, words and actions that we create the life we live. I call this trifecta the pyramid of creation. Our life is our canvas and it is with the pyramid of creation that we build a sustainable, creative and wholesome life.
In the purification act of the white sage ceremony, while the sage burns, the active elements are the smoke that is created. The smoke seizes the positive ions in the air molecule and extracts it. It is important to open a door or window before smudging so the positive ions have a way out or they will fall on your floors and surfaces as soot, so you won’t have the same cleansing effect of the environment. The positive ion in the air molecule is the one that is harmful to your health, and the negative ions are beneficial.
The negative ions created by burning sage smoke cancel out the harmful positive ions in the air. When you move into a new home or get a new car, the first thing you must do is purify the air quality as a way to clear, heal, and enhance while setting your intentions for the new beginning. You can also do this now and bring positive energy to a home you are currently living in. It is wise to smudge your home with sage each season as a way to welcome and honor the changing cycles of nature and purify the environment. Make sure smoke detector alarms are turned off before beginning the ceremony.
The tools you will need are based on the four elements: an abalone shell or seashell-representing water, matches for fire, a feather for air, and the sage representing the earth element. Please remember to protect native populations of sage by harvesting it only with a permit or purchasing it responsibly.
To start white sage smudging, gather your tools and set your intentions. Open the front door of your house and windows in the rooms that you want to purify to allow the harmful positive ions to escape.
Sage is a powerful healer that will be needed in the future to support and sustain life on this planet. Anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, a natural anti-depressant, and even tea for menopause, the benefits are endless. The natural world is full of powerful magic that we have long forgotten about. Now is the time to return to the natural world to be soothed, healed, and inspired; sage smudging, along with handcrafted collections ranging from pillows to inserts, blankets, and face masks, can awaken us to our highest potential to co-create with the source that has always been within us.
Live life naturally. Healthier homes make for a happier life.