How to Achieve the Ultimate Smudge

If you want an energetic boost — or you’re about to meditate — or you just brought home secondhand furniture, it’s a good idea to smudge.

Since the dawn of civilization, people have been burning herbs — or smudging — as a way to purify and protect themselves and their homes. It’s believed that letting the smoke cover you, your space and objects can remove any residual, stagnant or negative energy and make way for positive energy.

Smudging can be done as needed, or it can be part of your daily routine. Some people reserve it for when they are about to conduct spiritual work. Others use it more regularly to improve their mood, inspire their creativity or help them reconnect to nature.

So how can you ensure your smudge has the most impact? While many people think of using sage — and only sage — the key is incorporating all four elements — earth, water, fire and air.

1. Earth: As they come directly from it, the herbs used in smudging are meant to represent earth. The earth element offers a strong and steady grounding energy. It reminds you to put down your roots and return to your body so you can be awake in the present.

   Most commonly, white sage is burned, but some people include multiple plants that are known for growing in the East, South, West or North to ensure the four directions are also represented.
   My Native American teacher recommended loose sage. A purist when it came to supplies for ceremonies, he’d remind me that sage sticks can carry residual energy from the person who made them or the dye and other potentially artificial substance in the thread that holds them together.
   Using loose sage also makes it easier to use new sage every time, for every new intention and occasion. Otherwise, the energies of different intentions and circumstances can get mixed up. Using loose sage also produces less waste, as it all can be burned. Maybe most importantly, loose sage is easier to hold in a shell.

2. Water: Using a shell to hold the sage incorporates the water element. The abalone shell is a popular choice, as it is large and useful for supporting a small pile of herbs and catching embers. Its iridescence also reflects the same characteristic of the ocean, where all life began.
   The ocean offers the energy and example of balance. As its waters can be high or low, warm or cold, active or calm, it exemplifies the acceptance of change and the wisdom of flowing with what is the basis of life for all life forms.
   In smudging, the water element is also meant to balance the fire element.

3. Fire: My teacher never used factory-made matches, for the same reasons of wanting to eliminate anything unnaturally derived or produced from the smudging process. Instead, he used flint and steel. The number of strikes it took to light the fire had additional significance for him. Over the years, I compromised and decided to use eco-friendlier matches.
   Fire is complex in that while it destroys, it also purifies and creates space for something new. The old versions of ourselves must be destroyed in order for us to grow into the new versions of ourselves, and becoming anew is usually the desired result of purification.

4. Air: The air around us supplies the oxygen that feeds the fire. Fire lighting the sage creates smoke, which also represents the air element in this equation. As the smoke builds and lifts, it covers whatever we wish to purify and protect, while also creating a signal and bridge to the spirit realm.

Having all four elements represented is just the beginning of a good smudge. We must continue by acknowledging their spirits. For this, as I am preparing to smudge and putting the elements together, I say:

We give thanks to the spirit of earth, represented by this sage –

We give thanks to the spirit of water, represented by this shell –

We give thanks to the spirit of fire, present here now –

We give thanks to the spirit of air, all around us and in this smoke –

For this opportunity to cleanse.

Then I hold the shell in one hand and smudge myself before doing anything else, to ensure any other irrelevant energies or thoughts I might be carrying don’t affect the specific intention and purpose of the occasion. If I am going to smudge someone else or a space next, I will cleanse a feather before using it to fan the smoke.

Going through the process of ensuring all four elements are represented and acknowledged — and doing your best to use natural, cleansed materials — creates a moment to slow down, focus and show gratitude before moving forward with any meditation or spiritual work. It serves as a very effective smudge, making whatever is about to take place that much more powerful.