INTRODUCTION

Smudging can totally transform your life and luck. If you feel as though life is an uphill battle, as if fate is never on your side then smudging might just be the answer. Smudging is the art of cleansing your self and your environment using simple ritual and ceremony. For thousands of years it has been a part of Native American tradition but now the power of Smudging is available to everyone.

The effects of smudging can be swift and dramatic. It can help you banish stress and attract love; soothe you or give you energy. It can bring your family closer together and let you adjust to the healing seasonal rhythms of the year. Above all, it can turn any space, however humble, into a soothing sanctuary, a place of renewal. I have used smudging for many years and often combine it with techniques from other ancient traditions to provide a totally holistic approach.

But how can smudging be so powerful? The answer lies in the sub-atomic world of subtle or spiritual energy. Homes and bodies are not just made of purely physical matter; they also vibrate with subtle, invisible energy. Cleansing a space or our bodies with techniques such as smudging clears away all the emotional and psychic "garbage" that may have gathered over years or even hundreds of years. It's like spiritual spring-cleaning.

These ideas are not new-fangled nor are they airy-fairy New Age waffle. Native American tradition dates back millennia and most traditional cultures, from the Zulus to the Maoris, from the Chinese to the Balinese, have age-old forms of cleansing and blessing ritual. Even the West retains relics of it, although we have long forgotten the true purpose behind many of our rituals and ceremonies. The incense wafting through a church is cleansing the atmosphere just as surely as the medicine man's bowl of sacred smoke, or smudge. The bells that ring out on Sunday morning were originally intended to purify the whole parish through sound and lead the community from everyday space into worship - just as the shaman's drum can lead us on sacred journeys into the world of the spirits.

MAKING A SMUDGE STICK

Although smudge sticks are now readily available from shops specializing in New Age and Native American artefacts (and in The Smudge Pack), you can easily make your own. Making your own smudge allows you to make a deeper connection with the spirits of the sacred plants used in smudge - and so can make your rituals and ceremonies even more meaningful.

YOU WILL NEED: A selection of your chosen herbs - see list below; colored cottons (embroidery threads work well); a little tobacco or cornmeal; candle and matches.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. You really need to be able to pick your plants, or at least the mainstay of your smudge stick, fresh from the wild. It is unusual to find the length of herb needed from shops - and dried herbs will flare too easily. However you can combine fresh and dried herbs if necessary.

2. If you are picking your herbs from the wild (or your garden) ideally you should gather them as they come into bloom during a waxing moon. Approach the plant with respect and ask its spirit for its permission to be used in your smudge. When you feel it is right, cut the plant with a sharp knife (you will need pieces around eight to twelve inches long). Only take what you need and give a pinch of cornmeal or tobacco with your thanks.

3. Gather your materials together. Light the candle and quietly center yourself, asking the spirits of the plants you have gathered to help you make a powerful smudge stick.

4. Take a sturdy stick as a base. Arrange the other stems around it. If you are using a combination of fresh and dried herbs, keep the dried, more fragile herbs on the inside.

5. Take a piece of cotton or hide and tie it around the stick, starting at the bottom. If you want to add dried herbs which are powdered or crushed, you can add these on the inside of the smudge stick as you start to bind the bundle.

6. Tie your smudge stick quite firmly - the cotton should reach about half way up the length of the stick.

7. Now hang your smudge stick up by its bottom end (the tied end) somewhere warm and dry until the plants are almost dry - but not totally moisture-free.

HOW TO SMUDGE

Smudging is the common name given to the Sacred Smoke Bowl Blessing, a powerful cleansing technique from the Native American tradition. It forms the central part of the great majority of rituals and blessings in this book. Smudging calls on the spirits of sacred plants to drive away negative energies and put you back into a state of balance. It is the psychic equivalent of washing your hands before eating - and used as an essential preliminary to almost all Native American ceremonies.

YOU WILL NEED: smudge stick, matches, a small ceramic or stone bowl, or a large shell (a saucer will do) a large feather.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Light the end of your smudge stick and let it burn for a few minutes until the tip starts to smoulder. You may need to fan the flames for a while to get the smudge really smoking. Then extinguish the flame so the smudge stick smokes.

2. Call on the spirits of the smudge to cleanse and protect you, saying: "Sacred Sage, drive away all negativity from my heart; take away everything unworthy and impure."

3. First waft the smoke towards your heart. Hold the smudge stick away from you and use the feather to waft the smoke towards you. Then take the smudge smoke over your head, down your arms and down the front of your body. Imagine the smoke lifting away all the negative thoughts, emotions and energies that have attached themselves to you.

4. Breathe in the smudge, visualizing the smoke purifying your body from the inside. (Note: be careful if you suffer from asthma or respiratory difficulties. Experiment cautiously).

5. Now bring the smoke down the back of your body towards the ground. Visualise the last vestiges of negativity being taken back into the earth, away into the air.

6. Repeat your smudging once again, this time calling on the spirit of Sweetgrass in this way: "Sacred Sweetgrass, bring me the positive energy I need to do this work. Help me to come into balance. Purify my soul." As you smudge, imagine yourself being surrounded by gentle, loving energy. Breathe in positivity, courage and love.

SMUDGING SOMEONE ELSE

1. You can use exactly the same technique to smudge another person. Except you hold the bowl and waft the smoke over the other person.

2. You can ask them to repeat the words after you. You might also want to ask them if they feel any sense of blockage or uncomfortable feelings in any part of their body. If so direct the smoke towards that part in particular and ask the spirits of the Smudge to help release the blockage.

3. You may also direct smudge to each of the person's chakras (above the head, at brow level, at their throat, at the heart, the solar plexus, the genitals, the base of the spine). Visualize each chakra coming into balance as it is purified by the smudge.

PLANTS TO USE IN SMUDGE STICKS

· Sagebrush: confusingly, the "sage" used in most smudge sticks, is not culinary sage but sagebrush; it transforms energy and brings change.

· Sage: however, you can also use sage (Salvia officinalis) which brings wisdom and is calming and healing.

· Sweetgrass: attracts positive energy. You can buy sweetgrass in braids - simply snip off a little for your smudge stick.

· Lavender: restores balance and creates a peaceful atmosphere. Lavender also attracts loving energy and spirits.

· Cedar: deeply purifying, especially for clearing negative emotions and for healing.

· Mugwort: stimulates psychic awareness and prophetic dreams. It also banishes evil spirits.

· Juniper: used to purify and create a safe and sacred space.

· Yerba Santa: used to purify and to set and protect boundaries.

· Rosemary: a powerful healer that brings clarity to problems.

To discover more about smudging and how to use it in numerous rituals and blessings, read The Smudge Pack. The Smudge Pack contains a ready to use smudge stick, crystal, two candles and a clear informative book telling you how to use the smudge in everyday life.

You will find out how to:

· transform your relationships

· cleanse your home and office

· attract love

· banish stress

· soothe or energize yourself