Grateful for my recent jolt of positive new energy, I decided to ensure that it sticks around by cleansing our home (and me, for that matter) of any negative energy. Enter in… saging. As hippy dippy as I can be sometimes… I’ve never saged (also referred to as smudging) before. Gasp! But, the word on the street is, it’s a great way to rid yourself and your space of any lingering negative energy, in turn, making room for new energy and intentions.
Sign me up, universe.
Considering I live in LA, it was easy to find a store that sold sage for smudging. I walked over to Mystic Journey Bookstore on Abbott Kinney in Venice, marched straight past the display of crystals and the shelves of self-help books and over to the basket of sage. I picked through it for a bit, trying to decide which one I wanted. Each one was wrapped in a different color ribbon and varying in size – so many choices. I ended up settling on a medium-sized bundle wrapped in a pink ribbon. It just felt like the right one for the job.
My initial plan was to sage the house by myself while Brian was at work, but then I thought it all the way through and realized that it might be best to have Brian involved in this particular activity. Not only because it happens to be his space as well, but also because I’ve been known to accidentally light things on fire.
So I waited.
I wasn’t quite sure what Brian would think of my plan. Luckily, he was game for some saging and it turned out to be an unexpectedly fun husband/wife activity. The only member of the family who wasn’t into it was Frank. He made it very clear early one that he is not a fan of smoking plants….I don’t think he will be saging his dog bed anytime soon.
Brian and I went from room to room with our smoking sticks of sage, sometimes together but mostly we moved separately. We had a common affirmation/intention for each room though. I found the experience incredibly grounding. Maybe it’s due to the ceremony of it, but I immediately felt lighter when we were done.
If you haven’t tried it, I would most definitely recommend it.
How to sage your space-
* things you need…sage…a bowl to hold the smoking stick over and a cup of water to extinguish it in after.
– open every door and window in your house
– light the stick, and when it catches fire, blow it out and allow the embers to start to smoke (like you would light incense).
– set your intention for each room.
– walk around the room, waving the sage stick so its smoke drifts into corners, along walls, around windows, and along ceiling lines. As you do, imagine the smoke absorbing negativity, problems from those who were in the space before you, toxicity, and anything else you want to go away. See the smoke dissipating and floating out the windows, and imagine that bad energy flowing out of your space, making room for positive, fresh energy.
– extinguish the stick in the cup of water
and viola! Hello, new energy!
365til30.com 
I sage or smudge my house several times a year or whenever I feel the need. I was told about a prayer or words that you say while smudging. It does feel cleaner and clearer after the ritual.
I’d love to know more about the specific prayer / words you use when smudging! If you feel open to sharing of course:)
I will email you, have to check to see if I have your email address.
Great!! It’s… Kate365til30@gmail.com
I did a similar smoking of my old house, in Phoenix, before leaving it, to thank it for all it did on our behalf, after everything had been moved out, in 2011.
What a beautiful thing to do as a thank you to your home. I love that.
I can’t find that tin Tehachapi…lol. I’ll wait till I get to Santa Monica.
I’ll go sage shopping with you when you’re in Santa Monica next!
I want to do that in my new apt before I move in.
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You must! When are you moving?
Hiya! Maybe this is silly, but how do you spread the smoke? In my head I’m imagining an elaborate rain dance, but my guess is that this doesn’t have to be quite so acrobatic. Did you hit all the corners of the room or was it more about standing in each room? Thanks!
Hi Celina! Not silly at all! I had many of the same images you do before doing it. You can make it what ever you want- I say rain dance if the mood strikes you:)
To spread the smoke we waved the sage stick so its smoke drifted into corners, along walls, around windows, and along ceiling lines. We did make sure to go to each corner of each room…supposedly energy gets especially stagnant there.
Hope this helps!
This sounds pretty interesting to me (although my husband would laugh at me). I’m interested in doing it, but can you give me a few examples of “intentions for the room?” Sorry, I’m new! Haha 🙂
Ha! Maybe do it when he’s not home?? 🙂
Here are two intentions I found that I liked. We tweaked/added to them a bit- using such words as…happiness, health, peace & prosperity.
“Bless this home and all who enter, please cleanse this home of all stagnant and negative energy, fill this home with light and love and with positive energy of the highest vibration.”
“I cleanse this room of any impurities, negativity, or anything that does not suit or support the people that live here.”
Keep me posted on your saging endeavors!
I’m definitely going to try this when we get back from our vacation next week!! Thank you!!!!