How to Use Sage to Cleanse an Object

Sage is one of three herbs commonly used by Native American elders in smudging cleansing ceremonies, according to Adrienne Borden and Steve Coyote. Healers and energy professionals who use sage for cleaning may combine it with lavender, sweet grass, cedar or copal. Each combination has a different effect, but the base is still the dried sage leaves, which providing cleansing energy to the smudging ceremony.

Things You'll Need

• Sage
• String
• Sand
• Container

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Instructions

Cleansing a Small Object

• 1

  Tie dried sage leaves and stems into a tight bundle with cotton string or purchase a commercially prepared smudge stick.

• 2

  Fill a metal or fired ceramic bowl half full of fine sand to carry the smudge stick. Some people use abalone shells, but some Native Americans believe this could offend the spirits because abalone represents Grandmother Ocean, according to Borden and Coyote.

• 3

  Ask God, Spirit, or the spirits attached to the sage to assist you in cleansing your item. Pray for guidance and wisdom to accomplish your task.

• 4

  Light the smudge stick and blow out the flame once the stick catches fire. Anchor the smudge stick in the sand so no burning embers can fall out and burn your carpet or other furnishings.

• 5

  Pass the object over and through the smoke as you pray for the cleansing. You can also speak to the object and tell it to release its negative energy and negative attachments.

• 6

  Monitor the object. When you feel it is free of negative energy you can bury the smoking end of the smudge stick in the sand to extinguish it.

Cleansing a Large Object

• 7

  Prepare your smudge stick as noted in Steps 1 through 3 of Section 1. Pick up the container and begin to pass the container around, over and if possible under the object. Make complete circuits around the object, allowing the smoke to touch all its parts.

• 8

  Walk around the object, raising and lowering the container as much as possible, if your object is very large, like a room or a house. Allow the smoke to waft throughout the area while the doors are closed, so the smoke is contained in the room.

• 9

  Speak to the object and the negative energies it contains. Command the negative spirits or energies to leave and request positive energies to infuse your object. Continue to pray until you feel all the energy is positive.

• 10

  Leave the smudge stick burning if you feel the negative energy remaining. The smudge stick will continue to burn until the object or room is fully clean. Make sure the smudge stick is positioned so no sparks or ashes can fall out of the container.