"Just Burn Some Sage" ... Spiritual Hygeine Part II

From watching the various groups on Facebook, and the various comments I get on my instagram account, it is clear to me that most people are not well educated on maintaining their own personal spiritual hygiene.  Perhaps that is why this subject is so close to my heart, and why I feel the need to speak on it so often.  It certainly comes up in my day-to-day life enough to keep me inspired to talk about it, and as long as the spirits keep putting this subject in front of me, I guess I will keep talking about it.

In most online communities that I belong to, I see people asking for advice on spiritual cleansing.  People say that they feel they are cursed, that someone has claimed to have cursed them, they just feel unlucky, like there is a spirit in their home, negative energy, that their home is not peaceful, that they are surrounded by arguments, etc.  It does not seem to matter what the belief in the cause is, the answer on most groups seems to be the same: "smudge yourself", or "smudge your home" or "smudge everything".  It would appear that the idea of "smudging" with sage has become a cure all for even the most difficult problem.  The dead have been sent to torment you...  No problem, you can just smudge them!  

This idea of being able to smudge away all of one's problems is not found in Native American theology.  While the very act of smudging with sage as a form of purification certainly does stem from certain tribes, it is not a "cure all" and nor should it be treated as such.  To do so is worse than cultural misappropriation, because instead of just taking a piece of their culture and using it according to ones own ends, in this case it has been completely stripped of the spiritual foundation on which it was created and given power beyond any that the tribes that use smudging ever attributed to it.

From the Native American Pow Wow @ JSU, http://www.jsu.edu/news/july_dec2004/powwow.html

The act of smudging is a spiritual ritual in and of itself, and the ritual begins when the white sage is harvested.  During the act of harvest, offerings are made to the white sage bush, and it's task explained to it.  It may then be mixed with other ingredients such as cedar and sweetgrass, or it may remain by itself; but you honour the sage by making it into the bundle that will be used for the smudging, either in silence, or with certain sacred songs.  Once that bundle is prepared and prayed over, it is given to the medicine man or woman (or an elder who has been trained), along with a sacred fan which is prepared with many beads.  This sage bundle is then lit and through sacred breath it is brought to a ember which can then be smudged.  

The act of smudging is not a solo affair.  There is the person to be smudged, the one that will do the smudging, and at least one drummer.  The smudge is placed into an earthern bowl, or a bowl made of wood, and the fan moved to circulate the smoke.  As this is done the medicine man or elder will sing the chants to Mother Earth, the various beings on the planet, the four legged and the six legged and eight legged, those with tails and fins, the stone people, and the ancestors.  The drums will play, their sacred songs assisting to cleanse away all that is not a direct blessing from the Great Spirit.  

As the smudge of the person is finished, the medicine man begins his sacred dance around the lodging, cleansing the space around and thanking Mother Earth for his time to stomp.  With his smoke and his chant and his drum and his prayer bundles which he ties to the roof he makes the space anew, and he brings in the many blessings of the Great Spirit.  With tiny medicine bundles he transforms old into new, and as he pours his final libations to Mother Earth and the spirits he does so knowing that the medicine is taking effect and change has occured.

What's certain here, is that even for the cultures where smudging originated, it is not as simple as taking some white sage, or purchasing a premade "smudge stick" from your local new age store and wafting it around.  As you know from reading my other blogs on this subject, even if you do manage to clear away whatever you are clearing, you still need to fill that space, that energy, with something new and beneficial. 

The act of smudging is not limited to sage, nor is is limited to Native American culture.  Certainly in Native American culture sage is not the only herb to be used when smudging.  Different tribes have different formulae, although the most common I've heard of is sage with cedargrass or sweet grass.  This combination is also excellent for welcoming back the beneficial spirits, or the good medicine, once the negative has been driven out.  In hispanic cultures the act of smudging has continued with tobacco or cigars.  A priest or priestess of one of the ATR's, or an espiritista (a gifted medium) will take a cigar, light it, and once it is going they will reverse the cigar, place it it their mouths lit end first, and blow the smoke out of the clipped end.  This smoke can be blown over an entire person, statue, or even room or home.  This form of smudging can have many purposes, to cleanse, to protect, to empower, to bless and to heal. 

Ogou Feray in possession of Houngan Liam using Tobacco Smudging as a form of healing.

What empowers this work, or this kind of smudging, is the spiritual force of the one performing the work.  It's not as simple as just blowing on a cigar.  One must have absolute control of their spiritual force, what in Haitian Vodou we call Fos, and they must direct that force in accordance with the goal they are seeking to achieve.  That is why this kind of treatment is performed by the spirits themselves when they come in possession.

The message I am trying to get across here is that cleansing and spiritual hygiene take work.  They are not things to be taken for granted, and nor are they simple.  A quick waft around of sage will not keep you spiritually clean.  It will not remove negativity from you or your home, nor will it get rid of ghosts or other nasties...  Sorry to burst that bubble.  Combined with prayer, fasting, songs, and a strong will it may help, but that will very much depend on the skill of the practitioner.

So, having been so mean to the idea of a smudge fixing everything...  What can I suggest to help you keep your home and environment spiritually clean?  Well, the first step is for things to be physically clean.  You can not be spiritually clean when you are surrounded by mess and clutter.  It is very important that your home and environment be clean and well cared for.  You can make the work of spiritual hygiene a part of your regular cleaning schedule.  When you wash your floors, throw in some pine needles and lemon juice with the water and detergent.  You can use a product like Chinese Floor Wash...  I have to admit we use this in our house for everything.  We have it diluted in spray bottles that we use for dusting and cleaning surfaces, we have it in it's original form for cleaning stainless steel, and we put it in buckets of hot water for mopping floors.  We will even spray it lightly on the carpets before vacuuming.  The great thing about it is that it smells divine, and as soon as it's cleaned out all the nasties it brings in good luck.  It's combination of Asian grasses is designed to bring luck and prosperity.  Chinese Floor Wash is available from Kiwi Mojo...  We believe in this product so much that we use it ourselves: we make it right here, with a lot of prayer.

If you don't have the money to purchase products or herbs, another option is to head right to your pantry, pour a handful of salt into a bucket and get to cleaning...  If you have a lemon tree add a couple of lemons as well, and your house will smell fresh.   Just remember that while you're cleaning you need to be focused on the cleansing...  You need to get that mess out, and you need to be praying.  A great prayer is to recite while you're cleaning is the 51st Psalm.  You can create your own prayer, or even a song.  Just get in there, stay focused, use your force, build up a sweet and you'll find your home spiritually clean and happy.

Remember if there is something you want me to write about, I'll be happy to do so, just leave a comment and I'll get right back to you.

Lape Bondye avek nou,

Houngan Liam

Spiritual Baths... What?

Cleansing Bath on the Point of Milocan

Ayibobo la Sosyete!

One of the most common ways in which a Houngan or Mambo (a Preist or Priestess) of Vodou will perform treatments, healings, clear away ill luck, bring good luck, or perform many other works of magic will be through the performance of spiritual baths.  These baths are so second nature to us, that sometimes we forget that they are new to other people.  What we take for everyday knowledge is in fact not something that is that well known down here at the bottom of the world.  So, although we already have a page on the website which talks a little about spiritual baths, I thought it might be better to get into some of the practicalities of the bath, the hows and whys, so that those who are hearing about this form of magic for the first time can get some idea of what to expect.
I guess the place to begin is to explain what a bath is.  A bath is a mixture of herbs, waters, perfumes, colognes, flowers, fruits, and other items that are brought together to be administered to achieve a goal.  The goal of the bath may be cleansing, or the goal might be to bring luck, it might be to instill confidence, strength, or to wash away emotional issues, such as comittment phobias, it can be to bring love, or to help with a current love life situation, or it can be for healing.  There are other purposes as well, but this is a simple introduction.  Each bath is made from appropriate ingredients, sometimes recipes have been passed down through the Vodou family for generations.  We are lucky at Hounfo Racine Deesse Dereyale to have inherited many recipies from our spiritual mothers that have been used for Vodou for well over 200 years, and these recipes are still powerful and work well to achieve the end.

Contrary to the name though, a bath might not always be liquid.  There are two main kinds of baths.  The first is "dry baths" or those that do not involve water or liquid, but instead are made by using dry ingredients.  These may include putting certain ingredients, such as coins, various cuts of meat and other ingrediants into a brown paper bag and rubbing this over the body, there are baths where individual fruits are rubbed up the body starting at the feet and ending at the head, baths that involve various kinds of nuts and items such as toasted corn, and many others.  There are of course the baths made of waters and colognes, which are the "wet" baths.  Wet baths are the ones which will contain colognes, perfumes, alcohols, the juices of various fruits, often times various herbs, and oils.  These are administered over the body, however most do not require the recipient to be naked.  They are generally welcome to wear some light coloured clothing while the bath is administered.  They then remove those clothes, allow themselves to air dry and then dress in fresh new clothes of an appropriate colour.  There are exceptions to this rule, but they would be discussed in advance.
So, what can you expect when you come for a bath?  No matter what the bath is for, generally we will begin with some kind of ceremony.  A veve [ritual drawing to invoke the lwa] will be drawn on the floor, and opening prayers will be sung.  The Houngan or Mambo that is running the ceremony will welcome certain lwa, and then the bath itself will be created.  in some circumstances, such as if the Houngan or Mambo is coming to you, this will have been done in advance and the Priest will just bring the required bath that they have already made with them.  During the ceremony itself the bath will be created, with the various ingredients being added and mixed together.  This can sometimes take some time, as certain numbers of songs for various spirits must be sung to ensure that the bath has what we call "heat" or "fos" which is another word for spiritual power.  The herbs are crushed by hand, and waters and perfumes are added, altough some may have been partially prepared if the ingredients need to sit.  Typically we will ensure that the bath is warm as there is no need to take a cold bath.

Once the bath is prepared, the recipients of the bath will generally be seated outdoors weather permitting, in a private area.  The Houngan or Mambo administering the bath will then come with the bath mixture and say various prayers.  They will then administer the bath.  There are times when it is best that the lwa [spirits that we serve in Haitian Vodou] administer the bath themselves.  When this is required the lwa will possess the Houngan or Mambo and will then perform the bath.

Healing Bath on the Point of Erzulie Freda

So how is a bath administered?

Very few Vodou baths actually involve soaking in a tub.  You may be standing or sitting in a chair, and using a large white enamel cup, we will pour the bath over you, either begining at your head or shoulders, and going down to your feet, or beginning at your feet and moving up to your head.  The bath will be administered with a great deal of prayer and singing typically, and in some cases you may be given bunches of herbs to scrup with, or in the case of a dry bath, you may need to rub these into your body.  You will most likely to asked to focus on something particular while the bath is being administered as well.

When the bath is done, you will generally be shown to a private area where you can undress.  We then encourage you to air dry if this has been a "wet bath" before putting on the fresh new clothes.  There may be other instructions, but the Houngan or Mambo will give these out according to the bath.

Generally we will end the ceremony when you return with more singing.  Then the remains of the bath are collected up into a bag.

What happens with the remains?

This is very important.  In some cases, such as cleansing baths, you will be instructed to take the remains to a certain location and dispose of them in a certain way, other baths may require disposal in any number of ways, at a river, a crossroads, the beach, a forested area, or even burying in your back or front yard.  Sometimes the Houngan will dispose of the bath for you, but sometimes you must do it yourself to take full advantage of the bath.

What if I can't come to a ceremony?

Some Houngan and Mambo will prepare baths for you that you can take yourself at home.  These are bottled and sent to you wth instructions on exactly how to take the bath, how to dispose of the remains, and any other instructions that might be relevant.  These baths are very good, although not as good as receiving the baths in person from a Houngan or Mambo.  If you are in a situation where you would like to take a bath, but can't be present, then please let us know and we can discuss the options with you.

Some baths, such as cleansing baths, should be taken regularly.  For example, some people take a cleansing bath every month, or even more often, a Houngan or Mambo may teach you a recipe for this if you are a member of their house, or you can purchase regular cleansing baths from them.  Just remember that some baths require follow up baths, so a cleansing bath should always be followed up with the luck bath, to fill the areas you have cleaned out with luck.

Baths are a great way to maintain our spiritual and physical health, but, like our general physical health, they are not one off events.  A single cleansing bath is not going to keep you clean forever, because we are living being, interacting with the world.  A single luck bath won't bring luck forever, because we collect ill luck from our environment.  In Vodou we combat this with our annual Christmas Baths.  Vodouwizan typically gather together on Christmas Day to undergo a series of cleansing baths that wash away all hindrance from the year gone.  Every ill thought, every negative emotion directed at us consciously or unconsciously, every negative experience, every bad thought, we wash them away, preparing for the new year.  On the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th we typically get together for our annual good luck baths which sets us up for a year of success.  Of course, according to our encounters in life we would top these up ... if I've worked with a particularly negative client, or if my husband has had an argument with his boss, then a quick cleansing bath might be in order, followed by a simple 3 or 7 ingredient luck bath ... these top ups, like going to the doctor when you feel a cough coming, keep us spiritually happy and well and keep things running smoothly in our lives. 

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us in the comments.


Lape Bondye avek nou
Houngan Liam