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
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