Finding Our Rituals: Smudge Sticks

First two images by Sara Magnolia

Whether you realize it or not, we all have little rituals that we bring into our lives all the time. They may be big (think ceremony and tradition around weddings for example), or they may be small (like reading for a few minutes before bed).

A ritual doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be the morning cup of coffee you have paired with a few moments of total silence before your day kicks off. It can be a yoga practice or meditation. The point is that rituals are little practices that we assign meaning to in our lives. The value in them is the definition you give them.

Does yoga make you feel centered and grounded and connected to your body? If that’s the meaning you give it, then that is exactly what it does! If yoga isn’t your thing, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have ways to ground yourself, it just means that it’s not your way to do it.

Rituals are a way to inject a bit of heart and emotion into the things we are doing, and they allow us to feel more deeply connected to the areas of life and ourselves that we wish to focus on or improve in some way.

One ritual I love is the practice of smudging, or burning sage. If you’re not familiar, it’s an ancient practice and ritual that involves burning dried sage to clear negative energy in a space. The word ‘sage’ itself means ‘to heal’.

Spiritually speaking, the ritual of burning sage allows whoever is burning it to set the intention of ridding themselves and their space of all negativity and toxicity. Think of it like clearing the slate for more positivity to enter your space.

When you burn it, simply light the end of a dried bundle of sage and let it smolder. Walk around the room in your house you want to clear or go room to room. As you walk around, I like to set intentions for positivity.

I also love to give smudge sticks as little gifts. You can buy dried sage online, or even find it at Whole Foods. I take the bundle, add other fresh leaves and flowers, and secure it with some twine. These make for great housewarming gifts!

And if you aren’t ready to burn your sage just yet, try leaving a couple bundles out on display in a dish or on a tray. They look beautiful on top of a table or styled on a shelf.

Let me know what rituals you have, and if you try gifting smudge sticks.

Xx
Jo