This article is about a spiritual and sensory practice, not a medical treatment or any form of intoxication.
Smoke…
In between the world of spirit and the physical form.
Not quite air
Not quite solid, and
Not quite here or there.
Many ancient traditions have ways of working with plants through ritual smoke, such as burning dried herbs, incense, smudge sticks or pieces of wood and resin.
Using aromatic plant materials in rituals and ceremonies, allowing the rising smoke to accompany our intentions, prayers and dreams. This means smudging or using incense in the surrounding space.
Our intentions for working with sacred smoke are usually for:
Cleansing a space ritually
Centering and clarity
Setting intentions for protection
Marking transitions, such as opening or closing a ritual, session or ceremony
A powerful transition guide
When honored and worked with intentional, sacred smoke can be a guide between worlds, helping us step:
from the doing and into the being
from the busy everyday and into a sacred space
from the sympathetic (“fight or flight”) to the parasympathetic nervous system (“rest and digest”)
from a place of mind into a place of heart
It is such an awesome way, where we can help ourselves step out of the everyday stress & rushing mind into a more open, receptive space (within us) where magic starts to unfold and where we can be present in the moment. The body shifts focus on a sensory level with the scent and thus guides us to arrive at the present moment in the body. This shift, when used with intention can bring us out of one state of being/mind and into another. Letting go of whatever was filling up our system and taking space - and simply “walk into another space”.
Our favorite types of Sacred Smoke
There is so much that can be said about different plants for sacred smoke. Overall we recommend you to start where you are comfortable and with the plants and practices that you feel connected to or most curious about.
Check out our video where we show an example of smudging with a smudge stick.
“smudging” is burning plant material for ritual or aromatic purposes in the surrounding space.
Our four favorite sacred smoke:
Smudge sticks made from dried plants
Incense made from different plants, herbs or tree resins
Burning suitable pieces of aromatic wood or resin as part of a ritual
Smudge sticks & incense
Smudge sticks or incense - we love both!
You can buy pre-made incense and smudge sticks but you can also make your own of the local plants in your area (yah). When we create our smudge sticks we sing prayers & intentions into each knot and binding.
The same goes with incense mixtures.
The recipe for the mixture you can see in the image came to Eva in a drum journey. Depending on the plants, the mixture/stick has a different “flavor” in how you can work with it. For us, some evoke a feeling of freshness, others softness and ease, and others more light or uplifting.
Some incense need to be put on fresh glowing coals from the fire or a disk of burning coal to really produce proper smoke. It is also possible to have a really badass “storm”-lighter to get it fired up.
And please remember: only work with smoke in a well-ventilated area
Consciously working with White Sage and Palo Santo
Many of you are probably familiar with White Sage and Palo Santo. Two awesome, powerful plant allies and amazing for smudging. Truly great - but unfortunately also over-harvested and on the brink of being endangered species.
Even though some native communities still uses sustainable methods to harvest and utilize the plants, most of what you can buy is not coming from these sources. Therefore it is a good idea to buy these plants from a source that actually cares about the harvesting and supports the indigenous communities who works deeply with these plants. Or even better - switch to local plants:
Utilizing local plants
We recommend using local plants from your area and working with them. That not only connects you deeper to your ancestral land and the nature right outside your doorstep (yah) but also tend to be more sustainable, with less over-harvested plants. There are so many amazing plants growing in ditches and along roads that are great for Smoke Medicine.
What plants to we suggest to start with?
In our area (Denmark) a great example of this is Mugwort (Gråbynke) growing incredible abundance all over the place. You can see it with seeds on in the following image.
Mugwort has a long history of traditional and ritual use in different parts of the world. It is associated in some European traditions with the moon, seasonal rituals and feminine symbolism. Growing wild on rural areas it is seen by many as a weed, but it’s spirit can lift us up to higher realms.
You can harvest mugwort a great portion of the year, but for smudge sticks it is best around midsummer when the plant is super potent.
More plants you can work with in smudge sticks or as incense mixtures:
Mugwort (Gråbynke) as smudgesticks, incense
Tansy (Rejnfan/Regnfang) as smudgesticks or incense
Juniper (Enebær) by burning the wood or the berries as incense
Sprout or Pine resin (for incense on a coal)
What, how?
So how do you actually smudge with a smudge stick or incense?
Well, we decided to make a small video for you guys and gaias showing one possibility to inspire you further with Sacred Smoke Medicine. It’s also a little recap. Check it out higher up in the blog.
Holy pipe
If you have ever been to ceremonies you probably remember the strong smell of tobacco and the sacred pipes it is burned in. Tobacco has been used as a sacred medicine by indigenous people for millennials and there is a good reason for that:
Tobacco is a powerful spirit and a great plant ally for ceremonial work, but as we can see mainly the misuse of tobacco in the western world - it is clearly not an easy plant to master as many fall into addiction. Tobacco plants absorb heavy metals from the soil, and conventional tobacco cultivation involves substantial pesticide use. Even the purest smoke from organically grown tobacco contains - like many other plants - toxic substances.
That is something very different from how tobacco is understood and approached as a sacred plant within certain ceremonial traditions.
And if you observe a master working with a sacred pipe closely, you may notice a small but significant difference:
It’s ritual use does not involve inhalation
We hope this post inspires you to dive deeper into sacred smoke.
You are always welcome to contact us if you have any questions.
We wish you a loving, nourishing winter time <3