Incense Magick (22 page)

11

Using
Combustible Incense

C
ombustible incense offers flexibility, in most cases, that can't be found in the world of non-combustibles. The ability to take incense (ready for use) with you just by grabbing a cone or stick is a technological advancement beyond the paraphernalia and materials needed for many types of non-combustible incense. Combustible incense is the choice of the modern Pagan on the go!

Smudging

The oldest form of combustible incense is also the simplest. “Smudging” refers to the use of smoldering bundles of dried herbs to scent both spaces and objects. Smudging is a tradition among numerous indigenous people in North America and is becoming more common every year within many Pagan circles. Bundles of sweet grass are often braided together to make large “smudge sticks.” Dried bundles of white sage are also commonly used.

Smudging is a way to use the pure power of fragrant smoke to cleanse and purify. Smudging bundles are sometimes held in the hand or, more frequently, the smoldering herbs are held in a special bowl or shell. This is an advantageous approach since bundles of herbs can come apart during use and scatter burning material. As with any kind of incense burner or censer, you need to handle the bowl or shell with care. Although smudging bundles tend to burn with less heat than charcoal tablets or large incense cones, the bowl can still get hot enough to burn you. If you choose to hold the bundle in your hand, still keep a bowl or shell handy to catch ashes. It's also handy if you unexpectedly need to put the smudging bundle aside momentarily.

Smudging is often carried out with the aid of a feather as well. A large feather is a great tool for moving smoke to a specific place. Since one of the primary goals of smudging is cleansing, the smoke may need some help to reach every place it needs to go. Gently fanning or drawing the smoke with a feather will allow the smoke to reach every nook and cranny (a process called “incense sweeping,” which is discussed in chapter
6
). Smoke can be similarly moved with your hands, although feathers are more adept at the process since they were created to direct the flow of air.

In addition to cleansing people and open spaces, smudging herbs are also used to cleanse doorways and windows by moving the herbs around the entire outline of the opening. For example, to smudge a doorway you might begin with the bowl at the bottom of the doorway and then raise the bowl to trace the entire outline of the door, ending where you began.

People can be smudged in a very similar way if the need for cleansing is great. Beginning at the feet, moving to the head, and then back to the feet on the other side of the body is very effective. More commonly, the bowl is offered to a person who uses the smoke much like water. As the person doing the smudging (the “smudger” as we sometimes laughingly say) holds the bowl or moves it around the head of the person, she can reach into the smoke and draw it off with a feather or her hands. The smoke can be drawn towards the top of the head and down the length of the body. This process is not only an external one. The person being smudged is also offered the smoke as a way of shifting into a more magickal state of mind as well as releasing accumulated negative energies.

In many traditions, smudging goes beyond simply touching the smoke to the face and head or even feet. Some call for smoke to be drawn to the mouth, eyes, and ears to purify the entire self. The smoke draws away negative energies—not merely external negative energies that have been accumulated but also the negative energies from our own thoughts and the words that have come through our mouths. Personally, I see this as a symbolic gesture, much like holding an incense burner to your ear in order to “listen” to the incense. Smudging your ears and mouth is a symbolic release of the undesirable things you've heard or said. You are magickally washing your mouth out with soap is, I suppose, one way to look at it.

Entire rooms or even buildings can be smudged as well, although that can be a very time-consuming process. A room that is regularly smudged can be cleansed in just a few moments by carrying the smoldering herbs around the room. A room in serious need of cleansing will require much more work. The smoke needs to reach both the floor and the ceiling, along with every corner and turn in the room. As you might guess, it could take an hour or more to smudge a room with a large amount of negative energy (such as a place where you had repeated arguments or where an act of violence took place). Smudging an entire building might require multiple sessions to thoroughly cleanse each room and entry.

Smudging is often done as a first cleansing step before ritual magick. Like all incense, smudging is an excellent first step in separating sacred space from the ordinary world. Not only does smudging help to remove the negative energies and shift the mindset of those participating, it can also serve as a sort of magickal “announcement” that the space is about to be enchanted. Smudging doesn't have to mean that, but it often does. The fragrant smoke tells all beings, both physical and spiritual, that a change has been made. It is a sort of preliminary invitation to deities and other beings beyond the physical plane. I like to think of it as turning on a “magickal porch light,” letting the world know that I am here and welcome to visitors.

Many different plants can be used in smudging, but sage and sweet grass are the most commonly used. In many Native American traditions, smudging with sage is seen as a process of cleansing and purification. This may be followed with smudging using sweet grass, which is sometimes seen as a plant that will draw positive energy. Other Native traditions see both sage and sweet grass as purifying plants.

Many different companies offer smudging bundles, but you can also make your own very easily. Although sweet grass and white sage are the most traditional, a wide range of herbs can be used. A bundle of dried rosemary is a powerfully fragrant way to smudge. Any herb that dries well on the stem might be a candidate for smudging. Flowers aren't always the best choice, but the foliage from the same plant might be. Lavender flowers, for example, are pretty thin on their stems and you would need heaps of them to make a bundle. On the other hand, a bundle of lavender stems covered with leaves can work well. You can also mix stems with leaves and stems with flowers. You don't need to limit yourself to a single kind of herb in a bundle either.

If you have several good candidates, try braiding them together. The herbs should be gathered while fresh and green, then bundled or braided before drying. You may need to tie the bundles with string at both the top and bottom. Many herbs are wrapped with string from top to bottom to keep them tightly bound while in use. The string will burn as the herbs smolder, so it's a good way to help your herbs stay together throughout the process. Harvest McCampbell, the author of
The Sacred Smoke
, recommends using only 100 percent cotton string to avoid possible toxins released from synthetic string. I completely agree with her. McCampbell also recommends that you allow material gathered for smudging to wilt for a few hours before bundling, but make certain to tie up the bundles before the material dries or becomes brittle.

Rituals

Rituals using smudging techniques are surely as old as the first shamans in the earliest days of humanity—perhaps even earlier than that. While it is true that all ritual connects the modern practitioner to the ancient ones, smudging rituals (much like the use of a bale fire) seem to bring that connection into sharper focus. For many, smudging is simply a part of every ritual performed.

Home Cleansing

Even the happiest magickal household can accumulate negative energies. Much like a clean floor gathers dirt from the shoes of those who walk across it, any home can suffer from a buildup of negative energy simply from the forces of daily living and the various visitors that enter. This ritual is an excellent way to purge those energies with the cleansing power of incense. You can use it as often as you'd like, but I'd recommend it (or a similar ritual) at least once a year as a sort of magickal “spring cleaning.” If you live in a multi-family dwelling (like a duplex or apartment building), you should limit the ritual to the areas that are yours alone unless your neighbors consent to it. You don't want any group forcing their beliefs on you, so it's important to offer that respect to the non-magickal community.

For this ritual, you will need a large smudging bundle or braid and a large shell, dish, or censer (preferably with a handle). If nothing else is available, an old skillet might be a good choice. For best results, try to perform the ritual at a time of pleasant weather. If possible, open as many windows and doors in the home before you begin.

Start the ritual outdoors if at all possible. Carefully light the smudging bundle and place it in your shell or censer. Some bundles will smolder in the censer without a problem, but if you notice the bundle going out, you can lift it from the non-burning end and turn it or hold it for a few moments and it will likely resume burning. If the bundle ever goes out, it can be easily re-lit; just remember to keep matches or a lighter handy during the ritual.

Begin with an invocation of the powers or deities of your path. You can modify this rather generic phrasing to suite your own path or beliefs:

Great Goddess, Mother of us all,
Cleanse and purify my/our home.
Great God, Father and guardian,
Dispel all the unwanted energies
that dwell within.

If the building is not too large, circle it entirely while holding the shell or censer. You can use the invocation as a chant if you wish, or simply state it once before you begin. After completing the circle around the outside, enter the home through the main entrance. Before you pass through the doorway, smudge the entire opening.

How much time and effort you put into this smudging depends on how badly the home needs cleansing and how much time you have to devote. If the home is in need of deep cleansing, you should smudge every doorway and window, including closets and small bathroom windows. Every corner of each room and the length of each wall is also suggested for particularly needful rooms.

As you smudge each location, you can use a spoken invocation (such as “negative forces be gone”)
in conjunction with visualization, or you can silently use visualization alone. First, visualize the energies in the home. As you focus, you will be able to “see” in your mind's eye the energies in the building. Some will be energies that you've worked hard to accumulate (such as energies of blessing, luck, or others that benefit you and the people in your home). Other energies will be undesirable, such as those of doubt, despair, and anger. Cleansing can often clear out both the desirable and undesirable energies indiscriminately, but careful control of the process through visualization can help keep the energy you want and purge the rest.

As you move through the home with your censer, watch the path of the smoke. As the smoke nears energy, good or ill, the energy will move away. For undesirable energy, that's perfect. For energy you want to keep, either avoid smudging that area or, better yet, control the cleansing through visualization. As smoke nears a positive energy, use your own will to create an opening in the smoke that allows it to bypass the energy. In this way, you can keep what you want and dispel the rest.

As you smudge doorways and windows, you can use the smoke to create a magickal barrier to at least temporarily block any outside energies from coming through. This is a good step as you smudge each area. By “sealing” the door in this way, you can stop the dispelled energies from escaping back to any area you've already cleansed. Because of this, it's a good idea to leave one window or doorway until the rest of the room is cleansed. That gives an easy exit for the energies that you force out. Sometimes, this isn't an option (such as in windowless rooms), but you can still use tiny exits such as sink drains and holes for electrical outlets. The layout of some homes might leave you no choice but to go to the most closed room first and force the energies out one room at a time. For this same reason, if you choose to smudge closets you may want to make them the first stop in each room so that the undesired energy can be “flushed out” into the main room and not trapped beyond the smudged closet door.

Once every room and space has been smudged, the ritual can be completed by circling the outside one final time. A simple chant, such as “Bless this home,” can be added to help create a temporary barrier against outside energies. Naturally, such a simple cleansing ritual can't serve in the place of a proper protection spell, but at least it can give you a clean slate. Negative energies will still accumulate, but periodic smudgings can help keep your space free of significant unwanted energies.

Personal Purification

The daily acts of living can cause us to accumulate negative energies, just as objects can accumulate them. Simply walking in a crowd, dealing with an angry person, or performing an unpleasant task can bring us into contact with undesired energies. It is highly refreshing to “wash” these residual energies away through a personal smudging. This ritual can be performed with any style of incense, but I most commonly use it with a smudging bundle. This quick ritual is also a great addition to the conclusion of ritual bathing. If you do this, remember to dry off completely to ensure you don't drip any water that might extinguish the incense or smudging bundle.