How to smudge your house.

What smudging a house means

Carrying smoke through a house is one of the most widely shared gestures in the world. In English it is called smudging, a word taken from the smoke ceremonies of Indigenous nations of North America, where white sage, sweetgrass and cedar invite the ancestors. In Mexico and the Andes, people sahumar the house with copal, palo santo and pericón. In Brazil, defumação draws on several sources: church incense, the smoke of Indigenous peoples, the terreiros of Umbanda, where it opens the ceremonies. In the Alps and in Bavaria, house and stable are smoked during the twelve nights of winter, the Rauhnächte. In South Africa, the Sangoma burn imphepho to call the amadlozi, the ancestors.

Each tradition says in its own words what the smoke does: to bless, to protect, to clear what weighs. Where the word comes from: smudging, its meaning and its origins.

The best herbs for smudging

The ones we carry, and what each brings to the smoke:

• White sage, Salvia apiana, the sage of the smudge stick. It comes from California, where it is sacred to Indigenous nations and where wild harvesting for the trade is exhausting it. Ours grows in the Himalayan foothills, near Rishikesh.
• Palo santo, Bursera graveolens, the holy wood of the dry forests of Ecuador, certified harvest. A stick you light as it is; its smoke smells of wood and lemon. In our House we say it makes any space, any moment, any being sacred, and brings light and warmth in an instant.
• Imphepho, Helichrysum odoratissimum, an everlasting flower of South Africa, burned as a smudging incense to open a ceremonial space. The Sangoma burn it to call the ancestors.
• Mexican tarragon "Yauhtli", Tagetes lucida, wild-harvested near Puebla. In Mexico it is still burned on the home altar, and on the eve of Saint Michael, crosses of it are hung on the doors. Its smoke smells of anise.
• Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, held to be a herb of protection from China to the Celts; in France it is the herb of Saint John's Eve.
• Lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, the plant of monastery gardens: lightly burned, it gives a soft smoke.
• Rose: dried petals, scattered with the other herbs on the charcoal.
• Agua de Florida, the limpia water, born in New York in 1808. It is never burned: it is misted, or a few drops in your hands, one deep breath, then passed around you. In our House it is "the water that awakens": it clears the field in an instant and opens the space.

How to smudge your house, step by step

With a window cracked open, light the tip of the stick, or a charcoal disc in a heat-proof dish. Blow out the flame and let the embers smoke. Walk through each room, from the corners toward the door, a dish held underneath for the ash. Loose herbs go on the charcoal a pinch at a time. At the end, press the embers into sand or earth until they are cold, and air the house.

What to say while smudging your house

At home, many people simply say, in a low voice and room after room, what they wish for the place: thanks for what it has sheltered, a wish for those who live in it.

When to smudge your house

When you move into a new home, at the change of season, after a heavy time, at the turn of the year. In the Alps, it is the twelve nights between Christmas and Epiphany; in Mexico, the eve of Saint Michael; in the Andes, August, the month of the Pachamama.

Precautions

Smoke irritates the airways. A window open while you smudge, then a long draught of air. No smoke in the room of a baby or a young child; animals leave the room, birds above all. With asthma, or an allergy to the daisy family (mugwort, imphepho), refrain or smudge outdoors. The embers stay watched until they are out, away from curtains.