March 2012 – myspiritcare.com

Many of you want to know how to perform a cleansing ceremony with the use of burning sage, also known as “smudging.” A smudge stick is a dried and bundled plant. One can also use loose leaves in smudging, but before we get to the particulars of such a ceremony it will help to have an understanding of the origins of this sacred practice and how it will cleanse, heal, and consecrate an energy field, or thing, or space.

The Origins and History of Smudging

People commonly credit smudging as being a Native American practice, but the use of rising smoke in spiritual rituals has been practiced across many cultures for thousands of years. The ancient Hindu texts reveal this was practiced 6,000 years ago with the burning of incense. Smoke purification was performed in Egypt, with the burning of aromatic resins for religious ceremonies. It was practiced in Babylonia, Greece, Rome, Japan, Tibet, China, among the ancient Hebrews, and among indigenous tribal cultures around the world, with the native tribes of North America being only a portion. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, which are an amalgam of pagan beliefs and practices, use incense in religious ceremonies, adapted from the pagan rituals popular when the Christian theocracy was legalized by the pagan-turned-Christian, Roman Emperor Constantine, in 325 AD.

So the use of smoke to purify in a spiritual way is not exclusive to the Native American tradition, although we have them to thank for the wonderful and deeply spiritual practice of burning sage and other sacred plants as a purification practice. This tradition is a very beautiful gift and the most effective method commonly used in spiritual cleansing ceremonies today.

How it Works to Cleanse and Purify

Smudging is an intrinsic part of shamanism, the world’s oldest medicine. Shamans recognize that every form of life on this planet has a spiritual purpose and a sacred consciousness. They know that plants have invaluable healing properties. Human animals, as it turns out, are not the top rung of creation’s ladder even though we think we are because we have big brains and walk on two feet. All beings, whether plant, animal, or mineral are divine and have sacred right to life; all have something to offer to the manifest “other.”

To approach a smudging ritual and to be effective in cleansing away negative energy, one must be reverent of the plant being used and even the energies being cleansed. All energy is divine at its core, whether Light or Dark. Respect for all life is essential to any smudging that you undertake. If you cannot feel reverent about this sacred practice, don’t do it. Find someone who is spiritually qualified and energetically prepared to do it for you.

Although many different plants can be used for smudging, indigenous American tribes consider four plants to be especially sacred: sage, sweetgrass, tobacco, and cedar. Each plant is considered to have a special function and this can vary by tribe and tradition. While sage is used for purification, sweetgrass is used to bring in positive energies, and its smoke is considered to carry prayers to the Creator.

When to Use Smudge

If you are feeling down, negative, stuck, or in a spiritual low place, smudging is an excellent way to change things for the better.

When your house, your property, or any place or space has been exposed to heavy and negative energies, or painful experiences and even illness, they should be cleansed with smudge.
When you move into a new location, it should be smudged to cleanse the psychic imprints of previous occupants.
If you feel the presence of bad energy in your living quarters, or if a solitary room makes you feel bad or uneasy by being in there, it’s time to smudge.
If you want to create a protective barrier against outside negative influences, such as neighborhood issues, it’s time to smudge.
If you want to make your prayers stronger and if you want to feel more connected to Spirit, it’s time to smudge.
If your vehicle has been in a fender-bender or you’ve had a close call in your car, smudge it, inside and out, to remove negative energetic imprints that can attract more negative experiences.
Cleanse second-hand items with smudge to remove psychic imprints of previous owners.
You can consecrate and energetically charge your garden by smudging.
You should smudge to clean yourself and your space before engaging in any psychic contact or spiritual ceremony.
You can smudge anytime just to connect to a state of spiritual clarity and harmony! Remember, you “clear the air” in your life with the help of sacred smoke!

Sacred sage and other wonderful herbs are Earth Mother’s gift, and once you understand how important a tool they are in your own spiritual welfare you will never be without a supply on hand. They are a fundamental part of your spiritual first-aid kit, given by Creation to heal wounds upon the soul.

To read another article and gain more information about how to smudge, please go here.

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For many, holding a job or advancing in a career isn’t rewarding anymore. Climbing the corporate or government-employment ladder comes at too high a price. A fair day’s work is no longer enough. Ever-increasing numbers of employers expect you to give them a piece of your soul.

More employees than not are starting to feel like work slaves. As companies become obsessed with profit at all cost, they leave their people…er, excuse me, “human resources”…at the crushing bottom of the power pyramid. The present culture of corporate greed has resulted in a very unhealthy, bad-energy work dynamic.

The Work Slave Syndrome

You long to be true to yourself while you earn a living, but in today’s job world being a self-realized human being can get you fired. Why? Big business expects you to produce, not engage in self-expression. Dull conformity is demanded. Workers are sought who will not challenge the status quo and who will submit themselves as “slaves” to company bidding.

Employees are told (subliminally or otherwise) that payment for their time is enough and that there is no need to respect them as human beings. This corporate attitude reflects a Scrooge-like, schizophrenic compartmentalization of ethics. It’s pathological thinking and those who practice this are psychopaths. And how does this diseased attitude effect the employees of psychopaths? Well, if they can manage to hold onto their jobs, they get stuck holding the “bad energy bag.”

10 Signs of Corporate Pathology and a Sick Work Environment

So how do you know if the environment you work in is pathological, or sick?

Corporate pathology manifests as greed-for-profit;
There is unwarranted, implied, or exercised control over employees (such as directing personal habits of its employees, snooping into employee private lives, micromanaging in the workplace, etc.);
They continue to take more and give less;
There is a disregard of the human element of their business;
There are dishonest business or employment practices;
Management is impersonal; insincere, treacherous, robotic, or unfair;
The company has uncaring/dehumanizing policies;
There are abusive working conditions or practices, or abuse of the public through subterfuge and
misrepresentations;
The employer has arrogance about having financial power over its employees.

When your job is draining you to death, it is past time to get in touch with who you are as a spiritual being and as a human being. It’s time to remember who you were before you lost yourself in this job. Until such a time you can transition into a better situation, or until the energy in the workplace improves, you can endure by creating an energetic shield around you at the workplace, similar to other protection methods you would use elsewhere.

The techniques given here will help. Because most people must have employment to survive, these tips can save your job and your sanity at the same time! As a bonus, the good energy you create will spread to others around you, helping to turn intolerable work situations into good ones!

11 Steps To Counteract Terrible Energy at Work…and Survive Your Job

Start your day by having a protective Light meditation before you leave for work. You can’t protect yourself against bad energy unless you are willing to put up a good energy shield around yourself, first. As you do this, remember who you really are, besides being somebody’s employee. Remember that jobs are transitory but your identity is eternal. You are eternal consciousness. You are a free agent. No one can own your soul. Remind yourself, “This work day will come to a close. I can get through it and I will do my best to make it a good experience for myself and others, no matter what.” Decide that you will be the good energy that you want around you!
Fill your personal space, whether it is a locker, a desk, a cubicle, an office or even a briefcase (if that’s all you have) with good energy. The following suggestions really work:
Take something to the workplace that is emotionally uplifting to you, that reminds you of good feelings and happy moments. It should be something that inspires you and connects you to yourself, the real person you are when you are not “slaving for the boss.”
When possible, have a potted plant to care for. Plants bring healing, nature energy into an environment. When you feel disturbed, connect to your plant mentally and imagine that its green color fills your aura. Feel its calm acceptance of itself, and you will find yourself getting calmer. The plant is also trapped, tame, and potted: it can’t run and neither can you. It still thrives. There is a profound lesson in this.
When possible, have a desktop water fountain and keep it running when you are at work. This is an excellent energy cleanser!
Fresh flowers at your desk surround you with good energy.
Incandescent lighting (a table top lamp with an incandescent bulb) can offset the draining, depressive and negative energy of fluorescent lighting in the workplace.
Place near you any item from nature: an interesting rock, a fallen robin’s egg, a small piece of driftwood or a seashell, jar of ocean or desert sand, and even a small “meditation garden” that has sea salt mixed with sand.
Sea salt discreetly placed around you is a powerful absorber of negative energy. Dip your fingers in sea salt and rub your hands together when bad energy at work is crowding you, asking the angels to bless and purify you and your surroundings. This serves to charge your aura with renewed strength and repels invasive, unpleasant energies.
A small medicine bag necklace is a wonderful protection and a means to keep you connected to spiritual guides and your own spirit when you are in difficult situations. Get one and reverently wear it.
Stones in your pocket can ward off bad energy and keep you grounded and spiritually centered. Crystals and other rocks are commonly used for this purpose.

You are Not Your Job!

Don’t take your work energy home with you! When you leave for the day…leave it all behind you! When you arrive home, change your clothes. Drink a glass of pure water. Get outside into nature for a few minutes and clear your head. Connect to what is real, and beautiful, and generous, and nurturing: nature!

If it’s been a really terrible day, take a salt bath.

And let it all go-o-o-o-o.

Any time you have to deal with bad energy, this is a lesson for you about the spiritual nature of existence. It is meant to teach you about who you really are and you are being prodded to rise above it by connecting to states of Light and love.

Always remember that your work associates are human beings and eternal, Infinite consciousness, same as you…even when they are not acting their best. Don’t take their behavior personally, because even if you are the target of their bad energy, there is a deep dissatisfaction and misery within them that is causing the problem. Have compassion by not returning negative energy directed at you. Rather than absorbing their projections of dark energy into yourself, silently, mentally radiate Light outward! Where Light is, darkness cannot enter.

At MySpiritCare, I specialize in energy assessment, spiritual insight, and clairvoyant perspective about relationship dynamics. If you need help with a work situation, schedule a reading today. Click the “Buy Now” button on the right and I’ll contact you to set up your reading appointment. I look forward to helping you!