Tag: Smoke

The Witches Magick for Jan. 1st – To Conjure A Vision With Fire

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The Witches Magick for January 1st

To Conjure A Vision With Fire

To work this spell, gather some apple peel, dried leaves of chrysanthemum, and rosemary. You’ll also need one white feather. Cast the peel, chrysanthemum leaves, and rosemary into the flames and say:

“Life and death,

Fire’s breath,

Flames crackle and flare,

Let me see

A face, a name, or sign upon the air.

Smoke gray, smoke white,

Let me see my future this night.”

With the feather, fan the smoke gently, letting it curl about you. Gaze at the fire and smoke for as long as you wish, looking for signs. Leave the fire to burn for the rest of the evening. As a sign of gratitude, leave the feather before the hearth or on the fireplace mantel.

The Air Witch & Smudging Ceremonies

The Air Witch & Smudging Ceremonies

 

Smudging involves burning herbs and using the herbal smoke to cleanse and bless areas or people. It is a common and sacred practice.

Native Americans make use of three primary herbs for smudging: white sage, cedar, and sweet grass. The sage removes negative influences, the cedar cleanses the area, and the sweet grass calls in positive influences. The prayers said during the ceremony are lifted to the gods upon the smoke.

To smudge, place sand or salt in the bottom of a fireproof dish. If you are using a smudging wand, you can carry this dish beneath it to catch any hot ashes. If you are using a dried, crumbled herbal mixture, light a charcoal tablet and place it in the center of the bed of sand. Sprinkle the herbs over the charcoal as you move clockwise from area to area.

As you moved around the space wafting the smoke, say aloud, “Only love and light may dwell here. All other vibrations must leave this house {person, etc.}.” You may direct the smoke into corners and crevices with a feather, a fan, your breath, or your hand. When you have smudged the whole area, sweep the negative vibrations out the door and call in the positive vibrations that you want. Try something along the lines of, “Be gone, worry, pain, misery, and strife! Welcome, healing comfort, love and light!”

 

Smudging Yourself

Smudging Yourself

Smudging yourself is an especially good idea if you’ve been around someone who is ill, depressed, fearful, angry or generally emotionally unbalanced. Smudging helps you achieve a calm state to prepare you to meditate or just face your day. If you are experiencing an unusual amount of stress, daily smudging can be beneficial.

Smudging yourself is easy. If you’re using a smudge stick, light the stick in a candle flame. Using a feather or your hand, gently fan the smoke onto your body, starting at the top of the body and moving downward. (Although a feather isn’t required for smudging, using a feather that one of your bird friends has offered up to you can also encourage the Air Element to assist you in your cleansing ritual. Or, if you have a pretty fan, that can work, too.) Get the back of your body as best you can (it is often easier to use a smudge pot and loose herbs for this). When you’re finished with your outer skin, inhale a little of the smoke (just a little!) to purify your insides.

If you’re using a smudge pot and loose herbs, light the herbs (using self-lighting charcoal) until they are smoking well. This is best done outdoors in an open space. Put the smudge pot on the ground and stand over it with your legs spread and feet on either side. Weave back and forth in the smoke until you have been thoroughtly cleansed. Clothing is optional for this approach and smudging in the nude(skyclad) is recommended for a more thorough cleansing. Again, when you’re done, inhale a little of the smoke to purify your insides. People often feel more relaxed lighter and brighter after smudging.

Basic Sage Cleansing

Basic Sage Cleansing

Items You Will Need:

  • Sage,
  • Feather (Optional),
  • Charcoal Disc.

The Spell:

Before you start, close all of your windows and doors.

Start by lighting up your charcoal disc.   Wait until it turns white (that’s when you know it’s ready to start smudging!   Drop some slightly crushed Sage on it and wait for it to start smoking.   When it starts smoking, go to each room and fill the room with the smoke.   While you are filling the rooms, you can inhale a small amount of the smoke to cleanse yourself.

As you step into each room and with a commanding voice chant the following:

I cleanse this room of all negativity!   Only love and light may enter!

Pay attention to the smoke, because when it turns black it means that in that room, there is that certain negativity that you wish to dispose of.   When you went through all the rooms, return to the room where the smoke turned black and re-do this, until the smoke has turned back to grey!

Making the Tree a Place of Power

Outdoors, your tree will be naturally cleansed and empowered by the weather and if some of the items get battered, don’t worry, However, you may wish initially to cleanse and empower the tree and any artifacts on it at the first full moon after it has been created. You can do this by smudging round the tree with a smudge stick made of a bundle of tied and dried herb sticks. The following is the basic technique for doing this:

  • Light one end of the smudge stick and let the flames die down, then gently blow on the end until it glows red and you have a stream of smoke. You can use your other hand to fan the smoke.  Smudge sticks are generally held in your power hand.
  • If indoors, be careful about sparks and ventilate the room. Also try to stand where you can see the moon or at least the sky through the window. Indoors, you can substitute a sage or pine incense stick if you wish.
  • To cleanse and empower the tree, stand facing the tree at about five paces distance. Raise your smudge stick upwards to the sky and downwards to the earth.
  • Walk nine times clockwise round the tree, making alternative clockwise and anticlockwise spirals of smoke, high and low, stamping your feet as you move and chant.
  • Relax and enjoy the experience. Let your feet carry you, often in a spontaneous spiralling step movement, as you connect with earth energies and your hand weaves smoke patterns. Work barefoot if possible as you have sensitive energy centers or chakras in the soles of your feet.
  • Say continuously until you have made nine circuits:

Empowering tree, be for me, strength and healing. Keep away harm, guard what is dear, and keep love near.

  • You can repeat this ritual whenever you add something new to the tree or before using it as the focus for a personal spell or chant. Re-empower every third full moon.

Equipment You Will Need for Smudging

A Smudging Fan

The purpose of a fan is to spread and direct the smoke from a smudge stick or bowl of herbs around the person, object or place to be cleansed. If you prefer, you can use your hand or a leaf brush made, for example, of pine needles. Use your hand only if you are writing in smoke with your stick.

Feathers and wing fans are traditional and are believed to assist in cleansing the human aura or psychic energy field as well as adding the qualities of the particular bird to the magick.

You can buy feather fans or use a single large feather you have bought or found.

Bowls

For burning pre-dried herbs without charcoal you need a heatproof dish as the heat is very fierce. It should be flat enough to allow the air to circulate. You can put a layer of sand or dry soil in the bottom as insulation. In the Native North American Indian tradition as abalone shell is used. This has natural perforations to let out the heat and ensure that the air is distributed evenly all around to give a regular streams of smoke. Shells are symbolic of the Mother Goddess.

A popular smudging bowl to use is ceramic, broad and flat with a shallow rim and wide lip that remains cool even when herbs are heated and broad feet so that it can be placed on a table or on the floor without the risk of scorching. You could make your own bowl, thus endowing it with your personal energies.

You also need a deep bowl for sand or earth in which you can extinguish smudge sticks when you want to end a ritual and they have not gone out naturally. You can also catch the ash or any sparks from your smudge stick in the bowl. Some people extinguish a smudge stick by tapping it on the edge of the bowl. Water is not used, except in an emergency.