Are You Cleansing Your Energy? 3 Different Smoke Cleansing Methods

Do you cleanse by smoke? It’s a ritual I partake in almost daily. Between burning intentional incense and palo santo or sage, I constantly find a way to clear out stagnant energy around me.

Sometimes, I feel particularly heavy after being outside and I’ll smudge myself with sage to completely remove negative energies. I love to burn palo santo when cleansing my altar space; it smells so good.

Incense, sage, and palo santo all have different scents while burning. Incense, available in stick or cone form, is available in the most scents — though Frankincense & myrrh, and nag champa are the more traditional scents that are great for spiritual cleansing and/or work.

Did you know that in addition to emitting different scents, there are also different times to burn incense, sage, and palo santo?

When Should You …

Burn Sage: when you’re looking to completely cleanse a space. This is particularly useful when you’re in a new environment, or after a group of people have been in your home (or even a specific person who had a heavy/negative energy). State your intention for lighting the sage stick and speak it as you cleanse the area. Be sure to address all portal areas of the home: closet, doors, windows, etc.

Burn Palo Santo: while engaging in more spiritually intentioned work. Meaning, “holy wood,” palo santo is sourced from Ecuador and has the ability to add positive energy to your space, whereas sage knocks out all negative energy. Palo santo removed negative energy but brings in the good as well. Set intention when burning your palo santo as well. This is nice for ritual work, moon work, etc.

Burn Incense: when looking to create a specific vibe. There is a variety of incense to select from, depending on the feeling you want to cultivate. Sandalwood or lavender to relax, lotus or nag champa for meditation … Or choose something that appeals to you for use while taking a bath, reading, etc.! Incense is wonderful and there are sooo many options.

I love working with fire and watching the swirl of the smoke. While smoke cleansing, you’re impacting the environment of your space and creating your own vibe. It can be such a therapeutic process.
Burning incense, sage and palo santo have become rituals to me. And we might as well throw burning candles in there too! Though not a form of cleansing, candles are really just a vibe of their own.

All photography captured by me. All rights reserved.

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