Burn Sage Cleansing Rituals 101 Guide | World of Beauty

The mysterious spiritual practice to cleanse energy with a smokey ritual of smudging with sage ignites wonder on how to properly burn sage and why is this ancient etheric art form so beneficial to incorporate into the lives of humanity to embrace more positivity and balance. Documentary Beauty filmed an exclusive interview with spiritual coach shaman Alfonso Montiel at the Crystals Garden in downtown NYC for the World of Beauty docuseries to create a 101 guide on how to use sage and beyond.

DOCUMENTARY BEAUTY EXCLUSIVE	WORLD OF BEAUTY
DESTINATION	Crystals Garden in New York City
CREATIVE DIRECTOR	Kayla MiChele
SPIRITUAL COACH	Alfonso Montiel
PHOTO JOURNALIST	Lori Patrick

How to use sage 101 – Sage yourself and home smudge rituals and benefits taught by a spiritual coach shaman

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION

Hello and welcome to the Crystals Garden, right in the heart of the East Village in New York City. My name is Alfonso Montiel, a spiritual coach, and today we’re going to talk about the magical world of sage. It’s a beautiful thing that we have these tools to have that impact in our lives with positive, great results and therefore having that connection with the spirit world. Where you are in a subtle way, but gradually indicating your condition of being in total balance and bliss wherever you go.

History of sage

It’s been known since the early 1800’s, more or less, Indian Native Americans use sage for sacred purposes to bless the land and to bless the soul, in places such as the west side of the United States and the north part of Mexico.

The proper way to burn sage

I feel that the easiest way to burn sage from the bundle itself… Well, there’s different ways. One, you could untwine the upper part, maybe all the way to the middle, and then with a lighter, just light up the tip and work your way in. The amount of fire that you’re going to apply is going to release the amount of smoke that you want. But I find that to be a little less of a kick.

The best way to burn sage

I feel that when I separate the leaves and put them in a container, whether this may be in an ashtray or something that doesn’t pick up fire, or a shell, it can have a greater boost of smoke. So for example, using some loose ends of the leaves. You can put them all loosened up in a bag, ready to light up. Just use a little mini torch lighter, it makes it easier and faster, and then just apply fire around. This will actually allow the plant to pick up fire much faster. And this could give you a great amount of smoke, versus doing it through the bundle.

Set intentions with smudge prayers using the clockwise and counterclockwise method

By putting the intention, which is the most important part, the intention can have greater impact, such as, if you want more abundance into your life, just connect with the plant itself and allow the plant to tap into your subconscious and do that together with you.

Depending on what it is that you want to sage, you can go and do your ritual. A lot of people, they can use different methods. I personally use the clockwise and counterclockwise method, which is saging counterclockwise first to remove any stagnant energy from the person. And then, as it goes clockwise, I will put intention and connect with the sage to infuse that energy so it can bring protection and abundance into the person. But whichever way calls you, the plant is open to work with you.

How to smudge yourself with sage

Energetically for a person it will be a good idea to smudge or sage yourself starting from the bottom up. So I will start from the base of the spine, working my way up in circles. And as I mentioned before, I will apply the same method about doing the counterclockwise, and then the clockwise. So it will be something like motions in circles and spiraling up, and then just visualizing with intention that you’re going through each and every chakra all the way to the crown and beyond. Why not? And then you come back again to the bottom of the spine at the first chakra. And then you do it clockwise as you go up, you take a deep breath, make sure you don’t breathe too much of the smoke, and then just work yourself up. And then you have the intention, and that could be a beautiful way of doing for yourself.

Sage people and pets

You can also do it to your loving pets, your cat or your dog, if you’re willing to do so. Or the person that you live with, which is very important. We all share the same energy in the space, so that could also contribute to having a better, greater outcome with energy.

How often should you sage yourself

A little bit of saging goes a long way. So it could be anywhere from saging your body on a daily basis. If you had a very stressful day, maybe you want to do it multiple times. Or you can do it as often as once or twice per week, and that will do the trick.

Smudging for beginners

A powerful way of connecting with places that we spend the most time… I’m referring to your bed, which is the place that you spend the most time. So that would be a great place to start if you are new into this scenario. You will feel the difference. You will feel more rested, you will feel in a better mood the next day. It is just amazing the simple application of doing that ritual every night, with the windows open to clear the energy from that part of your home.

Bed saging ritual

The idea would be to grab something like a container where you can place your sage and just go underneath the bed, and start saging in circles counterclockwise and then clockwise to infuse the energy. You don’t have to do it for a long time. You can just do it for seconds at a time, and that will do the trick. Then you go on top of the bed, and then do the same ritual. Then grab the pillow and you can do the same process. When your bed is done, then you can do yourself to finish up. Then you’re ready for a deeper sleep.

Sage to cleanse your home step by step

Doing sage is one of the greatest tools to keep the ambience of your home negative energy free. Energy could be stagnant in any part of the house, so make sure you target the corners of each and every room, as well as opening the windows of the house or the apartment. Personally, when I do a home cleanse, I will start with the basement and work myself up to each and every room and every floor. I will go into each and every portal of the house, which is the door and would perform that ritual before I begin to go walk into the room through the right side, finishing up on the left. Doing it like I mentioned before, in circle motions. That will be one way of simplistically doing that ritual.

Energy cleanse objects, clothes, jewelry and crystals

A lot of people can also tap into the sage itself to clear objects. I mentioned before your home, but it could also be personal items, such as crystals, or it could be something like a regular necklace. All these energies are being contained within what the person is wearing, so even saging your clothes before wearing them or after washing them. You can also allow the item itself to be ready for you to wear with this clear and new beginning intention of attracting prosperity and abundance.

General rule of how often should you practice smudge rituals

If you want to keep that high maintenance of good energy. If you feel stress, if you feel that things are a little stuck. Doing this on a daily basis before going to bed and as soon as you wake up could be another way to enhance the productivity of your energy, that can ramp up your abundance on many different levels. And from there on, you can just play around, see how you feel, because it is not really something that you need to do on a daily basis for the rest of your life. Because the power of sage is so great that you may need to do it everyday in the beginning. But as you connect more and more with the plant with your intentions, at one point you don’t have to do it everyday. You may want to just keep like a maintenance effect, which is like once a month or twice a month, as a general rule.

How to smudge negative energy

Working with sage at the spiritual level, where the person may feel that something is not flowing, and there may be an entity or some sort of negative energy in their space. Sage can help to ease up the process of dealing with that energy as a reflection of where the person is with the practice. And not necessarily the person has to be completely merging into saging their home 24 hours, seven days a week to clear that energy. Since the energy itself, it’s also being soothed into another realm. Almost like a welcoming to that spirit to another place where it’s going to be more balanced. The intention is very important here, since we don’t want to push anything too aggressively. So I have had good results of doing the practice of sage, inducing it into somebody else’s home, if I’ve been called up on to do so, and gradually increasing the amount of saging or exposure to the home of saging. Of course, with the windows opened, always.

Other practices to cleanse energy with sage teas, tinctures, oils, lotions and baths

Other practices can be done to actually repel those energies, whether these energies are very small and gentle or have a strong attachment towards the house.

You can also drink this as a concoction, as an herbal tincture with other herbs. So that empowerment allows all those energies to be expelled from your house. So it is very interesting how applying sage, such as oils, in daily life on the temples or rubbing it in your skin, and nowadays there are soaps that you can use on your body and your skin, to always have that internal and external protection.

Types of sage and combinations

The most commonly available and commercial, is the white sage.

For great combinations with little flowers, they open up the pores and purify the skin. It’s great as a rejuvenation. For the ladies, this is a great way of finishing up the day. Maybe just doing like a small portion and make a tea, just mix it with warm water and just splash.

If you bathe in a bathtub, with the white sage, you can enhance and go deeper into the soul by having a hot bath with the petals and the white sage together. So it would be something like making a tea with the two of them together, and maybe sprinkle some rose petals in the bathtub, and then submerge the body into it.

Lavender is great to burn with white sage, for example, at night time. Lavender is really good to soothe the central nervous system and put you in a more relaxing state. So that could be also a great combination to do a little ritual before going to bed,

The more you’re aware of your surroundings and applying this great tool that’s been given to us for a long time… It is a beautiful thing! 

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