1) Above all else, be direct and be honest. Be the one that says what has for too long gone unsaid.
2) Love insanely. Let it all out into the open. You don’t have time to hold back any longer.
3) Make yourself strong. Physically strong, emotionally strong, spiritually strong.
4) Practice radical detachment and letting go. We need to create space for the new paradigm to emerge.
5) Learn to enjoy being patient in allowing things to unfold naturally without forcing anything.
6) Express yourself like you never have before. Be more real. Be more raw. Be more open. Be more bad ass. Be more you.
7) Let death* be all the motivation you need to do anything you want to do.
Notice: Live every day as if it would be the last.
8) Don’t be surprised when things work out far better than you could have imagined.
9) Give away as much freedom to others as you can stand, then give them more. Let them have their stupid differing opinions, or whatever, and just keep on loving them with everything you’ve got.
10) Do not allow your mind to take the wheel. Steer with your heart.
11) Make personal evolution your prime directive and watch how quickly your life changes for the better.
12) Be the person in the room that laughs and smiles the most, showing others how to brush off the madness of the world.
13) Conserve your energy until it is time to move, then do so with maximum potency.
14) Stay close to the things you can control and distance yourself from those things which you cannot.
15) Teach everything you’ve learned so far. Participate fully in the growth of others.
16) Create relationships, fix relationships, find common ground, build bridges, and be there for others.
17) Learn to fiercely observe the world and the people around you.
18) Rewrite the rules as needed for maximum ease and minimum stress.
19) Let yourself cry, scream or whatever as needed in order make sure you are a conduit for negative emotions, not a reservoir.
20) Practice, practice, practice. Engage in your daily practice every single day. Cultivate your inner peace and strength through the continuity of your intentions.
21) Maintain the highest possible vibration you can and make a point of being infectious to others.
What is happening right now in US politics is to create the greatest discomfort for the largest number of people to facilitate the most drastic form of individual change.
With the unprecedented events in US politics, many people have never felt more uncertainty.
The goal of this post is to provide you with a higher perspective in an energetic context and give you some tools to weather this storm, maintaining a sense of inner calm and peace.
For eons, humanity has been living in an invisible prison as described in the Matrix movie. We are not imprisoned by physical bars or chains but by the psychological manipulation of consciousness through which our reality is defined.
We have also suffered due to the imbalance between the heart and the mind:
We use the heart to intuitively grasp complex topics through subtle feelings, visions, dreams and vivid imaginations connected to higher realms.
In contrast, the mind operates with thoughts, logic and linear processing based on the limited physical realm, memory and already known information.
We currently have a severe imbalance between the heart and the mind:
Our hearts are walled in, underdeveloped and disconnected while our minds are dominating, in control and the supreme authority in our lives.
The over-reliance on our minds is by design as we are easier to control: We are living on a limited frequency band operating at negative emotions (fear, suffering, shame, guilt, hate, etc) which the negative entities ruling Earth exploit to feed themselves:
There are different names for those entities: Demons, energy vampires, spiritual parasites, archons, etc. It really does not matter how we call it – we don’t always need to over-define things with our rational mind, instead, we can intuitively “feel” what they are:
But how could those dark entities control us for such a long time? Well, as they are profiting from humanity’s traumatic suffering and infinite misery, they are doing everything to keep this negative cycle going as their survival depends on it.
The negative entities have found a myriad of different ways to keep us enslaved. A key aspect is the creation of traumatic entanglements between humans: They are able to take control of individuals through their unconscious soul fragments rooted in past traumas:
The majority of people have some sort of “possession” within their field, which exists as long as there are unconscious repressed parts of our soul. When a person is triggered, a past trauma is activated and brought to the surface.
Now, a person has two choices:
a) Remain unconscious of the emotional trauma and deny its existance
b) Becoming aware and deciding to heal oneself
a) If a person decides to remain unconscious, entities will continue to be able to take control of them, inflicting the same trauma onto other people around them, creating a “trauma entanglement” between more people, like a messily interwoven spiderweb:
Dark entities take control of a person via their unprocessed traumas. Those narcissistic energies try to play out the trauma over and over again externally pulling in as many people as possible – this way, they hide and fortify their position.
Well, it is time for untanglement!
b) Once a person consciously decides to heal, they will unravel many entanglements to past traumas, freeing many more humans in the process.
Hence, negative entities have fewer hosts to occupy, behave more aggressively, revealing themselves more until they starve energetically.
What is happening right now to humanity can only be described as a rude awakening from a long deep sleep. While we are incredibly resilient, we also are very stubborn and slow learners who do not like the unknown.
Thus, A LOT of discomfort is required to break the conditioning through a shocking series of events that are in stark contrast to the common programmed worldview.
This is the only way for many people to finally start looking inwards & to embark on their healing journeys.
Have you ever wondered why the presidency of Donald J Trump was so chaotic & why he always put out very extreme, sometimes even ridiculous statements? The last 4 years essentially have been preparation, the “preview” of what is to come right now.
Everyone who was shocked by Trump’s comments in the past will be absolutely flabbergasted about the things manifesting in our near future.
That is the point: Nobody’s worldview is safe! Even diehard Trump fans who thought they will get a repeat of 2016 will be shaken to the core.
And this exactly is the point: What is happening right now is creating the greatest discomfort for the largest possible number of people in order to enact the most drastic form of change as possible on an individual level.
That said, there is no reason to panic! Everything is fine as we have already transcended the timelines of physical violence.
The upcoming chaos is necessary to manifest the physical changes which are already established on an energetic level.
The exact sequence of events is impossible to predict because we are witnessing a very fluid and highly dynamic unfolding of timelines, depending on the collective level of consciousness of humanity, which in turn depends on the individual free-will decisions of every person.
The individual timelines aggregate into a “timeline window”, i.e. a range of possibly unfolding timelines. The good news is that this window is constantly rising as more people progress on their individual healing journeys and as the general frequency of Earth is rising.
There is a lot of upward momentum, as many old patterns within humanity are not matching any more and need to be released. So we can also regard the unfolding of US politics as collective shadow work to shed outdated programs and patterns like snakes are shedding their skin.
What we can do on an individual level?
Should we try to wakeup others by telling them the truth about politics? Should we go protesting on the streets? Or should we even defend the constitution with force? The answer is clear: No, no and no!
But what is the alternative?
As counter-intuitive as it may sound, we need to focus inwards, onto our own healing and expansion of consciousness!
We are interconnected, our lives are entangled through the multiple lifetimes we have to spend with each other.
Humanity’s traumas are like a messily interwoven carpet:
Each person is like a single thread interwoven with others over many lifetimes. As we slowly heal, we untangle our own thread, thus helping others as well by making their healing process a little easier.
How do we heal ourselves? 5 suggestions:
1) Acknowledging that we have unprocessed traumas
2) Observing our emotional triggers
3) Enduring negative feelings instead of distracting ourselves
4) Allowing negative patterns to leave the system
5) Creating a positive mindset
1) Acknowledging that we have unprocessed traumas
The first step is to simply accept that we carry a heavy load of past traumas. The majority of people are still in denial and prefer to project onto other people around them, preventing the initiation of the healing process.
Once we are aware of negative patterns, we can single them out to focus on and work with them. In other words:
What is unconscious will control us, what is conscious we have control over.
@kylecease perfectly explains the trauma healing process:
Once we face and heal our childhood traumas, the mind stops the negative protection and deflection patterns and we get a totally fresh and unburdened perspective on our lives:
The next step is to become aware of triggers that are activated during our day to day lives. Each trigger is a divine gift, hinting at some inner unprocessed trauma, rooted in our childhood, that is ready to be released.
3) Enduring negative feelings
Once we identified traumatic events of our past, we can move into the healing process, by giving the negative feelings our full attention and unconditional love.
We need to sit in silence, breathe in deeply & feel our body’s subtle sensations.
The challenge is to endure the oftentimes very heavy emotions and not allowing to distract ourselves by giving in to addictions. Of course, it is much easier to drown our negative feelings in toxic substances such as alcohol or by engaging in certain damaging activities.
The more we distract ourselves from pain, the more intense it becomes: At some point it is so extreme, that distractions won’t work anymore.
4) Allowing negative patterns to leave the system
Once we acknowledge and feel the pain, it often vanishes quickly. We can imagine white healing light streaming through the body and roots growing at our feet connecting us to mother Earth, discharging all negative energy.
5) Creating a positive mindset
As the emotional traumas are released from our bodies, a lot of space is created within our vessels, which can immediately be filled by higher-dimensional energy, thus getting closer to become our higher selves.
Put differently, with each healing session, the Matrix veil is thinned a little bit and we are instantly rewarded with higher dimensional insights as well as intuitive abilities.
We can further ease this process by cultivating a positive mindset, focusing on opportunities instead of problems.
We can shift perspectives to view the healing process as a difficult challenge with many potential upsides, instead of terrible torture that needs to be avoided.
The healing process will never be easy or comfortable as we need to feel the negative emotions again to be able to clear them. But the more we accept and surrender to this process, the more quickly we can go through those trials and tribulations.
Conclusions
The unprecendeted events happening in the US and globally are only the beginning, things will most likely become much crazier soon!
But they are necessary to jolt humanity awake. The best way to asssist the process is to focus on your own individual healing.
To facilitate the healing process we can acknowledge that we have unprocessed traumas, observe our emotional triggers, endure the negative feelings instead of distracting ourselves, allow the negative patterns to leave the system and create a positive mindset.
A related thread:
How to break old cycles and access our divine sovereignty
To break those old negative cycles humanity has been trapped in for eternities, we heal and ground ourselves to become as solid as a rock, breaking all incoming waves and moving onto new paths of sovereignty and grace.
Humanity has been inside a narrow infinite loop of pain, trauma, hurt, unconsciousness and dependency which has been repeating over and over again, like a broken record constantly replaying the same dull 8 seconds of a song.
It goes like this: We carry pain and trauma inside of us but instead of focussing inwards, facing our traumas with love and courage, we decide to unconsciously project our darkness onto the outside world.
This perpetuates the negative cycles in the first place, as we continue to see our problems in others around us. The question is, how to break free?
If one party involved in a conflict is conscious of these damaging patterns, it can actively decide to not react with an “eye for an eye” mentality but to detach from the situation and react in a different way.
The consciously acting person essentially is akin to a wave breaker at the seashore, a massive solid rock that is unmovable regardless of the waves thrown at it. Eventually, the waves will break and the tide will recede.
In particular, there are a couple of things, every one of us can do to break the negative cycles and move onto new paths:
1. Focus internally
2. Practice forgiveness and gratitude
3. Choose a higher path in conflicts
4. Mix things up
5. Create and build something
1. Focus internally
The best way to help others is to help ourselves. We need to face our darkness by consciously reliving traumatic situations of our past with love and understanding.
Good tools are meditation, journaling, contacting people from our past and counseling.
In our healing process, we often encounter extremely heavy emotions that are hard to endure. But once we muster the courage to allow and just feel those dark emotions, they often are released in an instant thus making room in our bodies.
2. Practice forgiveness and gratitude
Forgiveness, for what we did in the past or for what others have done to us, is akin to cutting energetic cords that bind us like shackles to the past.
Gratitude redirects our focus towards the positive and acts like a magnet to attract more of it thus inviting abundance into our lives.
3. Choose a higher path in conflicts
If drawn into conflicts where the other party is projecting onto you, do not reciprocate and escalate it.
Instead, breathe deeply, detach and observe the situation from a neutral standpoint listening to the subtle signals of your body.
Remove yourself from the situation and meditate about it until you regain clarity.
State your viewpoint from a personal perspective (e.g. “I feel this negatively affects me with regards to..”) in a calm yet firm way. If no agreement can be reached, draw a line and withdraw.
4. Mix things up
We are the creators of our realities and every decision represents a potential turning point in our lives where we can shift onto novel pathways.
By doing things out of the ordinary with a positive intent, we can create massive shifts in our lives, for instance:
– Saying some nice words to the neighbor we had a dispute with last week
– Doing a spontaneous hiking trip in the forest
5. Create and build something
Through our healing, we create a lot of space within us to receive uplifting energy and inspiration.
This is an opportunity to put some ideas into action and start new projects, e.g. from fulfilling a childhood dream to starting a side-business.
I hope these suggestions help you to break free from old patterns and to consciously embrace the novelty of the million opportunities ahead of us!
More detailed information can be found in the Light Prism Blog:
The minds of humanity have been programmed by the unseen for millennia. The angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other. Temptation, allowing free will choice.
The use of occult knowledge has allowed some in the hidden realms to rule over the minds of humanity. It is fortified by those in the seen using television and radio to set in mind a reality which they desire to see come to fruition.
It is time for humanity to manage their own programming, through affirmation, mantras, and solid intention … coming from the heart.
Turning off the television, the “programming” we’ve been absorbing our whole lives.
This morning I decided to take a wonderful bath. I took it with my crystals, which are magnifiers of intention.
My intention is to program my cellular structure with LOVE … magnified.
Since we know that our minds have been programmed by the unseen, it is time not only to take charge of our own programming … but to reprogram the programmer in the occult world.
We are powerful when we set our intentions. Why do you think it is critical for those in “power” to keep us dumbed down and feeling like shit about ourselves? Why do you think we’ve been “programmed” to give away our power to a human, sacrificed?
It is because of our inherent, HUMAN, abilities to reformat and shape reality.
Now, those in power want us to fight each other, to be distracted by our so-called differences … race, place on the economic ladder, and the position we hold on the scale of knowledge.
Honestly … we are the same. None of that which we’ve been fighting each other over even matters!
What matters is our willingness, and ability, to recognize the greatness within Self.
It is time to reprogram the programmers.
The feminine is honored and respected. Her Creator womb is sought and cherished with great vigor. Her freedoms are honored, and protected by the Divine Masculine. He ensures that no harm comes to her, and he is always tempered when faced with her Divine Will. Rather than force her to bend to his wishes, he works hand in hand with her to birth the best of both worlds … the Divine Feminine and Masculine, together, as one unit. Equally valued, on a par, embraced and whole.
The tempter stops the tempting … duality merges and what is left is balance. None higher than another, none more valued or honored than another … through connectedness, stability is birthed.
Be the programmer.
Create a world you long to see, start with creating in Self what you long to be.
I praise Self (your name here) for I Am Healthy, right now.
I praise Self (your name here) for I Am Wealthy, right now.
I praise Self (your name here) for I have my spacious house in the forest, right now.
I praise Self (your name here) for I Am courageous, right now.
That’s right, praise yourself in mantra. Praise yourself, and see the result in the Now Moment. Existing now …. if not yet materialized, on its way to you, now.
When you get comfortable with that, when you start to feel the results … the satisfaction being born in your heart, begin to reprogram the unseen.
Give the programmers a run for their money. Challenge those who’ve had authority over the manipulation and control of your mind and life.
Rewrite the world, rewrite yourself.
Forget what parents and peers have taught you. Leave behind the mind that has been formatted by this world … your mind is not this world. You were … before your body was even born, before this world became your mind.
Thanks be to those who have helped me understand this. Thanks be to those who so freely and graciously share insights, allowing others to wake and morph, right along with them.
Bless the Peacemakers.
Bless those who rise to the challenge of Creatorship.
Bless those who have determined that loving Self is equally important to loving others.
Never crap on yourself because you want to assist another. You must honor Self and come from this place. Do not weaken Self to help another …. all you will be doing is creating two weaknesses. You must be empowered in order to assist another in becoming empowered.
Bless you as you discover (if you haven’t already) that Self is important, your first love in this life … and it should always remain your first love.
Self love, self respect, honoring self … is NOT selfish. It is a necessity if we wish to see humanity empowered.
We heal Self, and from this space we can assist others in healing.
Play the role of “savior” is not the way. Throwing your sacred life away will not help anyone.
Empower Self.
Show the world how it is done.
My new brother has written a book that I would like to offer here. Please contact him through DM at the below link if you’d like a copy of his E-book. He is a teacher of children, and also a guide for adults who seek to become the Programmer of their own lives.
From a perspective, problems don’t exist. It is when the mind decides that it is a problem that creates a problematic experience. Problems are in a way created by the observer who puts itself into making something a problem. This is the nature of a polarized state of mind.
We are the instrument of ourselves.
Allow your awareness to dissolve into nothingness and witness the actuality of what IS.
The only one that can rock your boat is you, and the only one that can make your boat still is you. You are all that exists.
To be in the observer state towards the mind is to be in the observer state towards the world, because the mind is the world and the world is the mind.
If the world didn’t exist, how would you be? What would your mind be like? This question allows you to discover your origin state, before you knew anything at all, before the world became your mind, before your vessel was born at all. Let go of everything and return.
There is always so much more beyond what you have experienced.
If there is infinite experiences of infinite kinds, then that means there are infinite ways to know ourself, which also means we barely know the entirety of ourselves.
Mastering neutralness within yourself is priceless. If you can be neutral towards all within, you will go beyond everything.
For example, let’s say you have some kind of uncomfortable feeling, instead of viewing it as bad, be neutral towards it. You can even alchemize it and make it something you see as good, no matter what it is.
Flow with the ocean, with no resistance. Be one with the flow of life.
Master the uncomfortableness by being comfortable with being uncomfortable, embrace it fully, become one with it! Do this by mastering the ability to remain completely calm, in which is also done through detachment and being centred within. Unleash your SUPER self 😜
You are the master of yourself, you are the master of your reality. KNOW THIS.
The greatest part of self love is being able to say “I love being me!”
The child who is taught that their emotions do not matter, becomes the adult who struggles with acknowledging their feelings.
The child will become the adult who lacks emotional awareness. Who does not know what emotion feels like in their body. Will feel emotions like it’s their first time experiencing it, every time.
Imagine that you’re filling water in a glass. Water is your emotions, the glass is your body.
Someone who doesn’t have good emotional awareness will only see the problem when the water finally overflows, and *not* when it’s dangerously reaching the brim.
The child will become the adult who holds their emotions in until a faint breeze comes in that makes them break.
The adult will end up getting trapped in this cycle of not acknowledging the problem until they have to clean up the mess. They will lack emotional accountability and the inability to create spaces for emotional safety for themselves and others.
Let’s change this by prioritizing the need for acknowledging the body. It’s not healthy to go weeks on end without checking in with yourself. It will always end up with the glass overflowing. Slow down, sit down, and take some seconds out of your day to ask how you’re feeling.
Use this emotion wheel for recognizing the reason you are struggling communicating emotions. May it help to identify them.
When experiencing a strong emotion, use the wheel to identify and write it down. Start with the umbrella center emotions and work it through the middle and outer tiers.
People live harmoniously here, contributing the skill set they have ornately within them. With love, we will share and care for one another, lifting every member of the community, as we ourselves will be lifted.
There will be a large hearth and fireplace where members of this family that has chosen each other can sit and read or share stories, enjoying each other’s conversation.
There will be a community library.
There will be individual sleeping quarters for members of this community.
There will be a building dedicated to the art of stitching. It’s windows will be many so those who create in this way can watch the wildlife play, and come and go. Whether one choose to sew cloth or stitch leather, spin thread or yarn, or crotchet and knit … they will be there.
There will be a building dedicated to the art of woodworking. All equipment necessary will be available. All who wish to be there, will be there.
There will be another structure dedicated to meditation, song, and any form of music making.
There will be communal bathroom, apart from the main lodge, where those in cabins and simply moving about on the day to day can relieve themselves. There will be septic and the river flowing nearby is safe from any form of pollution.
Mineral springs will be available for bathing. There will be no need for vanity or paranoia, all family members will understand the body as sacred, not as something to be perverted.
There will be a community garden. All members take part in the caretaking of nutrition. Planting, tending, preserving the foods, and preserving seed for the following years crop.
There will be a beautiful, year-round Greenhouse for fresh foods even in the cooler months.
Much like Brietenbush Lodge, the main house will be where the community kitchen is. We will cook together, eat together, and clean up afterward together. We will create lovely vegan and vegetarian meals from our efforts in this garden.
We’ll have a root cellar where we store the preserved food supply.
Traditional cellar full of food jars of pickled vegetables on shelves in butuceni village
We will raise sheep and llamas for there coats, the fur we can spin into threads and yarn for sewing and knitting. Did you know llamas are used as “herd guards”?
We will raise goats for milking. We will use that precious source to create cheeses, butter and other delicacies. These little beauties will assist in the maintenance of foliage.
There will be specific tasks needing completed. A work sheet listing these tasks is made available, where members with specialized skills (and they all have specialized skills) agree to co-create a completed project. Planning together, creating together, building a life together.
As other communities arise, we will build relations, knowing what we know from the corporate experiment, we will create a softer way of living … with each other, the various life forms sharing the planet, and the Earth, with her clear and clean running streams.
This is the initial phase, setting intention. I await eagerly those who choose to become part of this community.
I am so excited to meet you!
I love WE … the concept of a humongous family who chooses each other, to lift each other, as we in turn shall be lifted by others, so amazing! Oh! The power of collective intention!
Our Native elders have taught us that before a person can be healed or heal another, one must be cleansed of any bad feelings, negative thoughts, bad spirits or negative energy – cleansed both physically and spiritually. This helps the healing to come through in a clear way, without being distorted or sidetracked by negative “stuff” in either the healer or the client. The elders say that all ceremonies, tribal or private, must be entered into with a good heart so that we can pray, sing, and walk in a sacred manner, and be helped by the spirits to enter the sacred realm.
Native people throughout the world use herbs to accomplish this. One common ceremony is to burn certain herbs, take the smoke in one’s hands and rub or brush it over the body. Today this is commonly called “smudging.” In Western North America the three plants most frequently used in smudging are sage, cedar, and sweetgrass.
Sage There are many varieties of sage, and most have been used in smudging. The botanical name for “true” sage is Salvia (e.g. Salvia officinalis, Garden Sage, or Salvia apiana, White Sage). It is interesting to note that Salvia comes from the Latin root salvare, which means “to heal.” There are also varieties of sage which are of a species separate from Salvin Artemusia. Included here are sagebrush (e.g. Artemisia californica) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris). We have seen both Salvia and Artemisia sub-species used in smudging.
Sage is burned in smudging ceremonies to drive out bad spirits, feelings, or influences, and also to keep bad spirits from entering the area where a ceremony takes place. In Plains nations, the floor of the sweat lodge is frequently covered with sage, and participants rub the leaves on their bodies while in the sweat. Sage is also commonly spread on the ground in a lodge or on an altar where the pipe touches the earth. Some nations wrap their pipes in sage when they are placed in pipe-bundles, as sage purifies objects wrapped in it. Sage wreaths are also placed around the head and wrists of Sundancers.
Cedar There is some potential confusion here about the terms used to name plants, mainly because in some areas, junipers are known as “cedar” – as in the case of Desert White Cedar (Juniperus monosperina). This doesn’t mean that J. monosperina wasn’t used as a cleansing herb, though; in the Eastern U.S., its relative, Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginia), was used ceremonially. However, in the smudging ceremonies we have seen or conducted ourselves, Western Red Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and California Cedar Incense (Libocedrus descurrens) were used … not varieties of juniper.
Cedar is burned while praying either aloud or silently. The prayers rise on the cedar smoke and are carried to the Creator. Cedar is also spread along with sage on the floor of the sweat lodges of some tribes. Cedar branches are brushed in the air to cleanse a home during the House Blessing Ceremony of many Northwest Indian nations. In the Pacific Northwest, the people burn cedar for purification in much the same way as sage – it drives out negative energy; but it also brings in good influences. The spirit of cedar is considered very ancient and wise by Pacific Northwest tribes, and old, downed cedar trees are honored with offerings and prayers.
Sweetgrass One of the most sacred plants for the Plains Indians, sweetgrass is a tall wild grass with a reddish bas and perfume-like, musty odor. It grows mainly on the eastern side of the Rockies in Montana and adjacent Alberta, Canada. It also shows up in some small areas of Wyoming and South Dakota. Its botanical name is Hierochloe odorata. Some common names for it are Seneca grass, holy grass and vanilla grass. We have been told that a variety of vanilla grass grows in North Central California. But, how similar it is to the Plains variety we don’t know.
On the Plains, sweetgrass is usually braided together in bunches as a person’s hair is braided, although friends have said they have seen it simply bunched and wrapped in cloth. Either way, it is usually burned by shaving little bits over hot coals or lighting the end and waving it around, letting the smoke spread through the air. This latter method is how we were taught to burn sweetgrass in the sweat lodge – allowing the purifying smoke to get to all parts of the lodge.
We were taught that it was good to burn sweetgrass after the sage or cedar had driven out the bad influences. Sweetgrass brings in the good spirits and the good influences. As with cedar, burning sweetgrass while praying sends prayers up to the Creator in the smoke. High Hollow Horn says in the The Sacred Pipe “This smoke from the sweetgrass will rise up to you, and will spread throughout the universe. Its fragrance will be known by the wingeds, the four-leggeds, and the two leggeds, for we understand that we are all relatives; may all our brothers be tame and not fear us!” Sweetgrass is also put in pipe bundles and medicine bundles along with sage to purify and protect sacred objects.
Sweetgrass is very rare today, its territory severely cut by development, cattle- grazing, and wheat fields – and tradition Indians in the northern Plains are trying to protect the last remaining fields. The best way for most folks to get sweetgrass is to buy it at Native American retail outlets. This gives support to Indians who can help the fields from being depleted.
Smudging To do a smudging ceremony, burn the clippings of these herbs (dried), rub your hands in the smoke, and then gather the smoke and bring it into your body, or – rub it onto yourself; especially onto any area you feel needs spiritual healing. Keep praying all the while that the unseen powers of the plant will cleanse your spirit. Sometimes, one person will smudge another, or a group of people, using hands – or more often a feather – to lightly brush the smoke over the other person(s). We were taught to look for dark spots in a person’s spirit-body. As one California Indian woman told us, she “sees” a person’s spirit-body glowing around them, and where there are “dark or foggy parts,” she brushes the smoke into these “holes in their spirit-body.” This helps to heal the spirit and to “close up” these holes.
Recently we did a “light” house cleansing for a friend. We use the term “light”, for this is a relatively simple ceremony as opposed to some that are more lengthy and complicated. Our friend had some serious emotional and relationship problems, and he felt they had left a heavy and dark atmosphere.
First, we prayed together to the Creator and to the spirits for help. We then, burned sage, purified ourselves, and took the sage to all the corners, closets, and rooms of the house. We pushed the smoke with our hands to cleanse every bit of space – lingering over dark or cold spots that “felt” uncomfortable.
We used sage first in order to drive out the bad influences. Then we purified ourselves with cedar and, then repeated the cleansing process throughout the house with that. Then sweetgrass was used in the same manner to bring in good influences. All the time we prayed for help in this cleansing. Finally, we took a candle over the whole house and pushed its light into every corner. The People of the Pacific Northwest Coast taught this “lighting-up” of a house to us. We’ve been doing this type of house cleansing for ten years, and it never fails to “clear the air.”
In any case, smudging is a ceremony that must be done with care. We are entering into a relationship with the unseen powers of these plants, and with the spirits of the ceremony. As with all good relationships, there has to be respect and honor if the relationship is to work.
Shamanic smudging—or just smudging—is an age-old tribal tradition which has been used for centuries to create harmony and peace. There are many different shamanic smudging ceremonies, and different tribes use a variety of herbs for smudging.
To define it more clearly, shamanic smudging is the burning of herbs or incense for cleansing, purification, protection of physical and spiritual bodies, banishment of negative energies and creation of sacred space. You can use smudge sticks (herbs that are tied into a bundle for easier handling), braided herbs and botanicals (like sweetgrass) or loose herbs (burned on charcoal or mugwort, or in a firepit). Shamanic smudging releases the energy and fragrance of the herbs and botanicals so they can heal, cleanse and purify.
In many traditions, shamanic smudging involves a four directions ceremony or prayer, which sends specific kinds of smoke or prayers into the four directions. Different tribes have different smudging prayers that “program” the smoke to do a specific action, such as cleansing or aiding in divination.
In general, shamanic smudging can be used in daily life for practical purposes—to restore physical, mental and emotional balance; to shield against negative energies; to cleanse yourself, use your tools and clear your space; and to restore you sacred space.
COMMON HERBS USED IN SMUDGING Although different tribes and traditions use different herbs for shamanic smudging, some of the most popular herbs include desert sage, white broadleaf sage, juniper, pinon (sometimes in resin form), sweetgrass, copal (in resin form), mugwort, lavender and sacred tobacco. Here are some general uses for the different herbs often used for smudging:
– PINON RESIN Primarily fire element though can also be used as for four-element general purposes. Has a pleasant and meditative fragrance. Is cleansing, strengthening, warming, and used by Native American cultures for its spiritual and healing properties. Produces a thick stream of smoke, and is excellent for refreshing the senses and reviving a tired soul.
– COPAL GOLD RESIN Primarily fire and water elements though can also be used as for four-element general purposes. When burned, the scent is sweet, resinous, slightly woody, mildly earthy and spicy. Was a holy incense used by the peoples of Mesoamerica. Traditionally used as incense in divinatory and cleansing ceremonies. The resin contains aromatic chemicals called terpenes, which make it volatile and flammable. Used by Mayan shamans prior to ingesting mushrooms.
– MYRRH RESIN Primarily earth element though can also be used as for four-element general purposes. Produces a lot of smoke when burned, very earthy, piney scent. Gathered from an almost leafless Middle Eastern shrub called the Commiphora Molmol. It was used by the ancient Egyptians in rituals of Healing and Passing. It is one of the ingredients used by the Egyptians to embalm bodies. Useful for spirituality, meditation, happiness, release, transformation, strength, confidence and stability.
– FRANKINCENSE RESIN Primarily fire element though can also be used for a four-element general purpose. Is the resin of an African tree and produces a rich, dense smoke when burned. Used extensively in meditation and healing. In numerous religious traditions, frankincense’s spiritual scent was believed to confer divine blessing. Pliny the Elder mentioned it as an antidote to hemlock poisoning.
– DESERT SAGE Primarily air element though can also be used as for four-element general purposes. Has a somewhat sharp, light and refreshing scent. One of the most sacred herbs among Native Americans. Used to purify the mind, body and spirit before prayer, meditation, ritual or ceremony. Also used to purify sacred items such as pipes, magical tools, tarot decks and eagle feathers. Can be used for area, house and personal cleansing. Some people carry a small amount of Sage in a pocket or medicine pouch to insure personal and spiritual safety.
– JUNIPER Primarily fire element though can also be used as for four-element general purposes. Has a sharp, piney scent. Excellent to stimulate and revive when tired in body, mind or Spirit. Used in ancient times for ritual purification of temples. Smoke believed to aid clairvoyance. Also useful for purification and to stimulate contact with other worlds. Burned during the Plague to resist disease.
– LAVENDER Primarily air element . Has a light, aromatic and refreshing scent. Useful for attracting peace, happiness and restful sleep. Also reduces depression, grief and sorrow. Aids in meditation and divination, and often said to aid in manifestation. Known as Elf Leaf, Nard, Nardus, Spike and Lavender. Traditionally associated with fairies and elves.
– WHITE BROADLEAF SAGE Primarily air element though can also be used as for four-element general purposes. This is a broad leaf sage is highly prized for its strong aromatic properties (strongest of the different types of sage). Considered the king if all sages. Excellent for meditation, divination, smudging, cleansing and purification.
– YERBA SANTA LEAVES Traditionally used for enhancing psychic abilities, magical protection, healing and spiritual strength. Excellent for meditation and divination. Said to be ruled by the moon. One Native American tribe rolled the leaves into balls, dried it in the sun and chewed it for a natural mouthwash.
– HIBISCUS FLOWERS Primarily fire and water elements. Produces a sharp, invigorating scent that lasts for a long time after burning. Often used in divination and psychic communication. Excellent for rejuvenating the senses and restoring life force.
– ROSE FLOWERS AND PETALS Primarily water element. Produces a heavy, warm, aromatic scent with just a hint of sharpness – scent lasts a long time after burning. Excellent for meditation, divination, increasing psychic abilities, contacting powers and beings in other dimensions and psychic communication. Also traditionally associated with attracting love, conferring peace, stimulating sexual appetites and enhancing beauty.
– SWEETGRASS Primarily air element. As its name suggests, sweetgrass produces a sweet and light fragrance that does not last for long. Excellent for cleansing sacred space. Sweetgrass is a rare grass which is found growing wild in very few places. Traditionally, sweetgrass is believed to invite the good spirits.
You can burn these herbs singly or in combination with each other. One good combination that covers all four magical elements of air, fire, water and earth is pine resin and sage (either desert sage or white broadleaf sage). This combination is appropriate for general use, cleansing, ceremony and ritual.
WHEN TO SMUDGE YOURSELF Smudging yourself on a daily basis can be very helpful in keeping yourself balanced and maintaining a peaceful state of being. However, you should definitely use shamanic smudging techniques when you’ve been around people who are ill, depressed, fearful, angry or generally emotionally unbalanced; before meditating to create a calm state of being; when you’re feeling blue or depressed; or when you’ve been under a lot of stress.
Smudging yourself is easy. If you’re using a smudge stick, light the smudge stick on a candle flame. Hold the stick in the flame until there is a lot of smoke and the stick is burning well (that’s why a candle is better than a match—it can take a while to get the stick really smoking). Using a feather (or feather fan) or your hand, gently fan the smoke onto your body, starting at the top of the body and moving downward. Get the back of your body as best you can (it’s often easier to use a smudge pot and loose herbs for this). When you’re done, inhale a little of the smoke (just a little!) to purify your insides.
If you’re using a smudge pot or Fire-bowl and loose herbs, light the herbs (using self-lighting charcoal—not the barbecue kind!) until it is smoking well. Then, put the Fire-bowl 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 thoroughly cleansed. Clothing is optional for this approach, and smudging in the nude 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.
If you’re going to use the smudge smoke during meditation, use a charcoal burner or Firebowl, light the herbs and enjoy the scent and smoke as you meditate. Meditating with these herbs often produces a deeper and longer-lasting state of relaxation and contemplation.
Native Americans used herbs to purify the spirit and bring balance to people who are unhealthy in spirit, mind, or body. Everything that happens within your home leaves a trace. The morning after party, the tired- ..but-happy revelry from the end of the evening is still in the air; Focusing your true intention to purify your space with time-honored method can return a dwelling to its rightful place as your sanctuary. One such cleansing method is known as smudging. Smudging originated as a Native American custom, and modern practice can reinvigorate your living space.
The vital action of smudging is lighting aromatic bundle of herbs and allowing it to burn away the negative energy that has been collected.
You can celebrate a new phase in life by conducting a smudging ceremony, or improve someone’s day by smudging the space around a friend. Offices and work spaces can benefit from smudging as well, allowing clarity of thought and improved productivity. The essential object for smudging is the herb bundle. It can be purchased or made by hand.
Using a match or candle, put the flame to the smudge stick. Then blow or wave it out, allowing the stick to smolder and the aromatic smoke to fill the room.
If you don’t have a smudge stick, you can also place loose herbs directly onto burning wood in an indoor fireplace or into a fireproof container with some charcoal. As the herbs begin to burn, the honored method is to use a feather to move the smoke around the person or place you are smudging. You may also use your hands. As you feel the space fill with the herbal scent, take time to consider the parts of your life that need cleansing. Imagine the smoke lifting away all the negative thoughts and emotions around you.
Tradition teaches that each smudging herb is used for a different purpose. So an important aspect of the ritual is finding the right herb for the moment. * Sage is the most prominent herb and is used to purify and protect one’s living area by removing negative energy.
* Sweetgrass is often burnt after smudging sage to welcome in the positive influences. * Lavender restores balance and creates a peaceful atmosphere. It also attracts love. * Rosemary is effective for gaining clarity about perplexing problems. * Mugwort is celebrated for stimulating psychic awareness and powerful dreams. * Bay leaf is used to protect against colds and flu. * Cedar is burnt upon moving into a new home. It works as a purifier and as a way to attract positive energy. The act of cleansing your space can help you to truly put the past behind you. As the herbal aromas gently enter a room, clearing out accumulated spiritual clutter, you’ll be free you to enjoy your abode as the place of it was meant to be.
