incense
The Shaman’s Recipe For Energy Cleansing
Since the beginning of time, people of all cultures have used prayer, sound, smoke, salt, water and sacred intentions to bless their homes and create peaceful environments.
The tradition of clearing the energy of a home can be found in ancient tribal customs, folklore and modern spiritual practices. The idea is that our homes hold energy which affects how we feel.
Clutter can make a room feel cramped and uncomfortable, while negative energy can make a home feel uninhabitable. Human emotions, thoughts and actions, including conflict, illness, sadness, stress, violence and even the presence of certain visitors, leave energy imprints and residue in our homes.
Removing these energy remnants from your living space can greatly improve the happiness and well-being of those who live there. This practice is both a personal spiritual practice and a way to care for your loved ones.
You may be familiar with smudging as a traditional cleansing method, but there are many other traditional ways to purify a space using natural elements, sacred sound, fragrance and focused intention.
A shaman in Colorado once taught me a wonderful energy-cleansing recipe. I have been using it for years and find it an excellent alternative to traditional smudging with sage or other herbs.
The Real Secret To Smudging Is Your Intention
The secret to smudging isn’t just in the smoke alone. It is powered by your intention. The herbs may help to cleanse the air, but it is your focused energy and mindful purpose that makes the real difference.
This is what I learned from my mentor when I undertook my Ukuthwasa as a shaman initiate many years ago in Southern Africa. An initial part of my rigorous training as a Sangoma, or traditional healer, was a self-cleansing ritual using Mphepo, made up of herbs indigenous to Southern Africa.
“Smudging,” simply put, is the burning of certain herbs to create a cleansing smoke bath. The smoke is used to cleanse areas used for rituals and ceremonies, as well as any tools or objects used for such cleansing, as well as to cleanse people.
The practice of burning incense or herbs is held sacred by many indigenous cultures. It is aimed at protecting, cleansing and purifying the spiritual and physical bodies, with the smoke being the key to rid one of negative energy.
The intention behind any smudging ceremony is a very significant part of its success. With the focus and intent of the “smudger” fully aligned, spiritual, emotional, physical and mental balance can be achieved.
It may be a good time to smudge yourself, or your environment, when you feel depressed or angry, or feel that any exterior negative energy is affecting you, your surroundings or your possessions. Or you may just wish to ensure or enhance positive energy in spaces used for meditation or healing. Continue reading
Simple Energy Cleansing And Clearing Techniques
Everything in the universe is energy – so are you. In addition to our physical body, we also have a subtle energy body consisting of various layers, including the aura or energy field, the chakras or energy centers, and various smaller energy channels and points.
To be holistically healthy and happy it is therefore important to not only take care of the physical body (which is undoubtedly also very important and unfortunately too often neglected), but also the energy body. Our energy body can become unbalanced and even dis-eased with toxic patterns, old blockages, repressed negative emotions and deep energy imprints of trauma. It is vital for our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being to regularly cleanse and maintain our energy body.
In addition, as spiritual beings in humans form we are all energetically connected to each other and therefore we are affected daily by the energies of others. And the truth is that many people in our everyday environment have unhealthy and even toxic energy bodies that are not exactly emanating good, positive vibrations.
For example, you are in a happy, energized mood when you visit relatives or friends, and although everyone in the room outwardly appears to be doing perfectly fine, you soon begin to feel energetically drained or experience unusual emotions, such as suddenly feeling depressed, anxious or angry. This may well be due to someone else’s energy frequency present in the room. Energy never lies, even when we pretend or try to hide it.
The more empathic and highly sensitive we are, the more likely it is that we will intensely feel these environmental energies. A regular energy cleansing is vital to neutralize and shield us from external toxic vibes. I am such a person myself, and I have learned the hard way how destructive it can be when I neglect my energetic self-care and spiritual cleansing.
The Ancient Spiritual Tradition Of Smudging
Just as our physical environment can become cluttered and unclean, our aura or energy field also accumulates stagnant and negative energy.
Regularly cleaning our homes and workplaces promotes health, hygiene and optimal function — and the same principle applies to our personal and spiritual energy. Clearing our energy field and environment helps to release negativity and toxic emotions, stress and anxiety, and promotes a sense of calm, clarity and balance.
Energy cleansing is essential for removing blockages that may be hindering personal and spiritual growth or disrupting your connection to spirit and the divine. Over time, lingering negative or toxic energy can even manifest as mental health issues, spiritual disconnection and even physical ailments.
By maintaining a regular practice of energy cleansing, you create a positive, harmonious flow of energy that supports overall health and well-being. In addition, a clear energy field sharpens your intuition and inner guidance, making it easier to align with your higher self and make decisions that are aligned with your greatest good.
Smudging is also a powerful way to clear negative energy attachments and banish malevolent spirit entities.
One of the most time-tested and effective methods of clearing unwanted energy is smudging, or smoke cleansing — an ancient purification ritual steeped in history and practiced by various cultures, religions, and spiritual traditions around the world.
Healing Your Chakras With Flower Power
Plants have long been regarded as nature’s healers, offering remedies for a wide range of physical ailments. But beyond their traditional medicinal uses, plants — especially flowers — have incredible energetic properties that can profoundly affect our well-being.
As a firm believer in the healing power of plants. I have seen firsthand how Mother Nature can work in harmony with our body, mind and spirit.
Flowers in particular, with their delicate beauty, aromatic essential oils and subtle vibrational frequencies, have powerful healing properties.
It is no coincidence that flowers are used in many cultural traditions to convey empathy and caring, to provide comfort, and to promote well-being. This is not simply because flowers are pretty and colorful, but because they have such powerful healing properties.
In many cultures, flowers are used to express sympathy and support. For example, it is common to send a bouquet of “get well soon” flowers to someone who is ill or recovering from surgery. Flowers such as lilies and daisies are often chosen for their associations with purity and cheerfulness, helping to lift the recipient’s spirits and contribute to emotional healing.
In Japan the practice of giving flowers, known as hanakotoba (flower language), is deeply embedded in cultural rituals. Each flower has a specific meaning, and their use conveys messages of sympathy, respect or congratulations. Chrysanthemums are associated with long life and are often given to the sick or elderly to wish them good health and longevity. The thoughtful selection of flowers is believed to bring emotional healing and comfort. Continue reading
How To Deal With Spirit Presence In Your Home
Spirit energies are around us all the time in all shapes and forms. Many people have experienced, or at least know someone who has, a spirit presence or paranormal activity in their home.
These encounters can range from subtle to intense, and the nature of the experience often varies greatly depending on the person’s beliefs, fears, and openness to the supernatural.
For some, the presence of a spirit is a source of terror, while for others it is a comfort, like being in the presence of an old friend. Then there are those who scoff and laugh at the very idea that a ghost could exist.
These varied responses highlight an important question: why do people have such different experiences with spirits?
In my experience, it depends on two main factors: a person’s beliefs and attitudes about spirituality and the supernatural, and the nature of the spirit presence itself, whether it is benevolent or malevolent.
My grandmother came to me within three days of her death to tell me she was okay. She gave me a sense of peace and I didn’t see her again. Years later, my mother also came to me to tell me that she was okay and that all was well where she was. It was also a one-time visit.
But with my stepson, who committed suicide, and my father, it was different. He started showing up at his former house (he had left a wife and two beautiful boys) on a regular basis. He would turn on the lights or the faucet. In the middle of the night she would hear our grandchildren talking and giggling in one of their rooms. They were only two and three years old when he died. She went to investigate, thinking they were up to no good, but only one of them was in the room. When she asked who he was talking to, her boy said, “Daddy was here.”
The Calling Cards Of Spirit Whispers
When I was a teenager, my father said in a very serious tone, “I want to talk to you about something important.
My immediate thought was, I hope this is not going to be a cringe-worthy talk about the birds and the bees. Please let it not be!
But fortunately it was not about the facts of life. Instead, it was an enlightening conversation about spiritualism and the afterlife.
My father told me about his conversion from atheist to spiritualist about a decade earlier. Apparently, my mother had made a bet with him about something that he had lost. According to their agreement, if he lost, he had to accompany her to a spiritualist church to attend a service.
So they went to the Spiritualist church in London one Sunday night when Joseph Benjamin, a well-known medium at the time, was scheduled to demonstrate on the platform. Benjamin was a prominent Spiritualist medium whose mediumship was highly regarded in those days.
Although my father sat all they way in the back during the service, that didn’t stop Benjamin from locating my father in the assembled crowd and delivering a profound message from my late paternal grandfather.
The message stunned my father, especially when Benjamin told him how disappointed my grandfather was that the tools he’d left him were neglected and “rusting away in the shed. And so it was that my father became an avid believer.