I've been looking around online, but haven't found any concrete ideas for alternatives to burning white sage for cleansing a space. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!!
PALO SANTOS!!! I am obsessed with the smell. It is truly amazing. If you can’t get your hands on that, you can truly use (in my view of the craft) any smoke with your intention. If you can’t use smoke, cleanse with salt in water you’ve “blessed”. It is ALL about intention. Check out palo santos tho for real.
Sage in my opinion, is like an energy bleach. It clears ALL energies. Good bad or ugly. Palos Santos does not (in my opinion). Lol.
I use Cedar personally and i love it. It smells nice and I think it works well. Our cats at my moms house used to never go near my sisters room, I cleansed the room with my cedar and the cats have no problem going in there now. I would suggest giving it a try!
I’ve used rosemary and clary sage essential oils mixed with some of my moon water as a cleansing spray. There may or may not be salt added in there as well, I can’t remember because I made my last batch a while ago but salt is used for purification so you can use that as well. In my experience it worked pretty well, and imo is a good alternative to things like incense or sage if you’re in an environment where you’d rather not or can’t use items that smoke. I also use essential oils in a diffuser.
I’ve also seen/read/heard other people use dried herbs like rosemary or lavender, but I haven’t used these personally so I can’t speak for how effective they are or if there is anything you need to watch out for so if you decide to use dried herbs make sure to do research before lighting something on fire.
It suggests that if you would like to continue to use sage in your practice you simply ensure that your supplier sources their sage from a nursery or private garden rather than the wild to protect the natural plants =)
Additionally you could also embark on a little green witchery and grow your own, that way you know that it is 100% ethical! Rather than lighting an entire smudge stick you can also cleanse your space by burning a single leaf each time which is far more economical =)
I've heard Palo Santo neutralizes energy as opposed to clearing it. Sage clears energy of a space which then has to be filled with positive intentions. Using garden sage would be an ok substitute. It's not endangered and can be found in grocery stores sometimes, just dry it out completely before burning.
I also use sandalwood incense, or charcoal and frankincense/copal/myrrh, or sometimes you can visualize clearing the energy of a room.
There's also a smokeless white fire: Epsom salt, rubbing alcohol, and any herb of choice but I usually use rosemary for clearing and mint to bring fresh energy in. You can also use a white fire to write what you want to let go of and throw that into the flame, but be careful not to hurt yourself or set anything on fire!
oh gosh where do I start, I love rosemary for negative energy, Cloves for purification and protection, Dragons Blood for healing and protections, Thyme is good for stagnant and sad energy to get rid of it, Lemon juice and blessed water to spray things with (I even use this on my plants for a bug repellent) My favs are cinnamon or frankincense. I like salt but be warned it takes all types of energy not just bad.
Sometimes I take a few of these depending on their property and let it soak in blessed water then strain the pieces out and use just the water to wipe things down. make sure you use it all up or store it where it wont mold or anything, a fridge or some alcohol/vodka will keep it from going bad. I generally dont make much of it at a time so i dont store it.
PALO SANTOS!!! I am obsessed with the smell. It is truly amazing. If you can’t get your hands on that, you can truly use (in my view of the craft) any smoke with your intention. If you can’t use smoke, cleanse with salt in water you’ve “blessed”. It is ALL about intention. Check out palo santos tho for real.
Sage in my opinion, is like an energy bleach. It clears ALL energies. Good bad or ugly. Palos Santos does not (in my opinion). Lol.
Thank you for the ideas!! I actually considered using Palo Santos, but decided not to because it’s from an endangered tree.
Omg! I honestly had no idea! I’m so glad you said that! Awe :( I feel like a horrible witch.
You’re not a horrible witch!! I had no idea either, and I bet tons of people don’t know.
Rosemary works.
Awesome! I’ve actually got some rosemary so that’ll work great!
I use Cedar personally and i love it. It smells nice and I think it works well. Our cats at my moms house used to never go near my sisters room, I cleansed the room with my cedar and the cats have no problem going in there now. I would suggest giving it a try!
I’ve used rosemary and clary sage essential oils mixed with some of my moon water as a cleansing spray. There may or may not be salt added in there as well, I can’t remember because I made my last batch a while ago but salt is used for purification so you can use that as well. In my experience it worked pretty well, and imo is a good alternative to things like incense or sage if you’re in an environment where you’d rather not or can’t use items that smoke. I also use essential oils in a diffuser.
I’ve also seen/read/heard other people use dried herbs like rosemary or lavender, but I haven’t used these personally so I can’t speak for how effective they are or if there is anything you need to watch out for so if you decide to use dried herbs make sure to do research before lighting something on fire.
I often feel worried when considering smoke cleansing--thank you for these alternatives to it and ideas!
I don't have alternatives for you, but you could consider the following if you are interested.
If you have concerns about the information regarding white sage being endangered I would suggest that you read this article: https://aminoapps.com/c/thewitchescircle/page/blog/facts-white-sage-not-endangered/nDaB_3gFLunQZdjKvLv8jwWXoE2E5qgaN4
It suggests that if you would like to continue to use sage in your practice you simply ensure that your supplier sources their sage from a nursery or private garden rather than the wild to protect the natural plants =)
Additionally you could also embark on a little green witchery and grow your own, that way you know that it is 100% ethical! Rather than lighting an entire smudge stick you can also cleanse your space by burning a single leaf each time which is far more economical =)
This was exactly my worry with white sage, thank you for your recommendations!
Burn: Palo Santo
Spray: Smudging sprays (there are lots online or you can make your own). I cleanse my space with a mixture of rose water, salt and sage essential oil.
I've heard Palo Santo neutralizes energy as opposed to clearing it. Sage clears energy of a space which then has to be filled with positive intentions. Using garden sage would be an ok substitute. It's not endangered and can be found in grocery stores sometimes, just dry it out completely before burning.
I also use sandalwood incense, or charcoal and frankincense/copal/myrrh, or sometimes you can visualize clearing the energy of a room.
There's also a smokeless white fire: Epsom salt, rubbing alcohol, and any herb of choice but I usually use rosemary for clearing and mint to bring fresh energy in. You can also use a white fire to write what you want to let go of and throw that into the flame, but be careful not to hurt yourself or set anything on fire!
oh gosh where do I start, I love rosemary for negative energy, Cloves for purification and protection, Dragons Blood for healing and protections, Thyme is good for stagnant and sad energy to get rid of it, Lemon juice and blessed water to spray things with (I even use this on my plants for a bug repellent) My favs are cinnamon or frankincense. I like salt but be warned it takes all types of energy not just bad.
Sometimes I take a few of these depending on their property and let it soak in blessed water then strain the pieces out and use just the water to wipe things down. make sure you use it all up or store it where it wont mold or anything, a fridge or some alcohol/vodka will keep it from going bad. I generally dont make much of it at a time so i dont store it.
I was about to pick up Palo Santo and told my mother, she said to instead get Amber incense and White Musk incense. I love how both of these feel.
Amber smells sweet and ancient. It smells feminine and determined.
White Musk smells clean/pure and masculine. It doesn't linger in an overwhelming way.