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. Smudge is one of the most powerful tools that we have available to use. It should be used prior to any spiritual event that we undertake. Meditation, Reiki, Crystal Healing, Tarot Readings should all have smudging prior to their use. Any time we open our self to energy transfer, we must be sure that negative energy is cleared from the area. Smudge is the easiest way of doing that. The aroma is wonderful and the effects are almost instantly noticeable.

People throughout the world use herbs to accomplish this. One common ceremony is to burn certain herbs, to create a cleansing smoke bath, which is used to purify people, space, crystals, tools and objects. The smoke is taken up in one's hands and rubbed or brushed over the body, tools and objects. To do a smudging ceremony, the herbs are lit and helped to burn by the use of a feather or fan. Blowing into the mixture is not encouraged as it is seen as blowing one's own negativity into the mixture. The smoke is then wafted around one's self like a smoke bath. There are different ways of doing this and one finds a variety of techniques and explanations depending on traditions and teachings. The way for someone not attached to a particular tradition is a matter of personal preference and intuition. One way to accomplish this is to 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. Starting at the head, follow with the eyes, ears, mouth, throat, heart and the rest of the body. 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).

It is good practice when healing to smudge the space, the people in the space, including one's self, the patient and any tools, (such as crystals) prior to any healing session. When the healing is completed, smudge self, any assistants, tools, patient and finish with the space. In this way one deals with negative energies and vibrations in much the same way as antiseptic and disinfectant deals with germs.

In North America the three plants most frequently used in smudging are Sage, Cedar, and Sweetgrass. The order for doing this:

Sage
Sage is burned in smudging to drive out bad spirits, feelings, or influences, and also to keep bad spirits from entering the area where healing takes place. It is used as a cleansing and purifying agent, the effect of the smoke is to banish negative energies. The powerful cleansing vibration it emits when burned is used to purify the subtle energies of one’s aura, as well as personal and ceremonial space or healing and ceremonial tools, such as pipes and crystals. For this reason it is used first.

"And" or Cedar
Cedar is burned while praying either aloud or silently. The prayers rise on the cedar smoke and are carried to the Creator. Cedar branches are brushed in the air to cleanse a home during a House Blessing Ceremony. Cedar can be burned for purification in much the same way as sage - it drives out negative energy; but it also brings in good influences. Cedar needles are used in a similar way to cleanse and bring balance to the emotions and to the male/female (yin/yang) elements.

Sweetgrass
Sweetgrass is burned after the sage or cedar has driven out the bad influences. Sweetgrass brings in the good spirits and the good influences. It is often burned alone after the sage or smudge mixture has been used. Sweetgrass brings sweetness and beauty into one's life and surroundings. One can offer a prayer to this effect as the braid is lit. Sweetgrass is also put in medicine bundles along with sage to purify and protect sacred objects.