Cleansing with local herbs ..

I am an absolute smudging freak!

On our farm, we don’t just smudge during the Christmas season, but all year round—even several times a week. I think very highly of these smudging rituals. In these turbulent times, it is also a way for me to slow down, reflect, and fall back on old home remedies. Even as children, we always went smudging devoutly with our “Muata”—Grandma; it gave us strength and confidence, and we felt safe.

I can still remember so well when Willi, our long-time farmhand, came back to his freshly smudged room after his hospital stays. He always enjoyed the scent and said, “now I can breathe again.”

If a room is full of negative energy or illness, you get the feeling you “can’t get any air” anymore. Has this ever happened to you too? You can help yourself with smudging materials like sage, juniper, “Kranzach”, frankincense, and resins from our forest. It is best to use herbs from your own garden and high-quality frankincense as well as resins from our local forests.

How do I do a smudging? You need time! In my opinion, there is no point in quickly running through the house with the pan in between tasks. If I want a cleansing smudging, I start in the cellar and then smudge the rooms in the house; I also smudge particularly intensively in the corners of the rooms.

Afterwards, you keep the windows closed until the smudging has spread throughout the room. I also often put my thoughts into the pan while smudging and request that this fear or illness may depart. The rooms then remain closed until the smoke has really unfolded, and afterwards I open all the windows and doors for a general airing out. I find the room is “purer” afterwards, if you know what I mean. Once everything is well-ventilated, I usually do another smudging, very light and subtle with fine scents like rose frankincense or rose petals, lemon balm. Then the room is first cleansed and then “filled” with good, harmonizing scents.

It may be hocus-pocus to many, but for me, it isn’t. I have seen many times that these smudging rituals really helped—for example, if a guest family is ill, the room is thoroughly cleaned after they leave and the room or apartment is smudged. This makes it less likely that the family spending their holiday in the room next will catch the same illness. I have seen the comparison that, despite precise cleaning, it was often impossible to prevent this without smudging.

Which smudging materials are best to use? In my opinion, everything that grows here is best – resin, wood, blossoms, or whole herbs – then you can enjoy a wide variety of scents and achieve the desired effect.

What is best to smudge with? In my opinion, the smudging pan is best suited for larger houses, where the embers from the wood stove are placed inside, and the smudging material is then placed on top. Or a smaller smudging pan from the shop. You buy smudging charcoal, light it, wait until it “glows”, and then put the precious smudging material on it.

I also see smudging as “taking time”. Taking time for a ritual, for a good experience, and for a bit of peace, which is so important, especially in the last few days and weeks when the media brings fear and anxiety into our homes.

Stay healthy; perhaps smudging is also the right thing for one or two of you to help carry this challenge more easily. Best regards, Katharina from Zittrauerhof in Gastein.