How To Sage A House
Photo of juniper wand on coral wall by Amanda Linette Meder. Juniper can be used as a substitute of White Sage in ecosystems where it grows more abundantly.
Updated 2022.01.10. This page contains affiliate links and this site earns from qualifying purchases made through these sponsored links.
Wondering how to sage or smudge a house? In this post we discuss -
When I space clear a home, I always try to keep in mind that it's like cleaning a house.
All houses are different, and each situation is unique, depending on who or what needs to be cleared and where.
White Sage is an excellent tool for space clearing, for clearing lingering low energy. It works wonderfully in resetting the space to a neutral-clear emotional tone. You can create any mood you want after that.
So I like to use it to reset the mood.
It's great for dealing with heavy, low, lingering thoughts, emotions, or feelings - such as those that have been released in a healing session, a full moon or during the ascension process/spiritual growth process.
When people release what no longer serves them, they often dislodge it from their body, and it can wind up in the nearby space as residual energy.
You clearing that energy then, serves everyone. Everyone wants to feel good and happy, or at least neutral, and when you space clear, it allows for this emotion to come in via the law of attraction.
When you cut something that dies, something else must grow - life is a loop. The same thing when you clear low energy. When you clear, it gives way for something else to be invited in.
Sage primarily clears and lifts residual energy. Residual energy is anything that can be released.
In this post, we're going to discuss the practice of smudging, sometimes called saging, for lifting emotion and energy. All emotion that represents imbalance can be released when you space clear.
White Sage, and the act of saging, signals to lower energies that it's time to leave. So when you sage, you may have the added benefit of Spirits attracted to that energy departing naturally.
For more stubborn Spirits, to get a Spirit to leave, you sometimes have to address them directly. I talk about that more in this post on crossing a spirit, but without further ado -
To begin fully clear your space, you need at least three tools
A single leaf of Sage per room of the home, or a large sage wand.
A lighter, or stovetop, or battery, depending on what plant material or format you use. For a flame-free process, use the essential oil version of White Sage on a cotton ball, placed in each room you space clear.
If it's a Spirit in space, you also need the ability to call in Divine Light. To do this, I use any visualization that comes to mind that day, but for one that works in almost all cases, check out this post on The Golden Energy, where I provide my technique to call in Golden Light.
From there, here is my step-by-step space clearing process -
The 6 Steps To An Effective Space Clearing Practice
Photo of dual incense holder with two incense sticks by Abhas Jaiswal from Pexels
1 - Tune in
Tune in, say a prayer, or set an intention, ask to see what is going on in the house. Some people start the space clearing process by thinking about or arriving at the home, turning into the heart, and seeing what impressions they feel.
You may already get what the house needs, and this can go into your intention statement.
When you tune in, it is when you say your prayer for saging a home.
What to say when saging a home:
Invoke the positive, what we want to see, avoiding all contractions and negatives, speaking only to what we want to see moving forward.
For example, when you tune in to sage a home say -
For this space, my intention is peace, joy, and that all beings this house and those in it support, see the realization of their highest dreams.
Or a prayer variation:
I now ask the Divine Beings that watch over me to release all things to the highest and greatest good. Thank you.
I also have a prayer here I use for mediumship, which will also work.
After that, you have your smudging focus intention.
I find this part helps all direct the time and resources more wisely, and it gives a sense of purpose to those participating. It also gives any children nearby who want to help with some idea of what to do.
In my experience, children are very eager to participate in raising the energy of the home because it feels good as you do it.
2 - Use clearing tools judiciously
Depending on who or what is there, you choose your preferred space clearing tools. I like to set them out on a table or floor nearby.
Select Sage or Cedar for residual energies and visualize Divine Light for Spirit individuals.
Gather any tuning forks or clearing musical tracks you want to use. Music can help hold the space for you as you clear and set in your intended vibration.
I currently use a set of chakra sound tuning forks, plus the philosopher's tuning fork, also known as scientific, concert middle pitch or root chakra pitch, and an Omnivos Therapeutics Om fork when I clear.
I prefer Omnivos Therapeutics tuning forks when I need to buy a particular pitch, due to how well they are tuned. Though, I also use heirloom forks from origins unknown for emotional factors and encourage you to do the same.
Some people also like to use symbols or crystals alongside saging, like the Merkabah, A Half Moon, Cho Ku Rei, or any symbol that means clarity and light. Place these shapes out when they clear, or wear them on your body as you move about the house or property.
Individual crystals you hold or carry with you as you sage will amplify the new intention energy you set.
I have a list of crystal ideas that pair with saging here. My personal favorites for smudging are often a rose, smoky, or inclusion quartz, like Tibetan Water Quartz or a Herkimer Diamond En-Hydro.
You can wear them when you clear as jewelry or in a pocket, or place them in the rooms you are clearing as you move around.
3 - Move from room to room with the tool of your choice
Now that your tools are out, take your sage wand and light it on fire with a stove burner, propane, or butane lighter, making sure to light the entire top end.
Put out the flames until it is embering.
With a bowl or hand underneath, from here, walk from room to room to clear the space, while stating or visualizing images representing your intent.
Go through every room slowly and intuitively.
With a sage wand smoking and embering, bring it to the corners of the room, inside cabinets, underneath furniture. Anywhere that feels like the energy could be refreshed.
4 - Release Spirits (if necessary)
This part, leaving out part four is the reason why when you hear of a space clearing not working, it was this step that was left out.
If you see, hear or feel, any moving energies as you smudge, chances are you have an intelligent energy present. If you would prefer it to go rather than have it stay, speak to it, internally, and see if you can convince it to cross.
Most Spirits communicate telepathically and can and will cross if you convince them why it's okay.
Cross over any Spirits that need to go into the Light and tell anything Dark to leave.
For assistance, start with this post: How To Cross Over A Spirit.
If you are clearing the home or space for someone else, sometimes I will let them know if I saw anything at the end that appeared friendly that I left. For some, it can confirm deceased pets or ideas of fairies they had always suspected but never admitted.
In our area, if you have a patron friendly spirit, you will sometimes see that patron statue outside the home to honor the being.
5 - Final clearing and release
After I've gone through all the rooms with the sage leaves or wand, I generally call Divine Light down through the entire space and do one final sweep with my last few leafs to seal the energy.
Once done, I open all the windows to let out the energy ready to release.
When you end, go through the space with sweet-smelling oils, incense fragrances like Clove, Lime, Sweetgrass, Palo Santo, or Ylang-Ylang to set the tone towards positive.
Some people also like to close by visualizing the entire property in a swirl of Golden Light.
6 - Call in positive, loving Spirits (optional final step)
Depending on who owns the house and space, at the end, I'll also welcome in the Spirit Guides, Angels, Loved Ones, and visualize the inhabitants of the space connected to their Angels.
Some people also like to ground after they space clear energetically.
You can ground through any activity that connects you to the present moment and the earth. Grounding can involve eating, drinking, or even listening to listening to the body's needs for the rest of the day.
See more tips for grounding in this post: Grounding - What Is It, What Are The Benefits, And How Do You Do It?
So this is the basic, yet flexible, outline for a small space clearing process.
How much sage will you use when saging a house
In areas where I can be more liberal, I tend to go with the full wand of sage or about one leaf per room.
Use the leaf until it burns down; some are drier and last for more than one room.
Substitutes for White Sage when Saging a home
You can smudge in essential oil, one drop per one leaf, or even with compressed plant material in the form of incense, instead of a smudging wand or sage leaves.
Incense gives off less smoke than dried leaves in a wand or loose because most of its moisture content has been pressed out.
Using essential oils in a diffuser is the best smokeless option.
What I like most about using a diffusing wand is that you can keep it in your purse for travel, as it doesn't require a lighter, so it is usually safe in sensitive places.
You can also use the battery wand in places with stricter zoning rules for fire, like in office buildings or where people store solvents - garages, garden sheds, etc.
So I like to bring with me to use around people, plants, or objects sensitive to vibration or stimuli of any kind. For example, I use this in car interiors.
A diffuser wand also uses a minimal amount of plant material in liquid drops mixed with water to maximize rare oils. I also find it very pleasing for dry rooms or around curious little faces. It's the lightest and purest thing there is.
If you are using dry leaf, in place of dry White Sage, you can use Palo Santo wood, Cedarwood, Sweetgrass, or Juniper leaf. A single dry Bay Leaf can usually also be used per room to exchange a single sage leaf per room.
If you are using incense, Lavender, Pine, and Myrrh or Frankincense scent will work just fine.
Space Clearing / Energy Clearing Tips -Photo of dual incense holder with two incense sticks by Abhas Jaiswal from Pexels with text overlay How To Sage A House - 6 Steps To An Effective Space Clearing Practice
To recap, to space clear a house
Set the intent
Grab your space clearing tools
Moves from room to room intuitively
Release Spirits
Final sealing and release
Calling in Angels (optional final step)
All situations, places, and scenarios are different, so please keep in mind this is a fundamental process adapted and altered in each case.
You may be surprised by new things on each property you try this. That's part of the fun of it, and some parts of the routine are very flexible - for example, the plant material you choose.
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