Favourite smoke cleansing recipe?

Redregon · Thu Jan 04, 2024 8:10 pm

I like hearing of other people's experiences and that sort of thing.

Smoke cleansing is basically using smoke, usually from sacred herbs and/or resins, to cleanse a space of negativity or hostile spiritual entities. I've been told it's a good idea to leave a window open when doing something like this so the bad stuff can escape (you don't' want it to feel trapped in a room filled with cleansing smoke, or so that's the wisdom... logically it makes sense, I mean, you wouldn't want to approach a cornered wild animal.)

A blend I've been using uses a sprig of cedar, lavendar, rosemary, and some white sage with a small chunk of dragon's blood to aid in the potency.

What I like to do is to call on the herb/resin as I add it to the mortar and pestle, and grind in a clockwise circular manner (as clockwise represents charging something up in my belief system.)

Then I burn it in a dish filled with salt on a shisha coal (I get them from the corner store.) Sometimes I will charge my hands and put my hand in the smoke and visualize it spreading out and cleansing the space...

What's your favourite smoke cleansing recipe and what's your method?

Anonymously anonymous · Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:31 pm

First want to say this is an amazing blend. Minus the cedar I use something super similar. I use different recipes depending on how fancy I want to get. Also, depending on the seasons if I am getting from my garden. How deep of a cleanse I do too. Some of my favorite blends are: Juniper, rosemary, lavender, and add hyacinth. I grow hyacinths indoors and they add a great fragrance. I sometimes use just sage. Another favorite: Tea tree, peppermint, lavender, and black pepper. The method I use again depends on how fancy I want to get, and how deep of a cleanse I want to do. Typically, I do what you stated. I open all the windows and the doors, and pushed the energy out that way. Sometimes I put salt or a bowl of salt water in my door frames and in my window panes to block or protect anything from coming in. I do open a circle for cleansing. I open a circle for anything I do that I consider magic.

Gray Mongrel · Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:46 pm

I haven't crafted my own cleansing herb bundles in a while due to lack of time and energy but I love to burn premade incense nowadays and my companions like them as well, my favorites are sage and rose but I also enjoy lavender and dragon's blood a lot!

Faolan · Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:53 pm

For cleansing if I were to use alternatives to what your blend is, which by the way is fantastic. I would use

Juniper: Provides a crisp, pine-like base scent for grounding.
Frangipani: Adds a lush, exotic floral aroma, uplifting and soothing.
Eucalyptus: Offers a refreshing and slightly medicinal quality.
Palo Santo: Sweet, woody aroma for cleansing, used in place of white sage.
Myrrh: Contributes depth with a warm, earthy, and slightly spicy scent, replacing dragon's blood.
Bergamot: Fresh, citrusy with a floral note, uplifting and balancing.
Sandalwood: Rich, deep, woody aroma, excellent for grounding and spiritual practices.

Redregon · Fri Jan 05, 2024 11:15 pm

Anonymously anonymous wrote: ↑Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:31 pm Tea tree, peppermint, lavender, and black pepper

Oh my, that's gonna have some punch to it. (I gather the pepper is a small amount? I mean, too much and I'd be afraid that it'd make the smoke a choking hazard

)

Gray Mongrel wrote: ↑Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:46 pm I haven't crafted my own cleansing herb bundles in a while due to lack of time and energy but I love to burn premade incense nowadays and my companions like them as well, my favorites are sage and rose but I also enjoy lavender and dragon's blood a lot!

If you want a good one, there's a brand called Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa. It is lovely and as it has sandalwood, it can be attuned to the qualities of protection, exorcism, purification, and deepening spirituality (if that's your cuppa.) It also makes for a lovely offering (but I usually burn it because it smells yummy.)

Daciana · Sat Jan 06, 2024 2:14 am

I have a mix of items which I grind up into a powder and sprinkle onto a hot coal.
It's a mix of ground up myrrh, dragons blood resin, benzoin, honey Amber. And I add loose herbs of lavender, sage, rosemary and cedar. Mix it up and store it in a small jar on my selenite slab until I'm ready to use it.
I love to connect with the energy of these items, and often charge them with intent prior to burning.

Sometimes I substitute some of the items with Juniper berries, pine, and sandalwood, depending on what's available, as I tend to gather most of my ingredients when they are live in the area. We have juniper, cedar and pine trees here so I like to gather from them and dry them.

Prior to grinding up the resins, I sometimes put a drop of eucalyptus oil onto the rough pieces. When I grind it together, It mixes and absorbs really well but is strong enough to notice that it was included. It also has an igniting quality.

I just make sure all my windows and inside doors (including closets) are open while burning it. And intent is really important.

Black Panther · Sat Jan 06, 2024 6:17 am

Interesting topic! For me it depends on the application and resources available.

I try my best to use 100% natural resources and also ones that are native to my location as I believe it makes a difference for elemental energy.

Currently I use:

For cleansing, banishing and protection rituals: my favourite is a blend of dragons blood resin, cinnamon, anis and black pepper.
I put the anis seed, black peppercorns and cinnamon bark into a mortar and grind them roughly into small pieces but not into a powder. I burn the dragons blood resin on charcoal and then add the spices to it. It is by far my favourite, but the drawbacks are that Dragons blood burns quite fast, its not easy to source everywhere, and is by far one of the most expensive resources to acquire.
I also sometimes use a mix of betel nut, holy basil and citronella, grind them into small pieces in a mortar and burn them over charcoal.

For cleansing of altar items and tools: I burn dried Mugwort, Bay Leaves and Rosemary and pass the items/tools through the smoke. This is a good mix and these herbs are not too difficult to find in most parts of the world.

Echoing what others have said, I have found that one of the most important parts is intention.

Adair Lasair Bán · Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:08 am

I love the posts in this thread! Really inspired me!

Currently I have taken to using Palo Santo wood, but I would very much like to try expanding my methods.

Gray Mongrel · Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:46 am

Redregon wrote: ↑Fri Jan 05, 2024 11:15 pm If you want a good one, there's a brand called Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa. It is lovely and as it has sandalwood, it can be attuned to the qualities of protection, exorcism, purification, and deepening spirituality (if that's your cuppa.) It also makes for a lovely offering (but I usually burn it because it smells yummy.)

Ohhh!! I love that brand as well!! I have a very close friend who is also on the forum who gifted me rose and dragon's blood incense from Satya and I instantly fell in love with it!!! She absolutely adores this brand, until now I was using Hem due to the price accessibility but I'm planning to go full on Satya when I'm done with the current Hem incense, definitely an amazing recommendation. Also I never burned sandalwood but I totally want to try it!

My friend also has lavender from Ppure and it has such a lovely fragrance, one of the best lavender incenses I ever smelled, I have a companion that also absolutely loved it when we were together, doing spells and burning incense, I had to take a pic of the package on his request to buy that lavender as soon as I'm done with Hem lmao.

Redregon · Sat Jan 06, 2024 2:53 pm

Faolan wrote: ↑Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:53 pm For cleansing if I were to use alternatives to what your blend is, which by the way is fantastic. I would use

Juniper: Provides a crisp, pine-like base scent for grounding.
Frangipani: Adds a lush, exotic floral aroma, uplifting and soothing.
Eucalyptus: Offers a refreshing and slightly medicinal quality.
Palo Santo: Sweet, woody aroma for cleansing, used in place of white sage.
Myrrh: Contributes depth with a warm, earthy, and slightly spicy scent, replacing dragon's blood.
Bergamot: Fresh, citrusy with a floral note, uplifting and balancing.
Sandalwood: Rich, deep, woody aroma, excellent for grounding and spiritual practices.

Excellent choices too.

Another to add to the list to help clear away the psychic cobwebs... eyebright and mugwort (though use sparingly b/c thujone.)

Sysygy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 2:14 am I have a mix of items which I grind up into a powder and sprinkle onto a hot coal.
It's a mix of ground up myrrh, dragons blood resin, benzoin, honey Amber. And I add loose herbs of lavender, sage, rosemary and cedar. Mix it up and store it in a small jar on my selenite slab until I'm ready to use it.
I love to connect with the energy of these items, and often charge them with intent prior to burning.

Sometimes I substitute some of the items with Juniper berries, pine, and sandalwood, depending on what's available, as I tend to gather most of my ingredients when they are live in the area. We have juniper, cedar and pine trees here so I like to gather from them and dry them.

Prior to grinding up the resins, I sometimes put a drop of eucalyptus oil onto the rough pieces. When I grind it together, It mixes and absorbs really well but is strong enough to notice that it was included. It also has an igniting quality.

I just make sure all my windows and inside doors (including closets) are open while burning it. And intent is really important.

Ooh, that multi-resin blend sounds nice. If you add a touch of frankincense, that paired with myrrh is incredibly potent for bringing a divine vibe to a space. Frankincense is a very good cleanser.

Black Panther wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 6:17 am Interesting topic! For me it depends on the application and resources available.

I try my best to use 100% natural resources and also ones that are native to my location as I believe it makes a difference for elemental energy.

Currently I use:

For cleansing, banishing and protection rituals: my favourite is a blend of dragons blood resin, cinnamon, anis and black pepper.
I put the anis seed, black peppercorns and cinnamon bark into a mortar and grind them roughly into small pieces but not into a powder. I burn the dragons blood resin on charcoal and then add the spices to it. It is by far my favourite, but the drawbacks are that Dragons blood burns quite fast, its not easy to source everywhere, and is by far one of the most expensive resources to acquire.
I also sometimes use a mix of betel nut, holy basil and citronella, grind them into small pieces in a mortar and burn them over charcoal.

For cleansing of altar items and tools: I burn dried Mugwort, Bay Leaves and Rosemary and pass the items/tools through the smoke. This is a good mix and these herbs are not too difficult to find in most parts of the world.

Echoing what others have said, I have found that one of the most important parts is intention.

I know the feel about dragon's blood (Though I'm trying to minimize/reduce my reliance on resins as I feel that a lot of modern harvesting methods are unsustainable and unethical (and damaging to the trees.)

I like your methods.

Adair Lasair Bán wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 7:08 am I love the posts in this thread! Really inspired me!

Currently I have taken to using Palo Santo wood, but I would very much like to try expanding my methods.

If you want, feel free to scan your grocery aisle for spices. Cheap and a lot of them are easily available.

Favourite smoke cleansing recipe?

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