Auric Field                                                                                                                              

This is one of the energy bodies that surround us. It is lighter in vibration and density to our physical body. Healers, Psychics and Mediums can usually see or sense this field. They use it to determine our state of health, mental and emotional wellbeing. It is within the auric field that negative energies can be found and released.

An emanation, breath or radiation that is invisible to the naked eye. It is often thought to be an invisible surrounding glow emanating from each individual. Some persons believe that they can actually see the aura of a person and depending on its colour and form, this is taken as an indication of the mental and physical well being of that person. Kirlian photography deals with the supposed art of photographing this type of phenomena.
 

Dowsing

This FACT SHEET 1 is reproduced here with the kind permission of The British Society of Dowsers. Contact details for the BSD are at the end of this article, who will be more than pleased to hear from anybody interested in ‘Dowsing, or Divining’.

An Overview of Dowsing.

Dowsing, also known as "divining", is an intuitive art and discipline used in all parts of the world in both ancient and modern times. A technique for bringing information from the intuitive or subconscious senses to the attention of the rational mind, it has potential value in almost every area of human endeavour, research and activity, and dowsing practitioners find it a valuable tool in both their work and their everyday lives.

Dowsing is best known as a tool for discerning the presence of underground water which can then be accessed by either shallow digging or drilling a borehole to create a well for domestic, community, agricultural or industrial applications, and the services of water dowsers are in high demand in many rural areas and third world countries where the presence of reliable sources of drinking water is an essential resource for human presence and activity.

Dowsing has also been widely and successfully used both historically and contemporarily in the process of prospecting for oil and mineral resources underground, and finds further application in archaeological research and excavation.

The presence and location of other concealed subterranean features such as water pipes, drains, electrical and communications utilities are frequently detected by dowsing, giving it immense practical value both in urban and agricultural settings.

Many practitioners of a wide range of holistic therapies find dowsing of assistance in the assessment of their clients and in the selection of the most suitable and appropriate treatments for them, and the diagnostic possibilities of dowsing also find their uses in vehicle and appliance fault-finding and maintenance.

Some dowsers are skilled in the location of lost or missing objects, animals and people, and dowsers are intermittently called upon to assist in a variety of search-and-rescue activities.

Although dowsing as a human faculty has remained difficult to explain within the Newtonian scientific paradigm, its effectiveness, accuracy and repeatability have recommended its continued use as an invaluable aid and ally, particularly in those areas where rational knowledge or instrumentation are either undeveloped or unavailable. Those who find it useful are often content to hold their ability to dowse as a currently unexplained or Para psychological phenomenon, and relate to the dowsing faculty as a "sixth sense", whilst others become actively engaged in researching and developing the nature of the dowsing response.

Dowsing is a normal and natural human faculty, within the abilities of both children and adults. To become a proficient dowser requires careful and patient training and practice, and the development of mental clarity and discipline. During the learning period, it is of immense benefit to receive guidance and coaching from experienced practitioners, and to carefully check one’s dowsing responses against those of skilled and experienced dowsers and also against verifiable information and measurable outcomes.

The British Society of Dowsers supports, encourages and promotes dowsing and dowsers in a manner consistent with the highest standards of personal integrity and behaviour, and is a resource for all those interested in exploring and contributing to the field. Dowsing Images

The British Society of Dowsers,
National Dowsing Centre
2 St Ann's Road,
Malvern,
Worcs.
WR14 4RG, UK.


Tel & Fax: +44 (0)1684 576969.
Email: info@britishdowsers.org

Earth Energies and Ley Lines

The honour of the re-discovery of the ley-line system on 30 June 1921 belongs to Alfred Watkins (1855-1935). Watkins was a respected Herefordshire businessman who, whilst viewing a map for features of interest, noticed a straight line passing over hills and through various points of interest, many of which were ancient sites. At that time Watkins had no theory about the alignments he had found, but on that day was said to have seen "in a flash" a whole pattern of straight lines stretching across the countryside. In 1925, he described this vision in his book entitled "The Old Straight Track."

His basic theory was that ancient monument sites align in straight lines. Many ancient sites found on British Ordinance Survey maps can actually be connected to form an incredible coincidence of interconnecting lines. A shortcoming of this particular definition of ley lines is that many "ley hunters" have assumed that just because three or more sites are aligned, they are therefore automatically on a ley line. This simply is not true, an alignment of buildings and other man-made structures does not determine the presence of a ley line, although it can be seen as supporting evidence for one.

"Imagine a fairy chain stretched from mountain peak to mountain peak, as far as the eye could reach, and paid out until it reached the 'high places' of the earth at a number of ridges, banks, and knolls. Then visualise a mound, circular earthwork, or clump of trees, planted on these high points, and in low points in the valley and other mounds ringed around with water to be seen from a distance. Then great standing stones brought to mark the way at intervals, and on a bank leading up to a mountain ridge or down to a ford the track cut deep so as to form a guiding notch on the skyline as you come up. Here and there, at two ends of the way, a beacon fire used to lay out the track. With ponds dug on the line, or streams banked up into 'flashes' to form reflecting points on the beacon track so that it might be checked when at least once a year the beacon was fired on the traditional day. All of these work exactly on the sighting line."

Watkins theorised that the discovered ley lines were the remnants of prehistoric trading routes. He went on to associate ley lines with the Greek god Hermes (the Roman Mercury, the Norse Woden) who was the god of communication and of boundaries, the winged messenger, and the guide to travellers on unknown paths. Watkins identified Hermes-Mercury with the chief god of the Druids and argued that: "A Celtic god, Tout, or in its Romanised form Toutates, is supposed to be what Caesar referred to, and this name has been found on a Romano-British altar. It is a fact that sighting mounds called Tot, Toot, Tout, Tute and Twt abound all over the Kingdom and the root is probably Celtic. The fact that such mounds are mark-points on track ways strengthen the link."

Watkins’ identification of leys as ancient traders' routes was as far as he was prepared to go, despite the fact that numerous ley lines travelled up steep and almost inaccessible hillsides. In 1927 Alfred Watkins published another book, “The Ley Hunters Manual,” a guide to early tracks. Speculation was rife as to the real meaning and purpose of leys, continuing long after Watkins' death in 1935.

Energy in its various forms is invisible to us because our senses are only able to pick up a limited range of vibrations and radiations We can see colour, but not X-rays, we can hear sounds, but only if they are loud enough and within our normal hearing range. Albert Einstein once stated that energy cannot be destroyed, only altered.

Many of these invisible spectrums are only detectable by us via the various technologies such as being recorded on photographic films and the use of various electronic equipment. Until technological advances are developed to reliably detect the presence of underground water and Earth energies, we must rely on Dowsing with copper rods and forked Hazel sticks as we have done successfully for thousands of years. The sensitivity of our bodies and our minds’ intuition can also guide us in the right directions. The human body is still the best receiver we know.

It is perhaps without doubt that the ancients possessed the psychic ability to receive the vibrations from the Earth energies therefore detecting the straight lines and utilising them as a means of connecting A to B, and was no doubt a necessary tool of survival. As the human race has evolved, the need for this in-built human technology has become an increasingly less useful tool and this psychic ability is probably lying dormant, stored in the brain of every one of us. This would give support to the claims that we all have a psychic ability; it just needs practice, including meditation, to revive it.

Most of the ancient monuments and sacred places around the world have one thing in common: the presence of Earth energies in the form of underground water and ley lines. The use of dowsing rods is a technique used for locating these Earth energies that are associated with ley lines. (See the section on ‘Dowsing’). Ley lines and water lines are part of the Earth's energy system and Ancient monuments are made special to us by serving to reveal or mark out that system.

With the advent of Christianity the existing ancient Pagan worship sites built over the Earth energies and ley lines on a small hill were demolished and replaced with Christian churches. These are found to this day as a dominant feature standing on an old Pagan site on a hill overlooking a village or town. The ancient places of worship were probably the basis of the early formation of many settlements growing around the site as ancient man/woman gathered for worship to their God(s).

Ley, as a word, is akin to leoht (light illumination) and Middle-Ages English ‘lea’ meaning "pasture land, a meadow which is open to the sun and therefore, at times, illuminated with natural light." The clearing of tracks through the forest lights the way and marks the "ley of the land." This describes something akin to a cosmic system of roadways upon which people travelled in ancient times. Firstly, lines were made visible by a cleared hilltop notch (a ley), then woodland was cleared through which the ley line passed (lay), then the clearance of domesticated fields on the landscape (lee). The names ley, lay, and lee therefore apply to each stage of the ley landscape development of a straight track or roadway. At dusk in those ancient times, seeing a tree grove on top of a mound on a ley line and a grove of trees on the ley light-way, filled with cosmic light and seeing an aura of light reflecting off manmade pools of water with an island of trees, straight lines passing through earthworks and stone circles and with darkened groves of trees glowing with soft light must certainly have been a sight to behold.

As already stated, Ley lines and light are very closely related as cosmic forces originating outside of the Earth and penetrating the Earth’s surface vertically at specific points. On entering the Earth a ley line continues to a point 265 feet below the surface where at this point, it makes a 90 degree right-angle turn and travels in a perfectly straight line as can be detected on the surface by using dowsing rods. It runs parallel to the Earth’s surface up hill and down dale, but always maintaining a depth of 265 ft .It is said that the average length of a ley line is twenty to thirty miles, although the length may vary from just a few feet to thousands of miles. The width of the line also varies, but the average is 6ft (approx 1.83 meters), about the original width of the (straight) Roman road. The horizontally travelling ley line exits the Earth by again turning 90 degrees and passing straight through the centre of the Earth and exiting on the opposite side. Vertical electromagnetic fields extend up from ley and water lines into homes and buildings. Many castles, stately homes and other grand dwellings built long ago are situated over ley and water lines. Anyone sitting or lying over a positive ley line for an extended period of time could develop a tendency to be hyperactive. This can be advantageous when administering, or receiving healing, or in a situation where extra energy is useful. Care must be taken however with anyone who is already energetically active, the ley line could have an adverse effect, causing an unhealthy situation. Should the extra energy received by a person be from a negative ley line it could quite possibly create or enhance tension, anxiety, and neurosis.In our experiences as paranormal investigators we have found that some individuals have become disoriented, felt light-headed, suffered shaking legs and had feelings of nausea when conducting investigations, especially during séances, when in premises situated over ley lines.

There are recorded sites in the Yorkshire area of the UK where witches' covens or other sects were known to practice their particular forms of ritual, probably harnessing the available energies of the Earth energies passing underneath. Today, at these sites it can be clearly seen that they are devoid of anything living, not even a blade of grass is to be seen growing. Such was the probable nature of the arts and rituals practised.
Researched and contributed by The Searching Elder

It is my opinion that paranormal investigations would be pointless and boring if we were to rely only on modern technological equipment. It is said that everybody is psychic in some way; it just needing to be awakened in our subconscious, probably lying dormant there from way back to times of pre-history when the psychic senses were a necessary part of survival in everyday life.

A psychic is an individual who is sufficiently sensitive to react to psychic influences around them, from the energy of places and people, and who pays attention to their normal intuitive awareness. Some have the ability to do this more than others, as their intuitive ability is more pronounced.

All psychics are not mediums, however all mediums are psychic.

A medium is a far more sensitive individual, whose heightened sense of mental awareness can be used in a personal reading, forming a link between the Spirit of a departed friend or loved one, who is anxious or willing, to communicate with someone still in the physical world on earth.

The psychics, whether conscious of it or not, receive or draw their information from the living vibrations of energy around them at earthly levels. A medium on the other hand has the ability to tune in to the higher levels and faster vibrations of energy above the earthly plain. Tuning in this way information is received from beyond the normal communication levels used by mankind. A medium therefore is a most important, if not essential part of any paranormal investigative team.

Mediums can be:  Claircognizant, Clairaudient, Clairvoyant, Clairsentient, Clairgustant & Clariscentrist.

Clairaudient : Clear hearing. A clairaudient hears words or sounds spoken. The faculty of hearing voices and other sounds not perceptible to the normal senses. Clairaudient Clair=Fr clear, audient= L for audience.

Claircognizant : Clear knowing. Receives instant knowledge, or knowing.

Clairsentient : Clear feeling, Also known as Empathic (empathy). A clairsentient smells scents, feels energies, presence, emotion, or symptoms within or around their own body. A word not found in most dictionaries. A person who has the psychic ability to feel things that cannot be felt by other people is referred to as being clairsentient.

Clariscentrist : Clear Smell. The ability to smell a fragrance or odour of a substance (or food) which is not in one’s surroundings.

Clairgustant : Clear taste. The ability to experience tasting food without putting anything into the mouth; it may include the smell of the food as well.

Clairvoyant : Clear seeing. Some clairvoyants can also 'see' physical illness and injury within the body. A clairvoyant will often receive information in the form of snapshots, symbols, moving pictures, or energies. A person possessing the power of perceiving objects not present to the normal senses, an unusual sensitivity or insight.

Channelling

Channelling or Trans-Mediumship is another psychic method of allowing spirits to speak through the person who has this unusual ability of ‘tuning in’ to the right frequencies of the spirit world. There are other people who are 'Sensitive' that is, having the ability to sense or feel paranormal or spiritually-related presences and energies. is no replacement, as yet, for the old fashioned methods that the various forms of mediumship can apply.

There are different depths of trans-medium channelling. Some people stay ‘with us’ while they are channelling, remembering what they said, whilst others are limited in recalling what they have said or done. Some people, known as deep trans-mediums cannot recall anything whatsoever regarding the content of the message they have given.
The process of deep trans-mediumship appears to be the person who is doing the Channelling to "step aside”, separating their conscious self from the physical self and allowing the body to be utilized for Spirit messages to come through. By removing the conscious self from the third dimensional self, the Channeller becomes a clear vessel for the information to come through.

A paranormal characteristic of a person, who also may be a "psychic," who has psychic powers, but has not the ability to communicate with the dead. A sensitive is not a medium, nor is a medium necessarily a sensitive, rather an instrument for spirit communication.
Sensitives may possess profound psychometric, telepathic, clairvoyant (ordinary and medical) powers; and may also tell fortunes, find objects and render accurate character definitions. However, they may claim no external source.

Spirit Guides

A spirit guide is a spirit person who works closely with a medium. He/she has a variety of jobs, but their main concern is to teach the medium spiritual truth. They can be looked upon as helpers, guiding and advising the medium about clairvoyance, healing, and other spiritual skills.

Who are they?
A guide could be anybody, but often they have lived on earth many centuries ago. Because of the time spent in spirit, they have become highly developed in spiritual ways. They choose to remain close to the earth life, and act as a link and teacher. Many mediums will often tell of their guide as being a Red Indian or from some other exotic race. The reason is simply that Red Indians for example, lived a very spiritual existence, and also believed in their own psychic skills. Based on these backgrounds, they are ideally suited to spiritual work. But it is not always the case, the level of spirituality dictates if they able to take on the work, not the background. A guide could also be, as some mediums report, someone they knew in a previous life, or indeed a family member. Whoever the guide is, and from whatever background, the medium will have some form of affinity with them. It is this familiarity that bonds them and allows them to work closely together.

One guide for one medium?
For some, yes. But often a guide will be with a medium for a particular part of their life, or to teach certain things. It may also be that a medium has more than one guide, each assisting with various tasks that the medium performs. For example they may have guide that assists them with healing. For some mediums, they meet their guides very early on in their lives and that guide will stay with them until the end of their earth life. It could be that many people meet their guide in development circles, where they learn to know and trust them. Guides present themselves as people, and even have a sense of humour. They are also concerned with your personal growth not just your psychic ability, you don't have to be a medium to have a guide.

Guardians & spirit helpers
Mediums also have a guardian, this spirit person could be likened to a doorkeeper, he is their to protect the medium and generally keep things in order. He can be called upon to sort things out if the medium becomes overworked or confused. Unlike the guide, the guardian is not a teacher but rather an onlooker with the mediums interest in mind.

There are other spirit helpers who may be known or unknown, who will aid you at certain times although it may not always be obvious to you. But if you listen to your 'gut feeling' or recognise an idea or new thought, you may have been listening to your guide or helpers!

The purpose of spirit guides
The guide acts a link between the medium and the world of spirit. He assists the medium to form a better contact with those who wish to communicate and aids less experienced communicators to get their message across. He will teach the medium how to attune to the spirit world and is both a friend and advisor. Another important role of the guide is in trance communication. Some guides have spoken through their medium, as in the case of Silver Birch. But the guide will also assist when another spirit person wishes to speak through the medium.

But a guide does not control or run the life of the medium, he/she retains their free will. A guide cannot force a medium to do what they don't want to and in no way dominates him / her. Nor can working with a guide free you from responsibility or making the wrong decisions in your life. But they will help where they can to lead the medium in the right direction, although ultimately the decision still lies with the medium themselves. A guide and medium will be in partnership, they both have the desire to be of service and let others know their loved ones have survived into a new world.

Do we all have a guide?
Wherever our life has led us, we all have a guide, although these may be referred to as Guardian Angels. These Angels will watch over us and try to steer us in the right direction. Perhaps you have had that `gut feeling` that made you do something or not do something, often that is your Guardian Angel lending a hand. It is still up to you to follow or reject those feelings. Many of us will go through life totally unaware of these spirit helpers, often only being to able to listen when tragedy strikes.

As our spirituality increases, for whatever reason, we tend to attract spirit helpers around us. We may be told by a medium who they are, often this is a general description. But it is when we begin to develop our own psychic skills that we truly become aware of our guides.

The term "sensitive" became popular in the 19th century with the rise of Spiritualism, and use synonymously with "medium"; however, its main connotation is non-Spiritualist, approximating the term "psychic."

Spiritualism

“Spiritualism, a system of professed communication with departed spirits, chiefly through people called mediums, the doctrine that the spirit exists as distinct from matter or as the only reality.”

Spiritualism is the only religion to have actually been made legal in the UK, (in 1947). The religion is based on a person’s ability (usually a Medium) in making contact, or communicating, with the spirits of deceased persons. It follows therefore that it is believed that there is life after death and that a spirit or soul is also periodically reincarnated.

Spiritualism welcomes and embraces people from all denominations regardless of their own religious belief, be that in Allah, Buddha, God, Jehovah etc. A Spiritualist Church is the only recognised religious building where a communication with deceased loved ones is allowed, encouraged and truly believed in.

(More on this subject to be added).

Psychometry

This is the ability to discover information about a person, whether living or dead, by ‘reading’ an object. Mental mediums sometimes hold an object that belonged to a deceased person in order to strengthen the link with that person, while experimental sittings can also be arranged to try to encourage a communication from a specific person without identifying who the sitter hopes might communicate.

Séances

The séance grips the imagination, lays hold of emotions, and causes blood to tingle and hair to rise... all these combine to play upon our sensibilities creating an effect which no utterance of prophecy, no reading of minds, stars, crystal balls or tea leaves can produce. Robert Somerlott from Here, Mr. Splitfoot (1971)

The séance was the most effective way, according to Spiritualist mediums, of communicating with the dead. In this manner, messages from the departed could be passed on to the living and the spirits could announce their presence by manifesting displays of the supernatural.

Séances were usually held in the home of the medium or that of one of the sitters. To begin, the lights were normally turned down very low or extinguished altogether. The reason for this, Spiritualists believed, was that spirit forms were more easily seen in the darkness. Often they manifested as luminous apparitions or would cause things to move about in ways that would only be done if it could remain unseen. Debunkers and sceptics, of course, offered other reasons for this -- that darkened conditions would hide the deceptive practice of fraud.

The sitters were normally divided equally by gender and those who were sceptical were generally excluded. A circular arrangement of chairs worked best, normally around a large table. Their hands were placed flat on the table, sometimes clasped together or merely with their fingers touching.

There were a number of unwritten rules for séances as well. Usually, no more than two or three séances were held in a week and they were to last for no more than two hours unless the spirits asked for an extension. Sitters were not allowed to touch the mediums or any of the manifested spirits, unless the spirits touched them first. It was believed that to come into contact with the medium, one of the manifested forms or the ectoplasm that might be generated by the medium during her trance, could severely injure the medium or perhaps the sitter. In addition, a sudden return to consciousness caused by interfering with the medium could cause illness, insanity or even death.

Another vital ingredient for a successful séance was appropriate music. Most sittings opened with hymns or prayers and on many reported occasions, the spirits chimed in with ghostly music and the creation of melodies though instruments like trumpets, horns and tambourines.

The furnishings of the séance room were normally simple and made of wood. Small tables were often needed for tilting and tapping by the spirits and sitters were normally provided with basic wooden chairs. Many physical mediums also made use of what were called spirit cabinets, an enclosure where the medium could be segregated while entering the trance state. Many of the cabinets were actual wood enclosures, although it was more common for a corner of the room to be hung with a curtain and closed off from view.

The phenomena reported at the séances varied greatly. Sitters often recognized the "arrival" of the spirits by a rush of cold air in the room, followed by rapping and tapping, knocking and perhaps strange lights, sounds and voices. The phenomena would often intensify as the evening progressed. Simple noises and lights were often followed by elaborate messages from the beyond, usually coming directly through the medium. The spirits would make themselves known by the manifestation of ectoplasm, by levitating tables or writing on "spirit slates", which were ordinary chalkboards upon which unexplained writing would appear. Séance Images 

Speaking in Tongues

Glossolalia and xenoglossy are two closely related areas, with the significant difference that glossolalia means that someone is speaking in a nonsense language and xenoglossy a genuine foreign language. What makes this a subject for paranormalists is the claim that the practitioner does not know the language. A language may be spoken by a medium in a trance state, or by a worshipper in an evangelical church whose emotions have been whipped up into a state of ecstasy. Some unknown languages have been claimed to be angel tongues or the language of distant planets. Of course, such claims cannot be proven.

Table Tilting (tipping)

This is one of the activities fruitfully practised by sitter groups. It involves a number of people sitting round a small but stable table. They lay their hands on its top, touching fingers with their neighbours so that cheating by hand can be ruled out, and encourage the table to tilt. A light-hearted approach usually helps, whereas a serious, inquisitorial attitude can kill it stone dead. Proper experimentation requires long weeks or even months of practice and dedication. It will all be worth it when your table starts jumping around the sitting room without your hands touching it. Just make sure you’re insured for breakages.

Vigils

One or more vigils often form part of the investigative process. They are often, but not exclusively, held at night, partly due to restrictions on access to premises during the working day and partly due to the type of phenomena being investigated. Some phenomena involving light can be difficult to see in daylight.

Small teams of investigators are positioned at various sites around the building, preferably within eye contact of other team members. Each vigil is split into ‘watches’, with teams coming off duty and swapping position with other teams at regular intervals. Team members write up notes during the watch, and after the vigil a debriefing session is held in order to cross-check timings and other details of any events.

Witchcraft

Witchcraft is also known as Wicca, an ancient tradition of religious belief and magic in the western world. Up to relatively recent times people were persecuted in western Europe, including Great Britain, for their beliefs and practices. Old women who knew the secrets of healing herbs and people with traditional, non-Christian (i.e. pagan) beliefs were the object of great suspicion, particularly at times when the Church was feeling weakened by reform movements that threatened to fracture it. This led to vindictive witch hunts, which led in turn to imprisonments, accusations and counter-accusations, trumped-up charges of bewitching crops, people and animals, trials, hangings and burnings. The most famous case in England was perhaps that of the Lancashire witches, centred on the villages around Pendle Hill, but other countries had bloodier and smokier periods than England. Practitioners of Wicca still attract a certain amount of suspicion, with Christian fundamentalists even staging protests outside public halls holding events of the Mind, Body and Spirit type.

Smudging

Smudging is the burning of certain herbs to create a cleansing smoke bath, which is used to purify people, ceremonial and ritual space, and ceremonial tools and objects.
Many differing cultures and peoples have their own methods and herbal mixtures for this purpose. Smudging, done correctly, can bring physical, spiritual and emotional balance.
Not everyone views the practice of smudging in the same way and different herbs may be used for different purposes.
The burning of herbs or incense is a practice held sacred by many indigenous cultures. It is a ritual for cleansing, purifying and protecting the physical and spiritual bodies. The effect of the smoke is to banish negative energies.


Popular Herbs:
The principle herbs used are sage, cedar or juniper, lavender and sweet grass.

Generally, sage, sweet grass, and cedar are burned to purify and protect one's living area, self and sacred tools.

The herbs are burnt on their own or in mixtures, depending on tradition and required effect.


Sage:
Sage (Artemisia tridentia) is not the same as the European varieties and is indigenous to the Americas.

There are two major genera and several varieties of each genus of Sage that are used for smudging. Salvia, or the herb sage used for cooking, comes in two major varieties: S. officinalis, commonly known as Garden Sage, and S. apiana, commonly known as White Sage. Salvia varieties have long been acknowledged as healing herbs, reflected in the fact that its genus name comes from the Latin root word salvare, which is the verb "to heal" or "to save." Artemisia is the genus commonly considered "Sagebrush", and is more common in California.

There are two major varieties to the Artemisia genus: A. californica or Common Sagebrush, and A. vulgaris or Mugwort. There are many other varieties of both Salvia and Artemisia, and all are effective in smudging. Sage is burned in smudging ceremonies to drive out evil spirits, negative thoughts and feelings, and to keep negative entities away from areas where ceremonials take place.

Sage is also used in keeping sacred objects free of negative energies.


Cedar, Cypress and Juniper:
For smudging, the best is Western Red Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and California Incense Cedar (Libocedrus descurrens). Cedar is burnt while praying and in meditation, and also to bless a house before moving in as is the tradition in the Northwest and Western Canada. It works both as a purifier and as a way to attract good energy in your direction. It is usually available in herb stores in chipped form, which must be sprinkled over a charcoal in a brazier.


Sweetgrass:
Tthe sweetgrass is braided like hair braids. It could be burnt by lighting the end of it, or (more economically) by shaving little bits of it onto charcoal in a brazier. Sweetgrass is burnt after smudging with sage, to welcome in good influences after the bad had been driven out. Sweetgrass is not common today.

Bay Leaf:
Bay leaf is traditionally used to protect against colds and flu.

Fennel:
Fennel is effective in repelling negative energies and calms the nerves.

Mugwort:
Mugwort is used for healing, divination and to stimulate dreams and visions. It can be burned during rituals or before sleeping. However as some people find it to be slightly mind-altering, avoid its use before driving.

Mullien:
Mullien is an effective herb for healing emotional trauma that originates from relationships with other people and it provides protection when beginning a new project. Most people find the smoke to be very grounding and calming. It is often used at the end of a ritual in which Mugwort has been burned at the beginning.

Orris Root:
Orris root when burned with Celery seeds increases psychic gifts and concentration.

Pine, Fir, Hemlock, and Spruce:
Pine, Fir, Hemlock, and Spruce are burnt for their purifying and cleansing effect. They are most effective in combination with other herbs.

Smudging may be done by yourself or with one or more other people. There are many different rituals and methods used when smudging. One or more herbs used in different combinations or alone. Rooms and psychic tools, such as crystals and other objects that hold energy, are often smudged/cleansed on a regular basis.
The initial smudging is for the purpose of purifying the space and participants and for banishing any unwanted energies.

Cleansing the ceremonial or ritual space before and after the event is an essential part of spiritual hygiene. The final smudge is to cleans any negative vibrations and energies attracted or created during the proceedings. It is also a good thing to do on a regular basis for both one's self and one's living space, to maintain individual and domestic harmony.

Smudging itself takes many forms. Sometimes herbs are tied in a bundle called a 'smudge stick' and allowed to dry. Some herbs lend themselves to braiding. n olden times, the end of the smudge stick or braid was lit from the central or cooking fire. Today a candle is recommended as it takes some time to get the stick smoking.

Loose dried herbs may also be placed directly onto the burning wood in an indoor fireplace or crumbled between the fingers over a piece of charcoal. The container used for the charcoal and herbs needs to be fireproof. Ceramic or glass bowls with a layer of sand or salt work well. Especially nice is an abalone shell with a layer of coloured sand in the bottom. Remember that the container may be come warm enough to scorch a surface or burn your hand.

Things to Avoid:
The idea behind burning herbs is to release their energy and fragrance, not to fill the room or your lungs with smoke. Make sure the bowl/vessel you use can support the heat that will be produced so it will not crack. Burning excessive amounts can lead to respiratory distress or problems. Avoid smudging in the room when infants, pregnant persons, asthmatic or allergy-prone people are present. Never leave your smudge sticks, candles or charcoal unattended to avoid fire hazards. Blowing into the mixture is not encouraged as it is seen as blowing one's own negativity into the mixture. The mixture is then wafted around one's self like a smoke bath. When burning a smudge stick or braid, they will eventually go out on their own, but should you need to put them out quickly, you can tamp the end out in sand or soil, shaking off the excess. Using water is messy and not generally recommended.

Spititual Conections:
Remember that all things are created from some form of electromagnetic energy/ aura and can merge to bring balance or imbalance.
The aura and souls of the plants/herbs and people can merge to this end when smudging.

Smudging is often used by healers. During the healing the smoke may be fanned over the person by the healer either using their hand, feathers or a fan. This clears out unhealthy energies and brings in the special attributes of the herbs. There are various invocations, chants, and prayers used during the healing.

A spiritual connection is thought to be made between the person and his spirit guides - and between the person and the spirit of the herbs to join and guide in sacred/higher frequency work. Part of the spiritual work of the plant is to work with human spirits. When you have the intention to be partners, it enables them to work actively with you and much more of their magic manifests in their lives.

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