One of the first things we did in our new cottage is light a smudge stick. We brought this one back from New Mexico with us in May, and have been saving it for just this thing. Mostly, I just love the smell of burning sage, but it is a nice ritual you can do to “cleanse” a new house and make it yours. I lit the sage (you have to blow on a it a bit to get it burning and to create a nice smoke trail), and then I walked along the perimeters of each room, circling it with the sage stick. The idea is that you do so to “purge negative spririts.” It sounds a little woo-ey, but it is a nice way to kick off a new place. You can read more about smudging rituals here and here. Regardless of whether you believe the spirituality aspects of them, they smell divine and make great housewarming gifts. Click here to buy some ($4/each) from a store in Taos. No plane tickets necessary!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 7:38 am and is filed under fixing, giving. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.