One of the most interesting things about her visit was that she went straight to the areas of the house that concerned me even though she had no idea what those were. For example, I absolutely hated the feeling of our closet. It just felt horrible to me almost as if I couldn't breathe in there, even tho it's a large closet. She told me that the closet had been the scene of many bad arguments, some of which had escalated to violence. These arguments had caused negative energy to build up in the space and that's what I was picking up on. Anyway, after she smudged the closet and hung up a red mobile thing to keep the chi (energy) moving, I have never had trouble with the closet again, other than keeping it tidy.

What's really interesting is that even my husband who has the psychic sensitivity of a newt felt the difference in the house after the cleansing. It felt different right after she left, but a week later the house felt so much lighter and airier. It was like we had been walking underwater and suddenly we were above the surface. Truly, it was a night and day difference. Smudging definitely had a lot to do with it, I'm sure.

One idea regarding poltergeist activity is that it is centered not on spirits or discarnate entities, but on living individuals. Parapsychology research has in fact confirmed this in controlled studies conducted over the past half-century and published in the Journal of Parapsychology among other places.

Smudging (and similar related rituals and practices) may work because it fulfills expectations of living individuals who are poltergeist agents. We have found that these people are successful influencing their environments because of a combination of physical and psychological factors. One of the psychological factors is belief. If that belief can be affected it can potentially impact their ability to produce the phenomena, with the overall outcome of reducing or even eliminating the unwanted disturbances.

While this certainly does not address every situation, it does explain a reasonably large subset of anecdotal stories associated with smudging and similar practices over the years.

Thanks, PhenomInvestigator- that was a really interesting read!

I've actually been really interested in that field, as well and have wondered a lot about the role our emotional state plays on the world around us. I can see how the process of smudging might help, like a placebo.

For me, this smudging really was just about a freshening up of my surroundings. I found an article explaining smudging's reaction being similar to that of the ocean- and I'm a big big fan of going to the sea shore(lucky for me it's a short drive away). I really never bought into the whole smudging thing, but figured if there is a possible science behind it, it just might work.

From what I've experienced with it, the scent of it was relaxing- similar to being at the beach. The house and my family's mental states seemed relaxed- like you would be after getting out of a hot tub(which is also moving water like the ocean) So I am thinking that there is something to this whole pos/neg ion theory.

As for people who use smudging for "real" paranormal circumstances, I have no idea. I know what people have told me(it helped them a lot) and I'm not about to judge it. If it helped them, all I can do is take them at their word and be happy their problems have been taken care of. But like with most paranormal situations, I just don't get how it all works. If paranormal entities are scared off by the production of negative ions, I guess that means there aren't any haunted hot tubs out there lol. But for a specific explanation of how negative ion production works as paranormal bug spray, I'm still at a loss.

Smudging (and similar related rituals and practices) may work because it fulfills expectations of living individuals who are poltergeist agents. We have found that these people are successful influencing their environments because of a combination of physical and psychological factors. One of the psychological factors is belief. If that belief can be affected it can potentially impact their ability to produce the phenomena, with the overall outcome of reducing or even eliminating the unwanted disturbances.

While this certainly does not address every situation, it does explain a reasonably large subset of anecdotal stories associated with smudging and similar practices over the years.

I've got to say that the overall feeling in the house is definitely more relaxed. I'm still pretty surprised at the results. I enjoyed the process so much that I'm actually looking forward to doing it again. It was not only cathartic, but effective. Perhaps it's psychosomatic, but either way, I'm happy. I'm very very sensitive to "bad vibes" so to speak, so this was a great fix.

I'm very happy for you that things are better........ /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

Jilla......How are things going now that some time has passed since the smudging?

I've got to say that the overall feeling in the house is definitely more relaxed. I'm still pretty surprised at the results. I enjoyed the process so much that I'm actually looking forward to doing it again. It was not only cathartic, but effective. Perhaps it's psychosomatic, but either way, I'm happy. I'm very very sensitive to "bad vibes" so to speak, so this was a great fix.

Unfortunately, just walking in the house aggravated his allergies and gave him itchy eyes.

Guess if I do smudge anytime soon, it'll have to be a day I can leave the windows open. Oops!

I lit the sage and waved the flame out with a paper plate. I then placed it in a pyrex dish which I held with a pot holder as sage burns very hot.

I started in my bedroom and waved the smoke with the paper plate into each corner of the room. I'm not sure if I waved too much, but by the time I got to my daughter's room, the smoke was slowing. There were two rooms(me & my husband's room and my mom's room) which seemed to produce the most smoke. I actually saw an obvious increase in certain areas.

Downstairs the smoke was pretty limited, but you could still see it and smell it. Oh, I also did my crawl space upstairs and the basement, as well as myself, my daughter and my mother. I'm not sure if I should have re-lit it to get it going again. Maybe I will try that next time.

Overall, the smell wasn't that bad and I immediately started feeling calmer and more relaxed. In general I did feel an overall calm in the house. Honestly, I went into it rather skeptically. At the end, I lit it one more time, waved it out and left it in the pyrex dish on my stove. I had read that the negative ions from the sage will "seek out" any positive ions left in the home if you do this.

I did no ritual, really, and yet I do feel the effects.

I am not sure what kind of effect this really would have on ghosts ect., but there seem to be many personal experiences saying that it is very effective. To me, it really seems like it is a chemical reaction, and not a product of a ritual. If sage emitting negative ions does in fact scare away spirits like supernatural bug spray, then I guess beaches everywhere must be entity free lol

Granted, I don't have anything to offer as far as Smudging for haunting purposes, as I was just doing it for relaxing purposes. I do live on haunted property, and the spirits do come to my house from time to time, so I wonder if this smudging will keep them away, which wasn't really my intention. I'm not even sure if Smudging is selective in only scaring away negative spirits vs. good ones.

Regardless, I feel relaxed and ready for a good nap. Even my two year old is calmly lying next to me hugging my arm. Lately, she's just been wired, cranky and off the wall- heck, I think everyone in my family has felt that way. And as soon as my husband comes home from his stressful job I plan on being right next to the door with my smudge wand to waft him down so he won't harsh my mellow /cool.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':unsure:' />

Well, my white sage has been ordered and shipped. Countdown to my Smudge experiment has begun.

I figure best case scenario, my house feels uplifted and brighter(go negative ions, go!) Worst case scenario, it's a load of malarkey and my house smells like a hippy den for a few days. Either way, it was really inexpensive(under 5 dollars) and has to be worth a shot.

The hippy den is certainly a possibility. To me, burning sage smells like doob. Not that I've ever smelled doob....

But the negative ions are the good ones! Positive ions make you feel weary, tired and generally bad.

I know /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> That was a cheer- not a threat to them lol

Well, my white sage has been ordered and shipped. Countdown to my Smudge experiment has begun.

I figure best case scenario, my house feels uplifted and brighter(go negative ions, go!) Worst case scenario, it's a load of malarkey and my house smells like a hippy den for a few days. Either way, it was really inexpensive(under 5 dollars) and has to be worth a shot.

Please let us know how it goes Jilla.... /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Well, my white sage has been ordered and shipped. Countdown to my Smudge experiment has begun.

I figure best case scenario, my house feels uplifted and brighter(go negative ions, go!) Worst case scenario, it's a load of malarkey and my house smells like a hippy den for a few days. Either way, it was really inexpensive(under 5 dollars) and has to be worth a shot.

But the negative ions are the good ones! Positive ions make you feel weary, tired and generally bad.

I figure best case scenario, my house feels uplifted and brighter(go negative ions, go!) Worst case scenario, it's a load of malarkey and my house smells like a hippy den for a few days. Either way, it was really inexpensive(under 5 dollars) and has to be worth a shot.