What is Sage, and How do I use it?

I’m sure if you’ve been following me for a little while, you’ve seen me use or talk about Sage. You might be asking, what the heck is it? Well, I’ve got answers!

Sage is basically an herb, bundled up and used for cleansing. As it burns, it has powerful healing and cleansing power that you can use! Personally, I sage my home, myself, my tarot cards, and sometimes even my crystals. Why do I use sage? Well I’m glad you asked!

Imagine yourself and your home as a big magnet. All day long we push things off us, but also get things stuck to us. This can be positive or negative energy — but either way, we need a clean slate to focus on our own energy and harness it to its full potential. Empaths especially need to be cleansed because of all the yuckies we pick up from other people! (If you don’t know what an Empath is, I’ll write about it soon.)

So sage truly works wonders for getting all that foreign energy off of ourselves, our homes, and other objects. I’ve been using sage fairly consistently for a long time now! On my big “clean-the-house” days, I almost always end it with a sage cleanse.

So if you’re interested in sage, I’ll give you the run down on how to use it! But first you might ask, where do I buy sage?!

I personally get my sage from Mandies Magical Marketplace in Lewes, DE. But almost any metaphysical shop will sell it!

Below I’m going to list the directions for the ritual that I learned from a woman who belongs to a local Coven. If you live in an apartment or somewhere that you can’t follow these exact steps, modify where necessary.

** Attention: this is actually part of a post I wrote last year! I don’t do step one or two every time anymore, but if this is your very first time using sage in your home, I’d recommend it. After that you can just follow steps 3 and beyond. **

Step One

Once you have your sage lit (you may need to relight a couple times) go outside of your home. Walk your sage counter-clockwise around the perimeter of the home 3 times. During this walk, you can choose to say a incantation, whether in your head or aloud. My personal incantation was “Air, Fire, Water, Earth; Cleanse, dismiss, dispell.” You can come up with your own or research different ones if you’d like.

Step Two

Once you’ve finished your walk, come back to the front of your home. Now you’re going to go clockwise around the perimeter one time. This is to set a boundary/wall around your home that will keep negative energy/spirits/etc out of your home. My personal incantation for this was “I am setting this boundary to only allow love, light, and positive energy to thrive in this home.” Again, you can make up your own or research some others. Once you’ve went a full clockwise circle, head inside.

Step Three

Now you need to figure out what clockwise would be in your home. For myself, I start in each room going clockwise and repeat the words “Love, Light, and Positive Energy.” Once I finish in one room, I’d do the same in another, and continue until I reach the end of the house and had gone through all the rooms.

Step Four

Quick step to finish out your ritual. Once you’ve gone through each room and the entire house, crack a door or window. This is to allow the negative energy/spirits/etc to leave the home. I personally crack my kitchen window and bathroom window, and ask any “negative energy/spirits/what-have-you to leave this home.” Be assertive! When I’m ready, normally after 30 minutes, I close the windows.

Finishing

Once you’ve gone through all the steps, you can use an Abalone shell (they normally sell these with the sage) or some kind of heat-resistant bowl/cup/etc to smudge out your sage. It took me a minute to get mine to stop burning, so just be patient. Depending on how big your home is, you probably still have some sage left over. You can do this ritual anytime that you feel it is needed!

After I complete my sage ritual, I like to sit down and take in the energy and the smel;. Sage definitely has a specific, strong scent but to me it is super calming. Take in the energy of your home — my home literally feels lighter after a smudge, and so do I! You can feel the absence of negative energy, or really any energy, in each room. Sage gives you a clean slate and refreshes your environment in an amazing way. Once you do your first Sage cleansing, you’ll want to keep doing them!

What do you think of Sage? Have you tried this before, or are you planning to? Comment your thoughts below!