How to utilize a wand or stick of sage:
The first rule is this: once the sage is lit, you do not stop it from burning. The spirit of the sage knows just how much negativity or positive ions are around and it will burn accordingly. When the ions have been neutralized, it will cease burning on its own. You can tell how 'bad' it is by the quality of the smoke the smudge stick emits: thin, light smoke indicates the place or person is fairly clean. Thick, rolling white smoke means the place or person has a lot of positive ions or negativity around them and it needs this thicker smoke to deal with it. If you are done smudging, then set the bowl on your electric or gas stove and let it burn itself out until it is done. Under no circumstances are you to put it under water to douse the smoke or do something to stop it from burning. The spirit of the wand knows what is needed, and where. If you watch the smoke, you will see it drift to a particular part of the room, car, or person because that is where the healing/catalyzation of energy needs to be done and accomplished.
1. Always have a heat proof bowl to put the sage in, after it has been ignited. We use an abalone shell; but any piece of thick, fired pottery (or even a Pyrex bowl) will do. If you are using a bowl, you may well want an oven mitten on you hand to prevent burns because sage burns HOT. It is the spiritual nature of it to do so. Do not use a container that is not bake or tempered for high heat--it will crack it and it could cause a fire. Do not use anything metal, because heat is conductive and you will get burned.
2. Be safe. Do not have doors or windows or a fan on when you "smudge" yourself, a room or your house. It can blow sparks out of the bowl and onto the floor or surrounding area. Don't be wearing billowy, long-sleeved blouse or shirt when you fan the smoke. Don't have long hair draped down near the bowl with the smudge stick being held in it. Be common sensed about this.
3. Light the sage with a match at the very tips of the leaves on top of the wand. Once they flame to life, then blow them out quickly. We use a feather fan to do this, but you can use a piece of stout paper or even cardboard or a paper fan. It's important to NOT let it blame and burn. Once it is lit, and the flame is blown out, it will smoke thinly or thickly, afterward. The catalyzation comes with the smoke, not the flame.
4. Place the lit, smoking top of the wand of sage deep down inside the bowl and steady the rest of it, on the stick portion at the other end, with your other hand.
SMUDGING A ROOM
Keep the windows and doors closed to the room you have chosen to smudge. You can take a fan or a small piece of cardboard and start in one corner of your room, and gently waft the smoke after it clears the bowl, from the floor, up, toward the ceiling. Do this in a clockwise circle in each corner of your room. When you are done with the fourth corner, move to the center of the room, raise the bowl chest high and waft smoke up toward the center of the room. You are now done. When you leave the room, shut the door behind you. When you go back in an hour later; you'll see that the room feels better and is even "lighter" appearing to your eyes than before.
SMUDGING A HOUSE
If you are doing a complete house, then do each room in this fashion. Do not miss a room. Get all of them. If you want only one room done, then close the door behind you and smudge the room--and leave the smoke in that room--do not open windows or doors to let it out. It will dissipate surprisingly swiftly. You can also smudge your garage and basement in the same, above manner. Just make sure the garage door is closed and that the door leading to the basement is closed while smudging and closed after you depart from it.
