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Smudging vs Smoke Cleansing

One of the most common mistakes that I see people make is interchanging these two terms, or using one instead of the other. They are in fact two separate things, and one is part of a closed practice so it is important to know the difference.

Smudging

Smudging is part of Native American traditions, making it part of a closed practice. In fact, due to parts of it being ceremonial, it is impossible for outsiders to smudge as they literally do not know how. Non-natives are not taught the ceremonial parts of smudging, so unless you were taught how, you genuinely cannot be smudging. While different tribes sometimes do it differently, every example I’ve seen does involve burning various plants, which is why it is often confused with smoke cleansing.

Smoke Cleansing

Smoke cleansing is the act of using smoke to influence a space’s energy. This often involves burning plants with cleansing, protective, or other properties to bring those properties to the space itself. Some examples I’ve seen used are sage, rosemary, or even lavender depending on the intended purpose. This is what the majority of witches are doing when they burn herbs around a space. However, it is still important to make sure the plants you are burning will not harm you if inhaled, and that if you are using plants traditionally used by native peoples that they are sourced ethically (here is a post that explains why it matters). If you cannot source your plants ethically, then kitchen varieties of most plants can be used instead.

Knowing the difference between these is really important, as they are different practices. I wanted to make this post because I see the terms used interchangeably or incorrectly literally every time I come on this site, so I hope it helped!