Sage Advice: Guide to Cleansing Your Home with Sage

If you’ve reached the glorious, unpredictable stage of life where you can’t decide if you’re too hot or too cold, you forget why you walked into a room, and you have a low tolerance for nonsense in any form, then you, my friend, are the perfect candidate for home cleansing.

No, I don’t mean Marie Kondo-ing your sock drawer and sparking joy (though that’s never a bad idea). I’m talking about the ancient, fragrant, slightly smoky art of sage cleansing. Have you heard of it? Have you done it?

It's a ritual I have performed many times in multiple places I've lived and its awesome. Highly recommend. It's a way to reset your living space, kick out the invisible heaviness, and make your home feel like it's yours again.

By now you’ve probably got a pretty good sense of what you like, what you’ll tolerate, and what you absolutely will not allow in your home. Unfortunately, not everyone or everything that enters your space respects those boundaries. Sometimes there is an off feeling which seems to linger in the air long after you've had an argument, a negative houseguest, or a hard season of life.

So, in this blog we will take a look at the origins of "saging", how to do it without burning down your curtains, and why it might just become your favorite new ritual. Its definitely one of mine.

Just as tiny word of warning. If you get on with your neighbours you might want to let them know you haven't suddenly taken up smoking a different kind of strong smelling, fragrant mind altering herb, as the smell can sometimes be quite similar, and it might be wafting out into the garden or through vents!

A Brief History of Sage Cleansing

Before you light anything, it’s good to know whose tradition you’re borrowing from. Burning plants to purify spaces is a practice older than some of the wrinkles we now moisturize nightly.

Indigenous North American traditions

In many Indigenous cultures, white sage (Salvia apiana) holds deep spiritual significance. Tribes like the Chumash, Cahuilla, and Lakota have used it for centuries in ceremonies to purify, heal, and connect with the spiritual world. For them, the smoke from sage carries prayers and intentions upward, much like incense in other traditions.

It’s important to note, the word “smudging” is specifically tied to these ceremonial practices. If you’re simply doing a secular or personal cleansing, it’s more respectful to call it “smoke cleansing” or “sage cleansing” rather than smudging.

European Folk Traditions

Across the Atlantic, Europeans were also setting plants on fire in the name of protection and cleanliness. Common garden sage (Salvia officinalis) was burned in medieval times to ward off illness, especially during plague outbreaks.

In ancient Rome, sage was considered sacred. Harvesting it required a special ceremony, including wearing clean clothes and using a special knife. The Romans valued it for both cooking and medicine. The name salvia literally means “to save” or “to heal.”

Other Cultures’ Smoke Rituals

There are other plant burning rituals all over the globe:

• In Japan, incense is used in Buddhist temples for purification.

• In West Africa, frankincense and myrrh are burned in ceremonial spaces.

• In Celtic traditions, juniper was burned to cleanse and protect homes.

Why Cleanse Your Home at All?

Let’s be honest, sometimes your house or office space just feels weird. You just feel a bit unsettled, and can't put your finger on it.

A variety of things could have happened. Maybe,

• You’ve just gone through a breakup and every corner of your home still feels like it’s holding the other persons energy.

• Your grown child moved out, and the empty bedroom has an energy best described as “teenager hangover.”

• The last few months at work have been stressful, messy, and you need a hard reset.

• You’re going through perimenopause or Menopause and your personal thermostat isn’t the only thing fluctuating wildly. You have had mood swings and rages and you want some stability somewhere.

Sage cleansing can help mark a transition, close a chapter, or just give you a symbolic “fresh start.” Even if you think of it purely as a ritual with no mystical impact, there’s something deeply satisfying about physically walking through your space with intention. Intention is the most important part of the whole process.

I personally find this both symbolic and a very spiritual.

Choosing Your Sage (Without Wrecking the Planet)

Although it is a wonderful and very beneficial process, it is really important to be aware of the fact that white sage has been overharvested due to Instagram-worthy “wellness” trends. In some areas, wild white sage populations are under threat.

So, what is the answer to this. Some possibilities are:-

Buy Ethically Sourced Sage

Look for sage from:

• Indigenous-owned businesses - Many sell sage grown and harvested ethically

• Local herbalists or farmers - Garden sage and other cleansing herbs can be just as effective.

• Reputable metaphysical shops - that disclose their suppliers. If they don't or can't then buy elsewhere.

Consider Alternatives

You don't have to use white sage to cleanse a home. You could try any of the following:-

• Common garden sage (you could try to grow it yourself)

• Rosemary (smells fresh, burns well)

• Lavender (lovely for relaxation)

• Juniper or cedar (woodsy and protective)

Mix and match for your own signature “house blend.”

Tools you’ll need (and what not to do)

So how do you actually sage cleanse in your home?. Gather these before you start so you don’t end up running through the house holding a smoking bundle in one hand and frantically searching for something fireproof in the other:

• Your sage bundle or loose leaves

• Fireproof bowl or shell (abalone shells are traditional, but a ceramic dish works fine)

• Matches or a lighter

• Small bowl of sand or dirt (to extinguish embers)

• Windows and doors you can open (don't trap smoke inside, your lungs will not like it)

• Optional: Feather or fan (or just use your hand like I do)

  
  

Step-by-Step Sage Cleansing (without burning your house down)

1. Clear and Prep

• Do a quick tidy. You don’t need to mop floors, but this isn't the time to trip over laundry baskets.

• Open at least one window in each room. You’re giving the current stagnant energy (or just stale air) somewhere to go.

2. Set Your Intention

Just think clearly about why you’re doing this. Intention is a hugely important part of the proess. A few examples:

• “I want my home to feel calm and welcoming.”

• “I’m letting go of stress and heaviness.”

• “Please remove the scent of teenage sports socks from this room.”

3. Light the Sage

• Hold it at a 45-degree angle.

• Light the tip and let it burn for about 10 seconds.

• Blow it out so it smolders. You want smoke, not a torch.

4. Start at the Front Door

Symbolically, you’re setting the tone at your home’s entry point.

5. Move Clockwise Through the House

• Wave smoke into corners, along skirting boards, and over doorways. Keep wafting and setting your intentions for the space.

• If you want, speak your intention out loud. This is your home, you get to sound however you like in it.

• You can keep it simple, or use words to focus your mind:

“Smoke rise, carry away what’s heavy, what’s stale, what can’t stay. I welcome peace, I welcome light. My home is safe, my heart feels right.”

Say it out loud, whisper it, or just hold it in your mind.

• Linger where the energy feels “thick.” Trust your instincts. that sounds a bit wishy washy but you will get a general sense of this, and also do not worry if you don't.

6. Don’t forget cupboards and Hallways

Energy (and dust) loves to hide there.

7. Give yourself a quick waft

When done, pass the smoke briefly over yourself, like a symbolic, cleansing smoke shower.

8. Extinguish safely

Press the burning end into your sand/dirt until completely out. I know you know, after being on this earth for so long but I have to say it. Never just chuck it into the bin when you are done, embers have a sneaky way of reigniting.

Making it your own

The beauty of sage cleansing is it’s flexible. Feel free to do any of the following if you wish.

• Play calming music, or your favorite ‘80s playlist, yes, you can cleanse to Bon Jovi and Madonna

• Pair it with another ritual like putting fresh flowers in a vase, changing bedsheets, brewing a pot of tea.

• Do it seasonally, maybe at the start of spring, before the winter holidays, or whenever menopause/ teenager in the house mood swings demand a reset.

  
  

Sage, Menopause and the art of "Letting Go"

Here’s the thing. Midlife often comes with a deep, instinctive urge to strip away what no longer serves you, like old emotional baggage or those jeans from 1994. We all come at this time of life from a variety of angles but there is no doubt it can sometimes be a very tricky and de-stabilising period. Sage cleansing fits beautifully into this life stage because it’s not just about things, it’s about space and energy.

You might find that after a round of cleansing:

• You feel calmer walking into your home.

• You sleep better (once the hot flashes allow it).

• You’re more intentional about who and what you let in.

Safety and common sense (I know that you know, but we have to go there)

• Always supervise burning sage. If your kids are around and interested, by all means get them involved, but keep an eye on any lit embers which may drop from your sage bundle.

• Keep pets out, they have delicate lungs.

• Avoid over-smoking rooms

• Store your sage bundle in a dry place so it doesn’t mold between uses.

Alternatives for the Smoke-Sensitive

If you or someone in your house can’t handle smoke there are some other things you can do which have the same or similar effects. The main element to remember is to make sure your intention is strong.

• Sound cleansing: Use a bell, chime, or clap your hands in each corner.

• Essential oils: Diffuse sage, lavender, or cedarwood.

• Open-air blast: Throw open all windows and doors for 10 minutes.

• Salt: Place small bowls in corners for 24 hours, then discard.

• Incense: Nag Champa, sandalwood, frankincenseall, can be used to create a cleansing ritual.

• Resins: Frankincense and myrrh, burned on charcoal disks, have been used for centuries in spiritual and medicinal contexts.

• Aromatic Simmer Pots: Boil citrus slices, cinnamon, and cloves for a fresh, uplifting scent, no smoke involved.

  

  
  

Final Thoughts

Sage cleansing is not about perfection, magic spells, or pretending you’re a high priestess (unless that’s your thing, and it does sound quite cool in all honesty). It’s about taking time to physically and mentally reclaim your space, and if you’re anything like me, you know the value of claiming space, whether that’s in a conversation, in a crowded to do list, or in your own living room. It is a calming, peaceful

and clarifyng ritual which can significantly, positively impact your environment, and ultimately you.

So next time the house feels heavy, the air feels stale, or you just need to press life’s reset button, light your sage, open your windows, and walk through your space like the queen of her castle.

Because you are.