Smudging

Smudging is a way to clean the energies in your home. Use dried olive leaves or sage. Hold odd numbered (3, 5 or 7) leaves in your hand and light them with a lighter. The dry leaves will flame up, gently blow on them to get rid of the flames; the leaves will burn slowly for about a minute. Walk with the leaves through your house and disburse the smoke. You can also use dry sage right out of your spice rack. Put some in a small bowl, light it up and walk around your home disbursing the smoke. When done, discard the leaves or the burnt sage. Do this as often as you like. It will clear the energies in your home.

Olives are native to the Mediterranean area. The tree shown in the photo is 1,700 years old. In some countries, it is illegal to cut them.