The Smudging And Blessings Book: Inspirational Rituals to Cleanse and Heal

"Not saying its the best, its just good. Good handbook for simple spiritual rituals, but lacks details and the fun of reading it."
~ Written on 2008-04-10

"This book was wonderful. It gave great info and the blessings used with the sage I purchased helped to clear negative vibs from the area I wanted to make safe and positive. Thank you"
~ Written on 2008-02-08

"There's a lot of great info in here. It has some great pictures and I like the bits of history that are sprinkled throughout the text. This does lean towards Native American, especially when naming the Powers that are to be called upon, but it also has bits of other cultures. The sections are Home Blessings, Family Blessings, Seasonal Rituals, Personal Blessings and other misc. info such as contacting spirit animals, aura cleansing, making smudge sticks, crystals, essential oils, etc. Each section has on average 5-7 blessings or rituals to perform. Now, having said that, the only reason this doesn't get five stars is because not everything was explained very well. For instance, cleansing crystals. It says to soak them in salt water but that's not the only way to cleanse stuff. Also, leaving some delicate crystals soaking in water will ruin them. I usually do a ritual that dunks crystals in blesed salt water, but then I leave them on the windowsill to bathe in sun or moon light to cleanse and power it. I have even been known to leave it on the porch railing during a rain storm and I especially love doing that when there is thunder and lighting. The energy the stone/crystal picks up is amazing. I also noted a referance to removing jewelry while smudging but it doesn't explain why and I have never heard this anywhere else. My mother has been smudging for some time and she's never removed any of her jewelry. And let me tell you, she wears a ton, especially rings. I tried to google it, but haven't found referance to it anywhere else.

The rituals are all very simple to do and will work for everyone although those more adept may choose a book with rituals a bit more involved. I was also dissapointed with the section for Seasonal Rituals. There is a quick synopsis of each sabbat/esbat and the solstice/equinox but there aren't rituals for all of them! There are only rituals for Imbolc, Beltaine, Lammas, Samhain, and Yule. However, I'm quite happy to add this to my growing spiritual library. "
~ Written on 2007-06-25

"I've practiced smudging with sage for many years and this book has been great for filling in some of the blanks, explaining the history and providing new approaches."
~ Written on 2006-06-01

"I ordered this book and waited with great anticipation on it coming, but its arrival proved quite a disappointment. For someone who is entirely new to spirituality there might be a bit of information here, but in my opinion the author tried to cover too many subjects, and left the information on those subjects far to sparse and flawed. For example, on page 33 while covering using crystals, the reader is advised to "cleanse your crystal by putting it in a solution of warm water and sea salt". While this might work well for quartz -- which I agree is what most people envision when they hear the word 'crystal' -- do it with selenite or other more fragile stones and you will do them much harm. On page 70 the author discusses the cycle of the year as eight festivals, then only goes into detail regarding five of them in the following pages. The sections on ceremonies or rituals for different occasions such as births, deaths, healing, cleansing etc might have some use, but for anyone who has done ritual or studied ceremony they are probably too simplistic. My advice for the serious student would be to bypass this book and obtain instead Sacred Smoke by Harvest McCampbell for smudging information, The Encyclopedia of Crystal Gem and Metal Magic for Scott Cunningham for working with stones, and Celebrate the Earth by Laurie Cabot for more on seasonal rituals. "
~ Written on 2006-03-25