Smudge Stick & Altar Tools Purification/Consecration/Charging.

Chat Transcript.

Here's transcript from Discord Chat (Server: 'The Witches Hearth').

(Attentus is my nickname).

'Attentus: hey, i have troubles in translating/understanding words: 'sage smudgestick'. does it mean 'sage incense stick'? thanks for answer(s). 🙂

cantankerous whisp of a goose: SMUDGING is reserved for natives. So if it’s called a smudge stick it’s just buzz words trying to make money in shady ways (or uneducated ways). Smoke cleansing is open so you can have sage incense for sure but even then it’s best to source it from ethical places or places you know the money will be going to native peoples

Attentus: i am just trying to understand purification/consecration/charging rite for wand/athame/chalice & pentacle. smudgestick word was used in description of procedure that does it, in a book: 'Witch Crafting' by Phyllis Curott. 🙂

666.000.888.: Smudging and Smoke Cleansing are used interchangeably very frequently. Yes sage smoke can be considered incense like Cantan said smudging is a different ritual though

Attentus: thanks! 🙂'


Procedure.

For Athamé, Chalice, Wand & Pentacle Purification/Consecration/Charging I'll use 'procedure' described in the book: 'Witch Crafting' by Phyllis Curott. It is allowed to use any meditation in the 'Grounding and Centering' part, so i'll use a Simple form of Buddhist Meditation on Breath, (imagining and counting (from 1 to 10 and again ...) breaths as they enter, remain in, and leave one's body, practiced in a half-lotus position, this time.) :)



Why Mediation on Breath?

For two reasons:

1. It's simple and versatile practice.
2. When I've roleplayed a Sorcerer named: 'Attentus', I've used to play him meditating on breath in Zazen position. Not sure whether he imagined or only counted breaths though. Now I am styling myself to be like him to some degree, both in internal and external way. It's a part of Art Style i am creating, named: 'Art of Magick & Light'.


If I remember correctly, I've got this meditation practice (Meditation on Breath) from the book: 'The Three Pillars of Zen' by Roshi Kapleau, and this was before I took refuge in Buddha, Sangha, Dharma & Lama Ole Nydahl. Refuge is initiation into Buddhism, after taking refuge one becomes officially a Buddhist.


I am mostly a Karma Kagyu buddhist (In Lama Ole Nydahl's buddhist community), but i've visited Zen Buddhist Center as well. (ZBZ Bodhidharma in Falenica near Warsaw/Poland).


Timing.

I should Purify, Consecrate & Charge the Altar Tools (Athamé, Chalice, Wand & Pentacle) on next New Moon (about 30 December 2024). Or perhaps just after the new year (1 January 2025).


Tools.

For Athamé, Chalice, Wand & Pentacle Purifying/Consecration/Charging I've bought:
- White Sage Smudge Stick Bundle 10cm,
- Smudge Stick Holder Bowl.

Other neccessary tools I already have, no need to buy more.

Charging Quartz Crystals.

a Quartz Crystal.
(Mountain Quartz, pl: 'Kryształ Górski').


Purpose.

Crystals are useful tools for working with energies, and - like a battery - can be charged and used to charge other things.

Crystals can also be charged with complete spells, and carried in a pocket until the conditions (defined in the process of spell preparation) make the spell 'fire' (start working). Smartphones with liquid crystal displays (LCD) can also store spells, but this can be tricky. Also - one should keep in mind that this practice (storing spells in crystals and/or smartphones) can be very dangerous. This use of crystals (to store spells) is worth another, full article.

Many things can be charged with energy - Sigils, TAROT cards, Other Symbols, Crystals, etc.

Charging a symbol connects the Symbol with One's Intent, and makes the Symbol to start working it's magick to fulfill the Intent.

Charged symbol (sigil or a tarot card for example) can be destroyed (by burning for example) to make it work for one purpose then cease - this helps magick to fade from consciousness to one's unconscious.


'First you must learn the craft of magick.
Then forget the craft and embody the art of living through Do'.

-- Quoted from 'Mage: the Ascension', it's Akashic Brotherhood's Motto.

Do means 'The Way', 'Way of Life' - it's popular idea in Martial Arts and in Buddhism.


The whole point of destroying it is because the objective is to implant it into the UNCONSCIOUS and remove it from the conscious mind. Destroying it is the first step in this. Like with many examples of other magick (or perhaps even in all magickal practices), you perform your working, give thanks that it's already done, then walk away and forget about it.

... or if we want magick of a symbol to work continuously, we don't destroy it but put in a proper place in one's apartment/home. We need to recharge symbol once a while (usually once in a month).

Charged quartz crystals can be put on a symbol (Sigil, TAROT card, etc...) to charge the symbol. Quartz crystals are like batteries and amplifiers that hold and release one's own energies.

(Quartz has a property called piezoelectricity, meaning it can generate its own power. That's why Crystal radios came to be, the quartz crystals functioned as a sort of battery to power the radio. Crystal is an amplifier).

See also, if You wish:
> [ Piezoelectricity on Wikipedia ].


Cleansing Energies in Quartz crystals.

Quartz Crystals can be buried in Rice or Salt (for 24 hours), to cleanse the Crystals from harmful energies.

Putting them in a Selenite bowl has similar effect (for more details - see below, in charging quartz crystals section of this article).


Charging a Quartz Crystals.

One can charge crystals (or anything else that needs to be charged) with one's own energies by sitting in a comfortable position (preferably on floor or on a cushion in a crosslegged position - like during meditation), holding crystal in fingers of both hands, then visualizing light entering body with breath and going to lower belly and then exhaling breath and visualizing the light/breath flowing from belly through one's body and through hands and fingers to the crystal. One should keep breathing to inhale and exhale the energies, for as long as one's intuition tells.

I've also read a mention in the Internet that a symbol can be charged by surrounding it with burning candles, or by putting it on a smartphone when it's connected to a battery charger.

As for Selenite bowls, i've learned that Selenite bowls both purify and charge quartz crystals. It's convenient to keep quartz crystals in a Selenite bowl when they are not in use - so they are ready to be picked up and used when one needs, without prior preparations. Less chores with purifying in salt/rice, less chores with charging.

(Selenite bowls should be kept away from water because the Selenite dissolves in water, and because it is made up of a gypsum compound, it’s toxic).


Links.

See also, if You wish:
> [ Selene & Selenite ].