A smudge bundle to bring in blessings after clearing space.
Items
Sweet fern twigs with leaves.
Yellow rose petals.
Glass jar.
String.
Patchouli incense powder.
Drying
You'll want to dry your plants. You can dry both your petals and sweet fern in a dehydrator for two to three hours.
You can also let these dry naturally.
Simply take care no part of the plant is wet. You want to avoid any mildew or mold.
Preparation
Place your dry rose petals in a glass jar with a touch of patchouli incense powder. You want to store them three weeks prior to making your bundle. This is to scent your petals and add a protective intention to your smudge.
Putting your bundle together
Take the sweet fern and bundle it up taking care to even it out. Cut some string and tie the bottom of your bundle. You can wrap the string then up the bundle and tie it off at the top. Another method is to tie your bundle in three sections. The bottom, middle and top taking care to knot your string in these sections. Next you will add your rose petals and tie these in a decorative way to your bundle. Cut any loose or unsightly string and trim the ends of your smudge stick if needed.
This is a great herbal bundle to use to bring in blessings after saging a space.
Something to consider if you are buying smudging bundles is it is best to avoid those made of White Sage. Due to its popularity, wild white sage is on the verge of extinction as a result of loss of habitat and over-harvesting. If you must use White Sage then obtain it from Native Peoples who insure its sustainability, or start growing your own. It's a pretty easy plant to cultivate in most areas of the US.
It is preferable to use less threatened plants in your smudging such as Cedar, Rosemary, Sweetgrass, etc. Here's a link to a really good article explaining the cultural appropriation of White Sage and its near-extinction and why these are both situations that call for us to take care lest we also cause harm.
I tend to make my own bundles this way I can monitor how much is harvested using local wild plants. There is a lot of wild roadside mugwort around here and I tend to use this.
Something else to consider is attempting to make the bundles last that way one need not buy more, or make any for as long while as possible.
Growing your own is a wonderful idea and it is sad to see a species on the brink of extinction due to the explosion of its popularity for use in spiritual practice.
I will definitely be checking out the link to the article.
