Foraging and Crafting Your Own Sacred Smudge Bundles #238

Don't you just love that deep, earthy pull in springtime? The one that makes you want to dig your hands in the soil, spend all day outside, and hug a tree?

In this episode, we’re soaking in the spirit of spring and reconnecting with the Earth in a hands-on kind of way. Christina shares how the blossoming energy of the season inspired her to start crafting her own herbal smudge bundles—using plants she forages or grows with love.

We’ll talk about why this season is the perfect time to start creating your own sacred smoke bundles (think: cleansing, clearing, and infusing your home with intention), and how to make them with herbs or available plants. You’ll also get tips on foraging with care and respect—so your spiritual practice stays in harmony with the land around you.

If you've been curious about getting more sustainable with your spiritual tools...or if you'd like to make meaningful gifts for friends and family, this episode will point you in the right direction.

Christina Wooten helps you access the wisdom and support of the Spirit World to elevate your life.
She is a Certified Psychic Medium and Reiki Master Teacher.  Christina is the owner of Sedona Medium and co-host of Modern Life and Spirit podcast.

She offers Psychic Medium Readings, Soul Readings, Past Life Regressions, and teaches how you can start communicating and receiving messages from your Spirit Guides - through her program.
Learn more about her offerings here

Currently registering for Fall Reiki in-person classes in Sedona - beginners welcome!  Contact www.SedonaMedium.com Today!

Enroll in Fall Reiki Classes Today! Space is limited.

Transcript

Unknown: 1:11

Welcome to the Modern Life and Spirit podcast, where we explore spiritual topics relevant to today's world. Your hosts, certified psychic medium Christina Wooten and Reiki master teacher Robert Wooten, break down how to work with spirit to create more positive growth in your life. Consider this podcast your go to spiritual resource for navigating the modern world.

Christina Wooten: 1:39

Hey there Kindred spirits. Welcome to Modern Life and Spirit podcast. It's me. Christina Wooten, certified psychic medium at SedonaMedium.com Welcome to our show. Today, it is spring, and I have been spending a lot of time in the garden. Recently, we had some kind of crazy weather that was going back and forth for a while, but it has finally gotten consitently warm, and before we get into center of the Sun, level of heat, I'm spending a lot of time outside. And this weekend, we planted a new rose bush, which is the beginning of a new section of our garden that I've been really wanting to see come to fruition for many years. But it's one of those, you know, you just got to start somewhere, right? And that somewhere, this weekend was a new rose bush, and it's doing great so far. So I'm excited we have veggies that are finally starting to get a little bit bigger every day. Our herbs have not done so well this year, so that one's been a little bit of a struggle. And we have a whole bed of Zinnias, which are just popping up, and I know it's going to be a vibrant summer once they come into bloom. So I really love gardening. I don't know if you can tell I'm not particularly great at it, but I enjoy the process of being close to the Earth, and it does allow me time to slow down, to enjoy the land, to create with the land, to celebrate this journey of growth that happens. You know, little bit here and there. I just, I love the process of gardening, and that's probably one of the few places that I can truly say I love process. I've had to learn to like transitions rather than, you know, try and always skip over transitions. That's been a lesson in maturity for me and growth for me. So this is one of those places I love process and it grounds me, which, of course, in this field, is super important. I've also spent a lot of time learning about the native plants of Arizona, the things that are medicinal, the things that are edible. It's, you know, part of helping me connect with the energy of the land here. I've never really thought of it as a hobby, but I guess that it is. I've learned to live a lot more closely connected with the land. As a result of that. I've also learned about the spirit of the plants that are all around and how working with those spirits helps to feel more grounded, to feel more abundant, more self reliant. I love being able to use something that I know where it comes from, and it really adds this special feeling of interconnectedness to my life and to the rituals that I have, to the processes that I have. Last year, I started gathering the dried sap of the juniper tree to burn zinc, similar to how you would use a frankincense resin. And I really enjoyed every part of that, from the gathering and feeling more of the connection with the trees around me to remembering all those good feelings when it was time to actually use the resin. This year, I started foraging and creating my own smudge bundles, and I want to share more with you about that process today. This is a great time right now, in this time of year to gather some of the herbs of your garden, or to just get out in nature and gather some beneficial plants. Creating your own bundles has really been an amazing experience, and it's infused with your own intentions, your own personal energy aligned with the land where you live. Make a special energy, and it probably is a lot easier than you've ever really thought about it. So I know it seems very easy to just like, walk into the metaphysical store and grab your plastic wrapped sage bundle, but it's really amazing to go through the whole process, to touch the plant, to thank the plant as you harvest it, to ensure that the plant aligns with your intentions for that particular bundle, having a hand in every step of the process, feeling the exchange of that is really incredible, and you can create these to use in your own personal practices all year long. And. You can even make some for some of your spiritually aligned friends and family for holiday gifts. And I know it seems a little bit early to be thinking about that, but wouldn't it be nice to have these really intentional, beautiful, energetic gifts that you can offer people that are already ready so you can just focus on the joy of the time and the season and not have to, you know, be rushing around and figuring things out, because you've been thinking about them all along the way. So just something to consider. This is also something that would be great for a special event coming up, or a woman's circle, or some sort of gathering of friends, or maybe you're hosting an upcoming retreat and you have some plant knowledge. I mean, this would be a really great experience to share with other people, too. I can just see the beauty of that. You know, gathering, working with the herbs, working with the plant medicine, and sharing stories while that's happening, I just there's something romantic about that idea to me. And of course, the best of all these bundles are totally free, using things that you may already have access to, or, you know, just going out on the land and gathering things that you might need that feels incredibly abundant. Okay, so before we get into some of the plants that you can find, or maybe have more access to, and how to create and form the bundles themselves, there are some things that will help you to think about harvesting with respect for the land and for the intention of the energy that you're bringing forward for the bundle that you're creating, it is so important to harvest in ways that are sustainable to the plant and sustainable to the environment. So if you are going out in the land, you do need to do some research. You need to have some knowledge about the plant that you are identifying and harvesting. So one of the things you need to learn is how to harvest and still protect the plant and the plant population. So you don't want to over harvest in a way that doesn't leave any for the inevitable animal harvesters, or doesn't leave a viable population to continue growing and thriving. So as you learn, you know this, of course, is a jumping off point for your own research and for your own growth and development and creating these for yourself. But make sure that you look into that question of sustainable harvesting if it's the only patch in that area of plant that you're finding, you should probably avoid that one, so that it can become more established and you can just come back in future years when that plant population is stronger and it's more appropriate for harvesting at that time. Okay, so think about the long term relationship with the earth and how your harvesting plays into that, and the interconnection of your actions with how it affects other people and also the animals and the micro environments that the plants create. So a couple of rules of thumb in harvesting is to take only what you need. So think about, you know, 10% of what is available to you. So in the fall, for example, I harvest Mullen in Flagstaff, and I only take a couple of leaves per established plant, and I go to lots of patches so that I'm not causing any problems in one area. So, first and foremost, be considerate of the sustainability needs of the plants that you are harvesting from. You don't want to do any harm. We don't want to do any, you know, long term damage to the population either. Mullein is one of those where you can harvest a few leaves and the plant itself is fine, and that is always the most optimal way of harvesting. Now you want to harvest in these abundant areas and not from Lone or sparse looking plants. So look for clusters of things with, you know, a good strong patch versus, you know, one little plant here, one little plant there. You know, occasionally I see white sage growing in different areas here in Arizona, but it's usually one plant. And so it's important to leave that, let that be, and let that establish itself in a stronger way. Now, obviously you've got to know your plants. You need to be familiar with what it is that you are looking for. Do not just use one identification source that is a good way to poison yourself or have major problems. I see people on Reddit being like, Hey, I tasted this and I'm fine. Is this this plant? Oh my gosh. Don't do that. But that is a terrible, terrible idea, and it's certainly there's a lot of poisonous look alikes that can be out there. It's very, very important that you are certain and don't just rely on identification apps or just images. And, you know, trying to use AI just for identification, because you want to use multiple identification sources and make sure that you understand, you know, the leaf positioning, the leaf shape. I mean, get into the intricacies of it so that you can be absolutely sure that the plant that you are utilizing is the correct plant, and not just to look alike, but in some cases, such as foraging for eating, it can be a very, very dangerous situation when you have mixed things up, and it can be the same thing when you are burning plants such as smudge bundles. So here, for example, in my yard, I have two very large Oleander bushes, which are extremely poisonous and extremely poisonous if you burn them. So you just want to be aware that there's lots of plants that are out there that can cause problems. So you want to be 100% sure in your identification, using multiple sources and having a very researched approach. When you are harvesting, make sure that you ask for permission from the plant or the spirit of the land. You want to make sure that you're using this intuitive connection that we all have the ability to, you know, speak to other species through, our energy, through the feedback that we get in our heart, and the feedback that we get in the energy that we're receiving and feeling connected with at the time that we're doing this. So you really want to connect and make sure that you have that, yes, this is perfect. This plant would love to be a part of that. You want to make sure you have that strong Yes, and then honor if you get a No, it's not appropriate, even though you're like, Oh, check mark. I've got Mullen for this smudge bundle, perfect. But maybe that plant doesn't want to be a part of it, and that means it's not going to do a great job for you when it's in that smudge bundle. So we want to make sure the ones that the plants that say yes, those are the ones that are excited to be your healers. They're the ones that are excited to be a part of this process, and they're going to perform really well because their energy is aligned and matched to that intention. And when you do Harvest, harvest with a spirit of gratitude. So make an offering to the plant or to the land, wherever you happen to be. You can offer some water, you can sing a song, you can offer a prayer, but consider it some sort of a balanced exchange. How can you offer a gift to the land or offer a gift to that specific plant saying, Thank you for the gift for me, for example, as I'm just keep harping on this one, when I'm harvesting Mullen, I do a Reiki symbol over wherever I've harvest so one that that is setting the intention energetically to help it with the healing Around the area that I have removed a leaf from, but also that it is a blessing for the whole plant to raise its vibration and to help with any other healing that it may have. So there's lots of things that you probably have available to you that would be great and be feel really nice in your exchange with the land. But think about that as what can you do to say thank you when you are taking, we want to give as well. So just like with normal foraging, anytime you're foraging for something that you would include in a smudge bundle, you want to avoid roadsides that gets a lot of pollution, a lot of nasty stuff is going to be in on and around your plant. And so it's just better to not use any roadsides. The thing that has always driven that home for me, because, you know, coming from North Carolina, there's these beautiful, plentiful things just right there at the roadside, right? And one of the things that I really learned from that is when you go past areas in the snow, look at how nasty and dark that snow becomes as a result of just the cars passing by. That is happening to the plants over and over and over and over and over again, sometimes for years. So all of that build up really has not a great energy for use in this type of work, or certainly not for, you know, eating if you're foraging for that. So think about that also places that might be coated with. Pesticides. So public parks, soccer fields, golf areas here near the wineries that has a lot of pesticides and runoffs that can be not appropriate for our use. And of course, protected areas are places where you do not have permission to forage. One thing to think about is, if you don't have access to a lot of land or acreage where you might be able to find something, or you don't feel like you have other friends who have land that you could forage on, one thing to think about is you could look up the Bureau of Land Management Areas that are nearby you, and also make sure that you look up the specific rules for foraging and harvesting in those areas. Those are at least they were a year ago or so, still available on the website. I know they've done lots of changes. I am hoping that that would still be information would still be available to you, but that could be an access point for you as well. So if you're thinking, I don't have access to the land, you probably do have some access that you could utilize through Bureau of Land Management. So now that we've gone over all of that, there's a lot of plants that you could consider for smudge bundles. And they're they have their own unique energetic properties, okay, we know we only want to use plants that we know to be safe, to be non toxic, so that you're not going to have any problems when you're burning it, and they're safe for for people. And also don't use anything that you might have an allergy to, or might be in the same family as something that you have an allergy to that's definitely best to be avoided. So make sure that you are thinking about that as you're going out and creating these. I'm going to share some different herbs and plants that you might think about that can be used in smudging, creating your own little smudging incense, or creating your own smudging bundle. Now I'm not giving specific botanical names. That is on purpose, because there's sometimes several in the same family that could potentially be used. So if that interests you, and you aren't familiar with these plants, look it up. Make sure that you take the time to focus on the identification, so that you will get that correct and find out what might be available to you in your area. Not everything grows in the same area, so you do want to think about your particular state or region of the world. So let's start with a staple. Right? The base for a lot of smudge sticks that you can buy in the store is white sage. But you can also use the sage that you grow in the garden for culinary purposes in a smudge stick. So culinary sage can help to clear stagnant energy, can bring forward more mental clarity and focus. It has a protection element to it, and because it's used and been used so commonly throughout many generations. It can be something that helps you to connect with past lives and connect with your ancestral energies. So definitely a fun one to play with. A little bit of a variation there on the white sage, another big traditional smudge foundation is mugwort. So mugwort opens energetic channels. It has a beautiful way of connecting us with self, love. It can enhance dreams or speak to us even in dreams, it enhances intuition, and it for some people, it can induce a trance state or help you to move into altered states of consciousness. So mugwort is definitely, if you have that available in your environment, a really nice one to use in creating your own sacred bundles. Let's talk about rosemary. We have a lot of rosemary growing here, and I'm sure that you may have rosemary in your garden right now, but Rosemary is great for creating clarity, like a mental acuity. It's great for purification, and it has a very nice protection element to it as well. It's a little bit I would describe it energetically as being a little bit sharp. So it has a sharpness to it. It's nice. If you're going to use rosemary to sometime, consider like softening that sharpness with something like a lavender. So you're doing a little bit of a blend. So you might do like a lavender, you might do a calendula, something that just softens it with a little bit of lighter energy, so it takes away some of that intensity and sharpness. So let's talk about Lavender. Lavender, you can burn the stems with the buds. That's usually what's used in smudging. It's very soothing, of soothing and. Gentle energy brings forward a sense of peacefulness and harmony, and is very good for emotional healing. So this is really nice to add. If you are an empath, or you're working on deeper emotional layers, or if you're, you know, wanting to lift the vibration in a very soft way. This is nice for bedrooms, for example. So if you're using a smudge, maybe for restful sleep or dreams, you might want to use a mugwort and a lavender combo with mugwort you have that dream connection. It's, you know, bringing forward and enhancing the intuitive side. It's, you know, helping you slip into altered states of consciousness while having this peaceful, gentle, emotional, healing aspect of the lavender. That's a really cool combination if you're doing dream work also, or maybe this would be a great gift, the mcgort and lavender combo for someone who has an interest in dream work, Dream symbolism, that sort of thing. Now, cedar can be a really nice addition also, but there are different types of cedar. There are some endangered trees, so you want to ensure that you're not harvesting from anything that is endangered most of the time, western red cedar or eastern red cedar is what are used in creating sage bundles. When you are using the branches of cedar, just know that you'll probably have to light it a few times. That's just kind of how certain things are. But cedar can have a really powerful energy, and I learned about this when I was living in North Carolina so many years ago, about how sacred the cedar trees are to the Cherokee tribe. And it's considered to hold the spirit of the ancestors. So it's a really strong energy, very grounded, very connected with ancestral wisdom. It has a connection with heart wisdom also very protective, and can be used for warding off evil spirits. Personally, I think of cedar as being our version here in the United States of the Peruvian Hollywood. So if you're used to using palo santo a lot in your smudging, you could also, you know, try cedar and see how that works for you, because it has a more grounded energy for this particular area, and it's not at risk of over harvesting. Yarrow is a very easy flowery, feathery plant to find a lot of times in fields or meadows, or, you know, all kinds of places. And Yarrow is very good. It has a lot of medicine benefits to it. But in smudging, it's good for boundaries, for energetic protection, for grounding and for centering. So it's a really nice addition. Again, it has a little bit of a softening element. Anytime you got some flower element in there, it can have a softening thing. So if you are looking at you're using some of these really intense, vanishing type of plant medicine, you might consider bringing a little bit of a softer element, but if you want to bring softer without it, bring too soft. Yarrow is a good addition to that. Now this is something you probably all have in your kitchen, and if you have an emergency smudge situation, you can always run to the kitchen and light up a bay leaf very simply, but bay leaf is very good for protection purification. It can ward off illnesses. It's aligned with success, and it has a very uplifting element to it, so it can lift our spirits as well, which is really nice if you have been feeling a little bit low lately, or feeling a little bit down, or know someone who is feeling a little bit down, this is a nice one to just help uplift their energy while helping with the smudge. And that would be really nice when combined with calendula too, because calendula is about joy and heart healing and soothing type of energy. So those are a nice combination as well. Something else you might have in your garden, or maybe even you just have it in a pot in your kitchen, is Basil. You can always use regular basil for this, but Tulsi, or holy basil, is really ideal in working with smudging. But either way, Basil is very good for protection, but its protection by uplifting our energy. It invites blessings. It is very good for healing practices. So if you have been working on deeper levels of healing, or if you are creating a smudge for your. Healing office. Basil is a nice energy to support you in that, and it can also be good for attracting abundance and prosperity. Now, the next one is kind of like a power, heavy hitter. This is a strong one. I think it really rivals the energy of white sage. It's a powerful banisher, powerful protector, very strong energy, and that is Juniper. Juniper is kind of like bringing out the big guns. It is a strong energy that's available to us, very good for purification. It does attract positive while at the same time repelling and warding off the negative. It is that powerful energy now it also a lot of people around here have allergies to Juniper so this is one of those. If you are not sure whether you have a potential Juniper allergy, really approach this with caution. Okay, be extra careful with that. But energetically, a total powerhouse and a good staple for any kind of bundle that you're creating. Some people like to use roses in creating their smudge bundles, one because they're so pretty. They're so beautiful. It just adds something so pleasing to the eye. And of course, it just makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside when we see roses, too. A lot of times people will just use the petals. So when you're creating the bundle, you're laying the petals in a vertical fashion where they're overlapping one another and then tying them into the bundle. If you lay it on the outside of the bundle, then you'll be able to see that in a very visual way, and it really is appealing and pretty. That's great for gifts, or if you are bundling with flowers, putting that on the outside of the bundle intentionally, versus burying it on the inside, will just add this extra special beauty to it, which is so nice for giving as gifts. But roses, of course, bring that energy of love, of happiness, positivity, of new beginnings. It is great to bundle in a smudge that would again, be used in a bedroom area or anywhere where you're trying to invite and bring in love, harmony, positive energy. And we talked about Mullen. Mullen has a lot of medicineal benefits, which is the reason that I harvest it specifically before we go into cold and flu season every year. But it is also something that you can use for smudging. So you're going to use it for courage, for protection, for an healing as well, because we know this is like a Master Healer plant. So it has this healing benefit, and it's good for banishing rituals as well, getting rid of things, releasing letting go. So the last one that I have is also something that you can probably find in your kitchen, which is cinnamon sticks now that can be burned on its own in a special container that's made to hold things that might be hot and not cause fires and that sort of thing, or it can be wrapped up in a bundle. What I will say about when you're wrapping cinnamon in a bundle is that cinnamon can be a little bit Sparky, and it does it. You know, think about is a bark on a tree, so it's a little bit of an unsteady burn, and you'll probably have to relight it several times. But in the right situation, it can be really appropriate and helpful. And again, we don't need a whole lot. We just need the essence and the spirit of the plant, and that might be exactly what you're looking for. So cinnamon sticks can be great for love, abundance and prosperity. So when you go to create your own smudge bundles, thinking about all of the plants that we've talked about so far, their different energies and what kind of combinations might be fun to play with. You know, think about the energy and intention of your bundle. How might you use it? What do you have available you want to gather your fresh herbs in the energetic combination that does feel right to you. So you might ask yourself, you know, what do I want to cleanse from my space in this season? Or, how am I likely to use this and what am I going to call in? What am I calling in at the same time? So we're not just thinking of smudging as being a banishing. We're thinking of it as it's helping us to release and let go of old stagnant energy, and also to welcome in some of our intentions as well. So you're going to think about that as you're creating and assembling the herbs that you might use in your smudge bundle, and you're wanting to work with things. Things that are fresh. Because if you've ever tried to roll something that's dry and crispy, it's just not going to work for you very well. So you want to make sure that things that you are harvesting, that you are tying them up into your bundle right away, where they're nice and fresh and alive, and that is going to help you a lot in actually being able to have a bundle and not lose all of your plant matter down the line. So you'll make sure that you are gathering fresh herbs for this process. And some of these things, if you absolutely cannot find them out and about in your environment or in your garden, some of them, you can just go to the grocery store. You can get fresh culinary sage at the grocery store, and you can use that as your basis of creating your own smudge bundle. Keep in mind that once you bundle this and the herbs themselves are dry, they're going to lose a lot of volume, so you want to keep that in mind when you're formulating the desired thickness of your bundle. Now my personal opinion is that we have been conditioned in this culture to think bigger is better. We need lots of the herb to make the magic happen. But that's not really true. The spirit of the plant is very strong. The plants that we're working with, you just need a good steady stream of smoke. You don't need a roaring fire in your hands. So your personal bundles may look a little bit smaller, and I find that to be the case, but you don't need to worry about that, because the power of that plant spirit and plant medicine is strong, and your intention creating that is strong too. So don't get seduced by the bigger is better story. Just go by what you feel. A friend of mine a few years ago, brought me a gift of a very special, small smudge bundle from one of the reservations here in Arizona, and it was really small, and one little plant that had been just folded over and over and over again, but it was so powerful. So it's just a reminder to you, it's the intention that matters and the plant spirit that matters the most. And harvesting this in reverence and love in your heart and beautiful intention makes a big difference. So as you're thinking about what kind of bundle you might create. You might do one specific herb and create one bundle, say rosemary, for example, a singular bundle with several different stems of rosemary that you're tying together. Or you may mix up three to five different herbs just using singular strands. Or maybe you have like, three different sticks of rosemary, two different stems and flowers of lavender, and then maybe you're going to add in a little bit of mugwort to that too. Just thinking about all of the energy that you're trying to create, what your intention is so you can create an individual stick with just a singular focus. Or you can do multiple blends, like we've kind of talked about throughout the show, but choose what goes together based on your intention and also your intuition for what feels right. Sometimes you kind of have to play with it. Play with what you have available until it feels like, Ah, this is the right combination. Or these guys want to play together, and that feels good to me. So once you have the bundle to about the thickness that you want, thinking about that, when you tie it together, and you're bringing them together very tightly that it's going to be even smaller than that. So once you have the bundle that you're looking for in the size that you're looking for. You're going to bundle them together fresh. You're going to tie the ends together the very bottom of the stick, the ends together with a natural cotton string or a hemp string. So something that is natural, don't use anything that is synthetic for this. So you're going to tie the end tightly, leaving two very long tails on either side, and then you'll just use those two tails to wrap around in a criss cross style wrapping all the way to the top of the bundle. And if you'd like to, you can take the very top part of the bundle of herbs and kind of bend that those ends into the bundle itself, so that when you're wrapping, it kind of helps close that, versus having ends that are at different sizes at different places, especially when you're using multiple different types of herbs in there. It's not a necessity for you to do that, but some people like to do it just for esthetics. Totally up to you. You know, I also like the organic look, so there's no right or wrong. So once you've tied it up the top and folded the top part over and tied that down, if you'd like to, you're going to go back down the bottom, you know, from the top to the bottom, also crisscrossing again, and then tie that. Up. So once you've completed that final tie at the very end, where you're going from the top to the bottom, you're going to leave some more string so that, that way, you can use the remaining string to tie it up. For me, I suggest hanging it up to dry on something that, you know, an area where it's not going to get disturbed or things aren't going to run into it and potentially break it as it's drying. I hang mine from chandeliers, and that works really well. So if you don't have a drying rack or some sort of drying screen, chandeliers or anything that it can hang from and just get some air, is a great thing for you to do, but generally you want to hang it indoors so that it's getting a more consistent temperature as it's going through that drying process, and it's not going to be exposed to animals, bugs and that sort of thing. So something indoors, I do not suggest hanging it up anywhere in a bathroom or anywhere where there's high humidity, because that can potentially cause mold and cause problems. And one thing I did want to mention that as you're bundling and tying things is make sure that you are tying it tightly. That is going to help it to have a better burn. When you tie all of your plants together tightly, you're not leaving too much room for air to get in there. You're just giving a stronger plant matter base so that it can burn a little bit better, a little bit more smoothly for you. So you do want to do it tightly and not very loose, but wherever you do, keep them for drying, keep them out of reach of your pets. Because, you know, there's a lot of plants that are not safe for animals. And if you have a cat like mine, Luna, who just tries to eat everything all the time, that can be not a great combination, so be extra careful to try and keep it out of their reach so you don't have any problems with that. Or you know, as little bits are drying and dropping down that it's not becoming available to them either. Once you've created your smudging bundle. You want to dry it, hang it to dry for about seven to 14 days. And you know that's give or take, right? Because it depends on how thick you're creating the bundle, how many materials you have, what kinds of materials you have. So it may take a little bit longer than it would normally. So that's just kind of a baseline, give or take, seven to 14 days. But after that, then it's available to you for use, and you can use it in smudging, but make sure that you are using some sort of plate or fireproof thing underneath, so that that way it's catching any ashes. It's catching any plant material that might fall off. That's particularly common if you you know, this is your first foray into smudging bundles. You know, they're going to be a little bit organic, and you're learning things along the way, and you're learning how to tie it. So you want to make sure that you are being extra careful when it comes to, you know, fire and having something underneath to help catch any ashes or any pieces of that bundle as you begin to burn. So if you're creating this for gift giving, you could wrap a little note around the smudge bundle, something that they can take off, of course, with instructions, so that if they aren't used to this, they know exactly how to use their smudge bundle and how to do so safely, okay, to make sure that there's not any problems with that, and to do so, you know, in fire appropriate ways so there's no problem. You can also add crystals that might have protection elements or might accentuate the intentions that you were thinking about for this person. Add some pretty ribbon to it. That's really all you need to make a really beautiful gift. There's something so special about being connected, being really grounded and in relationship with the earth. With its abundance all around us, there is so much sacred medicine in the plants that are around you right now, no matter where you are, and unfortunately, over reliance and over harvesting of certain plants from very specific climates can be really destructive to the environment in the long term, and there's no need for that when we have this wonderful, vibrant abundance that's all around us. It's incredibly empowering and nurturing when you can have your needs met from the land around you and appreciate the gifts that are truly already here. So I hope that this inspires you to get a little bit crafty, to have fun, to play with your intuition and to create something truly beautiful that you will really use. All right, everyone, thanks so much for joining us. So much love and light, many blessings. The

Robert Wooten: 41:02

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