Smudging made easy

"First wife Iris" has never been attacked by a tiger, and we have to consider that good luck may have come about because when our first son Shannon was a small boy, he made her a bracelet which he said was meant to keep tigers away.

Americans for generations have nailed horseshoes up over the doors of their homes and other buildings for good luck. I was told early on in life the shoe must be hung with the open end up so the good luck wouldn't run out.

In Korea the people make beautifully designed wall hangings featuring the magical dancing stork engraved on an enameled metal disk with colorful decorative cords suspended below. The purpose of this is to drive away any evil spirits that might decide to visit. Maybe the bird is a crane. Can't remember, but a smooth talkin' Korean lady in Seoul sold me several to bring home.

This kind of mystic control thing can get carried too far it seems to me. There is a mysterious fad going across America called "smudging" which is meant to "remove the old energy from a house and make way for the new." Dianna Marder of the Knight Ridder Newspapers has done a story on smudging and she says. "No matter what it is called, almost every culture has a ritual for purifying a physical space."

She also says, "Like feng shui, the Chinese system of drawing the highest good into one's life by rearranging and spacing furniture and other objects, smudging using cedar and sage smoke sticks draws largely on Eastern philosophies-the belief that all the things emit energy and that energy can linger past its prime." She followed Tish Byrne, a professional smudger who can also do your major feng shui jobs. She witnessed a few smudgings and interviewed people who swear it really works. This included a couple with masters degrees.

There is even a shop in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania that sells the sage-cedar sticks, incense, and crystals along with transformational candles. Some well-known people who have done smudging in their homes include Eagles linebacker Dhani Jones who said, "The old energy has to be cleared, invited out, so the new energy can take over." The story says Phil Jackson the former Laker's Basketball coach had the Lakers locker room smudged after the fight between Shaq O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

One lady in Bryn Mawr, Pa., had a major smudging to completely clear out the energy left by a "gentleman who formerly frequented my apartment." The story says within and hour after the smudging, "Mr. X who hadn't been heard from in months called to tell her answering machine, 'I sense something may be up.'" She knew his evil energy had been driven out and she did not return his call.

Reporter Marder says Latin cultures believe a room can be purified of bad energy or spirits by washing the floor with milk. Jewish people can purify their kitchens by using hot water and prayer to make them kosher.

Kirsten Houseknecht who gives free smudging lessons at her shop says universally used items for smudging undesirable energy from a home are smoke, sound, light, and liquid; but she also sells smudge stuff in a spray can for people who have extra sensitive smoke detectors.

That's probably the kind I'm going to order.

G. George Ostrom is the news director of KOFI radio and a Flathead Publishing Group columnist.