Smudging as a Christian Aboriginal Ceremony

In Christian Indigenous spirituality, smudging can be a call to worship the Triune Creator: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Like church bells, smudging informs people that an act of worship is about to begin. The smudging ceremony invites people to join the sacred space and activity of praying to the Creator in the name of Jesus Christ. The fragrance of the smudging communicates the initiation of a spiritual activity through sight and smell, our visual and olfactory senses. People see the smudge elements; they smell the fragrant aroma of the smoldering elements. Additionally, people participate in the ceremony by wafting the rising smoke over their hands, face, and other parts of their body. Participation in a smudging ceremony is always optional; people’s desire to participate or not participate is always respected.

To learn more about smudging as Christian Aboriginal Ceremony, download a smudging brochure here. The brochure contains a brief summary about smudging and a smudging prayer.

Important note: Smudging means different things to different people, including among Indigenous people. This resource is the result of a careful process of Christian discernment in a community over several years at the CRC’s Indigenous Christian Fellowship in Regina. Another Indigenous Christian community may come to different conclusions about smudging, just as different Christian denominations hold a wide variety of beliefs about Christian practices and beliefs. To learn more about the discernment process that led to this resource, please click here.