have heard a bit about smudging but have no idea the hows and whys. could anyone elaborate

looking at smudge sticks sigridr x

Burning smudge is for protection and getting rid of negative energies. I had one mentor who used to smudge her 'group' before we did any workings

A smudge stick is much like incense, but the smoke is supposed to be inimical to evil spirits. You use it like a brush and sweep the evil spirits out of the house.

It helps if you have somebody to drum at the same time.

I undertook this some time back, extremely sceptically, at the request of a friend. The person originally offering to smudge the house had decamped, so a couple of us stepped in.

We swept logically, from the remote top of the house, around the doors and windows, through each door in sequence, and once we had smudged all the upstairs we swept and drummed down the stairs. In the main living-room, jsut in front of the TV (who would have thought it), both my colleague and I felt something. More precisely, we felt something leave. We continued smudging until we had cleared the entire house, out the back door. The place really did feel better afterwards.

smudge brings up connotations of making contact with something, would i just "wave" the smudge stick around.

The way I think of it is that incense cones and sticks produce a fine thread of smoke whereas a smudge produces a broad plume, more even than loose incense on charcoal. So it is a "smudge" of smoke.

There is no matter of "contact". Use a fan or a large feather to waft the smoke into corners, or, as you say, just wave the smudge around.

Be warned that unless the smudge is fairly fresh, you are liable to get sparks and smuts. Advanced users prefer loose sage (crushed between the palms) and lit in a large flat shell. This can prove difficult to set light, though.

I often burn herbs (white sage seems to be the thing and smells great, but I prefer to use local herbs), and "wash" myself in the smoke before I do a working/healing, and I'll do the same for anyone I'm working with (or we'll do each other)

This is helpful. I've never known what the use of a smudging stick is. I know Zoroastrians use agarbatti (incense sticks) for the same purpose, and have joined in on one of those. I use incense (I prefer to make it myself, so I can put in the ingredients I want), though not for this purpose.

I once cleared out a house, at the requests of those who lived there, by using energy. But that's a different topic.

A good herb to smudge/cleanse with is Mugwort. Very very effective stuff and can also be combined with the Anglo Saxon Nine Herbs Charm section on Mugwort as a chant.

http://www.heorot.dk/woden-9herbs.html

I've done a bit of smudging but I'm no expert . The way I think of it is that the smoke is a medium to carry your intent where it goes. If you focus on clearing negative energies and then waft the smoke into every corner of a room it will carry that intent with it. If anyone knows different I'd be glad to hear it.