One of the future residents suggested a smudging ceremony prior to construction commencing. “What is a smudging ceremony?” I asked.

I learned that smudging is traditionally a ceremony for purifying or cleansing the soul of negative thoughts of a person or place.

There are four elements involved in a smudge:

• The container, traditionally a shell representing water, is the first element.
• The four sacred plants (cedar, sage, sweetgrass, or tobacco), gifts from mother earth, represent the second element.
• The fire produced from lighting the sacred plants represents the third element.
• The smoke produced from the fire represents air, the fourth element.

So, on a Saturday in June 2021, we came together onsite for the smudging ceremony which performed by a close friend.

Each of us were given a smudge stick made of sacred plants for what I call a walking mediation over the site. The smoke filled and purified the environment and we consciously invited positive energy. We also made shapes out of clay which we buried on the site.

Below are a couple of photos of the ceremony. Test