Cleanse your home with Palo Santo: 9 easy steps

You have felt a dark mood lingering at home. You can’t shake the feeling that negative energies are raining on your parade. It is time for a spiritual spring cleanse; let’s dust off your Palo Santo sticks! Let the good vibes in with the help of the holy wood of Peru!

If you are new to cleansing with Palo Santo, you are in the right place. Cleansing with Palo Santo is pretty straightforward. You need a Palo Santo stick (obviously!), a tray or Abalone shell to place your burning stick on, a lighter, and water if things go south.

Cleansing your home with Palo Santo is great if you did energy work, divination, or feel something is energetically off. Trust your intuition, and have a go when your gut feeling tells you to. There are no set rules for this, so you must devise a ritual that suits your vibe and style.

When you first start, it might be hard to know what things and gadgets you need. You will find everything you need to get started in the list below. They are easily found online if you don’t have a kit ready to go. Snatch the link below if you need a great Palo Santo kit with a holder (Amazon – affiliate).

Palo Santo is fantastic as it keeps the good and positive energies and dispels dark ones. This is a great benefit that, for example, sage lacks. Sage is cleansing ALL energy regardless if it is good or bad.

What you need to cleanse your home with Palo Santo

• Palo Santo stick
• Fire-proof tray, holder, or Abalone Shell
• Lighter
• Tea light or candle (preferably white)
• Candle holder
• Feather (you can use your hand as well)
• Water or Fire extinguisher

Tips: If you don’t have a holder for your Palo Santo stick, you can create one yourself! Take a bowl and fill it with sand or rocks. Stick your Palo Santo in the sand or between the stones to keep it upright.

Step #1: Get ready for cleansing your home

To start the purification and cleansing process, you need to get cleaning. Yes, make sure you vacuum, dust, and make your home neat. So go and fetch your vacuum and microfiber cloths and return when done. Preparation is vital for a successful energy cleansing, even if this is now always instructed on spiritual sites.

Next, you need to open your curtains to let as much light inside as possible.

Remove old bedding, dirty tablecloths, and other textiles. If possible and you can afford it, decorate with fresh-cut flowers. Flowers have a unique way of changing the vibe in a room in an instant. Plants and flowers are like Canary birds in a mine – when they go saggy, there might be negative vibes (or a lazy plant parent).

Open the windows. It lifts the energy of the room and overall mood. Fresh air is excellent for restoring sluggish energies.

The final step is to make sure that you are clean and tidy. Take a shower, wash your hair, and wear some nice and comfy clothes.

Now it is time to prepare for your Palo Santo ritual. Collect the accessories needed. You will find a list of what you need above. I have all my cleansing stuff in a beautiful box, ready to go when needed.

Step #2: Make safety preparations

As we are going to work with burning wood, it is always recommended to make sure you have a fire extinguisher and water nearby. Sparks and glow from the stick might cause a fire if you are not careful.

As burning Palo Santo creates thick smoke, you can accidentally set off your fire alarm or smoke detector. Be extra careful not to activate any sprinklers by mistake. If you have an automatic fire alarm, be extra cautious. If the alarm is activated, it might end up in a huge bill.

If you live in an apartment building, ensure your neighbors are in on your cleansing ritual. Palo Santo has a powerful scent and can be mistaken for “other” herbs. It might also irritate the airways in humans and animals. So be sure to check with your neighbors that it is ok for you to burn Palo Santo.

If you have asthma or sensitive airways, be sure to go light on the smoke. Be sure you are burning the wood in a space with good ventilation if you react to the smoke.

If you have animals or pets, ensure they are not at home while performing the cleansing. Pet birds are susceptible to smoke, and they can get very sick. My budgies are very sensitive, and I can’t burn Palo Santo in the same room as them.

• Make sure you do not set off your fire alarm or smoke detector
• Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and water nearby
• Inform your neighbors about your cleansing ritual
• Make sure you don’t have any flammables nearby
• Be sure your pets and animals are not subjected to the smoke
• If you are sensitive to smoke, go gentle on the cleansing
• Smoke might irritate airways – be sure you can ventilate the room if needed
• Never cleanse in a hotel, church, public transportation, or public space without permission

Step #3: Set your intention

Your intention is key to a successful cleansing. If you are not intentional in your ritual, it will not work. This is true for most spiritual work, and this is no exception.

There are no set rules or fixed prayers when it comes to cleansing. Ask God, Angels, Guides, or the great Divine to bless the space and remove negative energy. The most important thing is that you believe in the power of the ritual and that the intention is to clear the area of negativity.

If you are a beginner and don’t know what to say or pray during the ritual – don’t worry too much. It is the intention that is key. Not what you say. I, for example, seldom say any prayer. I perform the ritual with the sole purpose of clearing negativity. I feel it in my heart – that is all that is needed.

If you want to say a prayer, this is an example of inspiration: “Palo Santo, the sacred wood of Peru – please remove any negativity from this space.” You can also say, “With this smoke, I dispel any negative energy. Only light and positivity are allowed to dwell in this space.”

Step #4: Ground yourself

Before burning the Palo Santo, make sure you are grounded and in a stable mental state. Never do a cleansing ritual when you are emotionally distressed, sick, feeling off, or not in the mood. You must give it your full attention and focus on your intention – clearing the space.

Ground yourself by meditating or breathwork.

Meditation: Sit or lie in a comfy position. Cross your legs in a lotus position if you feel that is right for you. Take a few deep breaths and close your eyes. Focus on your breath, your exhales, and your inhales. Scan your body and make a note of how you feel at this particular moment in time. Open up your heart to the divine light.

If you are new to meditation, don’t force anything. Let it be as it is – let your emotions come and go as they want. Calmy observe them rather than reacting to them. Mediation is an experience, not a “thing” that you can conquer or succeed at. When you feel grounded, focused, and calm,,, it is time to move on to the next step.

Breathwork: Lie down on the floor with one hand on your stomach. Breathe into your “belly” – feel how the belly expands and contracts as you breathe. Make 5 to 10 deep breaths to center and ground yourself.

Step #5: Lit your Palo Santo

Now it is finally time to light your Palo Santo stick. Light your candle with the help of a match or lighter. It is recommended to have a candle burning close by. Palo Santo tends to burn out by itself quickly. You might need to relight it with your candle.

Hold your Palo Santo stick at a 45-degree angle to the candle. Let it burn for 30 seconds before removing it from the flame. If the wood has never been burned before, it might take a little longer to create a deep glow.

Step #6: Make your Palo Santo smoke

When the wood is burning, please remove it from the light. Hold it upright to feed the fire. In a short while, the fire will turn into glow and smoke. This is what we want.

When the smoke starts to flow, Palo Santo is at work. The smoke will remove any negative energy in the room.

Step #7: Feather the smoke

When the Palo Santo stick starts to give off a thick smoke it is time to do the cleansing. Now it is time to close the windows if they were open.

Fan the smoke with a feather or your hand. Start by cleansing your aura and spirit by emerging your head and face in the smoke.

When you have cleansed your aura and spirit, it is time to clear the room of negative energy. Start by fanning the smoke into the corners of the room. Focus on the upper corners of the room where much negativity tends to linger and hide.

Open closets, drawers, and cabinets to let the smoke in. When you feel that you have distributed the smoke into all corners of the room, you can let the Palo Santo burn out. You can hold it in your hand or place it in a holder (or a bowl filled with stones or sand).

If you need to cleanse more than one room, you proceed to the next one when the wood has died out.

Step #8: Let the Palo Santo stick burn out by itself

Let Palo Santo burn out by itself. It is never a great idea to kill the smoke. By allowing Palo Santo to do its thing, you are sure that all negativity is taken care of. The flame will die when it has done its job. If you kill it prematurely there might still be negative energy lingering in the space.

If you need to cleanse other rooms, repeat steps 5 to 9. It is important to let it take the time it needs. Never rush a cleansing.

Step #9: Ventilate the room

When the cleansing is done, open the windows to let all the smoke out. Negativity will be removed with the smoke. It is also a great thing to ventilate the room as the scent of the wood is quite overwhelming if you are sensitive.

Always make sure that the smoke has died out before leaving it unattended. Also, make sure you have placed the wood in a place where it can’t cause a fire. Sometimes it takes time for the glow to totally die out. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

If the wood was not fully burned, you can use it the next time you cleanse your home. It will be easier to lit when it has been burnt once.

If you want to learn more about how to protect yourself from negative energies, please read the article below.

If you are not sure if you have removed all negative energy, a great option is to contact a trusted psychic to do a sweep. If you don’t know a psychic in your local area, you can always contact psychics that are able to do distance readings.

My recommendation is Keen.com, where many talented peers provide their services. If you use my link you get 3 minutes for free. This is a great thing, as you can test if the psychics are right for you.