Space clearing (ritual)

Smoking out a room with a herb is a habit Europe knows as well as the Americas and Asia: after an illness, after a death, after a quarrel, before a feast. Central European and Slavic households burned wormwood, hyssop and oregano, the Mediterranean sage and rosemary, monastery gardens lavender and thyme; whatever grew behind the house went into the bundle.

The catalogue lists nine European species under this topic: oregano, English lavender, lemon balm, peppermint, wormwood, rosemary, common sage, common thyme and hyssop. All are from a Central European or Mediterranean garden — the white sage of North American nations, which dominates 'smudging' in shops today, is not in the list, and the catalogue does not add it.

Herbal smoke is smoke: it carries fine particles and irritants just like wood smoke, and what 'cleanses' is mainly the airing afterwards. Laboratory studies have shown that dense herbal smoke briefly lowers the count of bacteria in the air — and equally that breathing its particles does no good.

The psychological effect is documented differently: a ritual that marks an end (after illness, after a quarrel) helps the brain close an episode, and a scent a person associates with 'clean' serves that well. There is no need to believe in energies for a smoked and aired room to feel different from before.

Smoke does not belong where there is asthma, chronic lung disease, a pregnant woman or an infant — and no one should walk through smoke or inhale it on purpose. A bundle is burned briefly, in a fireproof dish, with the window open, and never left unattended: embers from herbs fall.

Wormwood and hyssop contain thujone and pinocamphone, which are released from the smoke; smoking a room once does no harm, daily smoking in a small flat does. Someone who feels the need to 'clear' a space every day because they cannot function otherwise is dealing with anxiety, not with the space — and that has effective treatment.