What is Palo Santo?
Palo Santo, which means “holy wood” or “wood of the saints”, is a mystical tree that grows on the coast of South America and is related to Frankincense, Myrrh, and Copal.
Burning these sticks is a sacred practice used by Indigenous communities of the Andes to cleanse their space and ward off evil spirits. This practice is called smudging – a spiritual practice where you clear your energy fieldsusing a piece of burning Palo Santo or a herb bundle, such as white sage.
How to Use Palo Santo
We recommend you use a candle to ignite your stick of Palo Santo. Hold it at about a 45-degree angle and point the tip down toward the flame of your candle. If the sticks were a little wet, you might have some problems lighting them so make sure to store them dry.
Allow the stick to burn for about 30 secs, then blow it out. A stream of smoke will rise from the embers and spread into the environment. You can hold it in your hand or place the stick on an incense holder.
Smudging can be performed at home, starting at the front door, and moving around the house from there. With a specific intention in mind (often to clear your home from negative energy), focus on every room’s corners where energy tends to be stagnant.
You can gently blow on the embers if you want to revive it. When the embers go out, you can simply repeat the ignition process.
DO NOT under any circumstances leave the flame burning under the stick for more than a few seconds! Make sure to check the product description. When finished with your house cleansing, place the stick in our hams incense holder.
Benefits of Palo Santo
Healing
Palo Santo is traditionally used as a natural remedy for colds and flu, as well as symptoms of stress. It is also known to relieve asthma, headaches, anxiety, depression, and reduce inflammation.
As an essential oils, it’s great for aromatherapy and can also be used during therapeutic massages. It can also be added to candles, soaps, scrubs, and body lotions to cleanse and moisturize the skin.
Known for its calming effect, it also supports the immune and nervous systems which helps with faster recovery from illness.
Palo Santo tea supposedly acts as a natural digestive aid.
The holy wood also contains a high concentration of a compound called d-limonene, a compound that is thought to aid in the prevention of a variety of cancers.
[please note we are not medical doctors]
Cleansing
Similar to Sage and Cedar, Palo Santo is most widely used for spiritual purification and energy (house) cleansings. Once the wood sticks are burned, the smoke is believed to clear negative energy and restore tranquility and calm emotions.
Burning Palo Santo wood creates an uplifting, pleasant, fresh smoke that works miracles in keeping away mosquitoes and other insects. It is said that the smell enhances creativity.
