What This Blesses
This is the pattern used to bless censers, the hands of anyone entrusted with handling sacred objects like trumps, and the Shabuwa kelly bread itself.
Lighting the Sage
Roll the sage into a small ball between your palms first, then touch it directly to a live coal until it begins to smoke. Never blow on it to help it catch.
The Movement Pattern
The object being blessed traces a specific path through all four directions and the center, rotating as it goes, while the one blessing it prays quietly throughout for the directions’ blessings to come upon it.
Starting in the east, carry the object fully around the circle clockwise. From the east, pass it through the center to the west, turn it 180 degrees clockwise, then bring it back through the center to the east before moving it to the south. Pass it through the center to the north, rotate it clockwise, then bring it back through the center to the south before moving it to the west. Pass it through the center to the east, rotate it clockwise again, then bring it back through the center to the west before moving it to the north. Pass it through the center to the south, rotate it clockwise one final time, and bring it back through the center to the north — then carry it fully around the circle clockwise once more, finishing where it began, in the east.
Where to Read
- Handbook — Pattern for Blessing with Sage (p. 412)
- I Achee 1:16 (p. 50)
- I Achee 9:67 (p. 317)
- Enoch 1:109 (p. 37)
- Grandmothers 1:2 (p. 21)