How to use Palo Santo? See how to enjoy the benefits of this wood

Palo Santo is a type of wood used since ancient times in religious ceremonies. Several cultures benefited from the properties of this natural incense, including the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans.

Shamans used it as medicine and for spiritual healing. Currently, this wood is part of therapeutic treatments, aromatherapy, healers and other rituals. learn in this article how to use palo santo.

What is Palo Santo?

Before teaching you how to use Palo Santo, we will explain what exactly this wood is and how it is extracted.

Palo Santo is a natural incense used to clean and aromatize environments. It comes from a wild tree of the same name, native to South America, with a strong presence in countries such as Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador.

The entire process of extracting this incense is carried out in the most natural way possible, without harming nature. For the resin to be removed from the trunk, it is necessary to wait for the tree to die naturally.

Also, after dying, the tree must remain in the same place for about 10 years, healing in time. Only in this way is it possible to extract the true Palo Santo.

This wood is considered sacred by many peoples. They even compare it to a phoenix, as it undergoes a process of death and rebirth.

The aroma of Palo Santo is sweet and soft, it doesn’t even feel like wood being burned.

Palo Santo in Umbanda

Palo Santo does not belong to any religion and different cultures and alternative therapies use it.

In Umbanda, Palo Santo is usually lit to honor the orixá Oxum. It aims to drive away bad thoughts, miasmas and negative energies.

Palo Santo – What is it for?

Palo santo serves several purposes, including:

• Combat symptoms of physical illness;
• Spiritual healings;
• Use in therapeutic treatments allied to crystals, Reiki, etc.;
• Increase in energetic vibration;
• Cleaning negative energy environments;
• Crystal cleaning;
• As a natural insect repellent.

See the main benefits of Palo Santo.

How to use Palo Santo?

Palo Santo can be purchased as a stick, incense or sawdust. Below we show you how to use each one.

Palo Santo in stick

Do you know how to light the Palo Santo stick? The ideal is to light it on a flame. Simply hold one end of the stick and light the other end to a candle, lighter, or other flame.

In stick form, Palo Santo doesn’t burn as easily because it’s thick. So, turn it slowly, back and forth, so that it lights up all over. When you see an ember burning on the stick, blow on it or shake it to make it easier for it to light.

Once you manage to light the Palo Santo, let it burn for 30 seconds. Then, blow hard to extinguish the flame and just let the ember burn softly. As it burns, you will feel a soft and pleasant aroma in the room.

Afterwards, you can use Palo Santo’s smoke for the objective you want. If it’s for cleaning the environment, walk with the stick through the rooms of the house, spreading the fragrant smoke throughout the environments, in all directions.

If using it for meditation or aromatherapy, place it in a container a few feet away from you. Breathe in the aroma while meditating, doing yoga or relaxing after a day at work.

To purify your aura, pass the smoke along the entire length of your body. Do this several times. With each swing of the stick, visualize all fear, anxiety, stress, anger and bad feelings dissipating.

Just be careful to let the smoke a few inches away from your clothes and hair so you don’t burn them.

And how to use Palo Santo for physical cures? Just inhale the aroma. The essence of the smoke acts in a similar way to camphor and menthol, reducing symptoms such as nausea, sinusitis and headache.

But remember that you need to inhale the aroma of Palo Santo, not the smoke, huh.

Palo Santo in the form of sawdust

How to use Palo Santo in sawdust? It’s not difficult, but you will need other materials, such as:

• Fresh male rue leaves;
• fresh rosemary leaves;
• Ceramic bowl;
• Matches.

Place the Palo Santo sawdust, rue leaves and rosemary leaves in the ceramic bowl.

Then light the mixture using the matches. Blow to put out the fire and leave the materials burning only to embers.

Ready! Now just reap the benefits of the aroma of this smoke, whether passing it through the rooms of your house, through your body or breathing it.

Palo Santo in incense

You can also find Palo Santo in the form of incense. To use it, you must grind Palo Santo incense and place it in a ceramic or tin bowl.

If you want a more intense effect, also mix myrrh and sandalwood incense in the bowl.

Light the mixture in the center of the room that you want to clean or that you will do your yoga, meditation or where you will relax.

Focus on positive thoughts while all the incense is consumed in embers.

How to erase Palo Santo?

To erase a Palo Santo stick, you must scrape the lit tip into a metal or ceramic bowl.

To extinguish the fire more quickly, you can sprinkle ash or sand over it.

To put out the Palo Santo in the form of incense or sawdust, just throw your own ashes over the embers or sand.

Where to find Palo Santo?

Palo Santo is sold in aromatherapy, hipster, holistic medicine stores, yoga and massage studios.