Smudging is part of what I do at Dream Webs. I offer this service to locals who are having problems with their own energy or the energy in their homes. It could be a smudge to cleanse the space of stale energy created from yourself or from the previous owners. A smudge may be required to remove weird feelings, uncomfortable sensations, or to remove more elaborate manifestations of energy: inanimate objects moving on their own, strange noises, or maybe the feeling of being watched. I have provided this service publicly since starting Dream Webs. It’s truly a practice of, listening, I guess? It’s about being in tune with your own energy and understanding how it’s interacting with the world around you.

This is where my two worlds collide. If you’ve navigated your way to my blog, you’ve most likely stopped by my online shop and may have asked yourself about the connection between Malas, healing crystals, and dream catchers. The truth is, they themselves are not connected. I am the connection bringing these two world together. The ancient knowledge of my ancestors collides with the ancient teachings of yoga and Ayurveda, and boom - Dream Webs was born.

Another service I offer is called chakra toning. To be short and sweet, it's a combination of crystals working with their corresponding chakras, bija toning  (OOOOMMMMMMM), yoga and meditation. Of course I’ve added in a traditional Mi’kmaq smudge to incorporate its unbeatable cleansing properties. Chakra toning helps remove energy blockages; allowing your kundalini energy to flow. When you achieve Kundalin, everything else will come. Its a wonderful addition to any yoga practice, accessible to any level of experience. It’s also a great tool to help you work through pain or trauma. Though it’s not a magic one session fix, many find the experience to be both liberating and healing. My hope is that sharing these tools will allow people to heal themselves and move forward to share and help heal others.

I answered a call from a lady who was inquiring about having her chakras toned. She had recently heard me speak at an event at the local community center where she worked. Let’s call her Jane, for ease of story telling.

I arrive to Jane’s one level bungalow where we agreed to meet. She welcomed me, explaining the clutter as she offered me tea. Jane was community glue. She held everyone together; offering everything she could to anyone who needed it. She loved everyone. It became clear to me very quickly that she may have perhaps spread herself too thin, and as a result things in her own life began to suffer, including herself.

We walked through the open kitchen to the small living room where we would have our practice. As I settled in, Jane explained to me that her young daughter was home sick today, but assured me that she was watching cartoons in her room and would not disturb our practice. Contently focusing my energy on the task we were about to undertake, I unpacked my bags and began laying out our yoga mats. Jane sat patiently waiting on the couch beside me, when the sound of slide-on flip flops could be heard coming up the hallway. Jane’s daughter, a little shockingly, was much taller than myself and was clearly approaching her early twenties. As I glanced up from the mats, I caught eyes with her daughter. She gave me a look of inquiry. Her gaze was analytical; I felt like she was checking out who I was and what I was up to. She reached in the cupboard and grabbed a snack. After the short glance I went back to my duties of preparing for our session.

We moved through our session slowly and mindfully. When Jane was finally lying in savahsana, crystals on charkras, I set off to give the house a thorough energy cleanse. As I smudged each room, nook, and cranny of the bungalow I finally came to Jane‘s room. I entered the room, eagle feather wafting the billowing smoke from my abone shell. I found Jane’s daughter sitting in her bed watching the cartoons. The child tucked in the comforter was 7 maybe 8 years old. ‘Strange‘, I thought to myself. In our communications, Jane had let me know that no one else would be home today, and she quickly informed me as I arrived that her young daughter was home sick from school.

After a quick chat about cartoons and answering the usual questions a 7 year old would have when seeing someone smudging their home, I continued on to the last room in the hallway. I’m always mindful of who’s in the house when I’m smudging as to not barge in on anyone’s privacy. I knocked and entered the last room expecting to run into the older daughter(?) I had seen earlier. I was surprised to find the room empty. I cleansed the room as usual and returned to the living room to wake Jane.

We sat together to review our session and my cleanse of her house, as I do with everyone I work with. I find this to be the absolute hardest part of what I do. Explaining to someone, who may be looking for answers, about things I now ”know“; feelings, thoughts, messages, whatever you want to call it, both about themselves and about the energies around them. I dunno... its kinda strange telling people very intimate things about themselves, that they themselves may not know or care to admit. But this is where the magic happens, where healing takes place. By addressing things head on, you have a much more realistic picture of what you are working with. So I just say what I need to say, preconceived notions of how it will be perceived must be set aside.

I had to ask... Knowing - knowing on a different level, in that weird way I still have trouble explaining, what I was about to say — may — result in some shock to both Jane and myself. I asked if we could be left alone. Her young daughter had joined us in the living room when she heard us begin chatting.

I gave Jane some sort of segway that was probably along the lines of “uhhhhh ok, well... umm. ...Huh. Ok. I need to ask you something strange.”

“Is there someone else in the house with us?”

Jane was a little shocked. I’m sure she was half expecting some wise nonsense to come pouring out of my mouth. What does this have to do with what we are doing? And truly it didn’t —well I didn’t think so anyway. We were there to practice self-work.

“Yes..?” she said, puzzled. “My daughter. She was just in here and you asked her to leave?”

It took us, what seemed like several minutes to get on the same page. We finally established that yes, there were three people in the house: myself, Jane and her 7 year old daughter. No one else had been there all day. I also established, over and over that there were no other doors to the house besides those in the kitchen and living room, in clear site.

As I described the girl I had clearly seen getting snacks from the cupboard, the expression slowly drained from Jane’s face. She stared at me blankly before getting up and walking away. When she returned to the living room, she was holding a photo album. She pulled out a picture of the girl I had seen.

“Yes! That’s her!”

Jane burst into tears. Through the sobs she explained that this was a picture of her niece who had lost her battle with cancer at the young age of 21. That was over 3 years ago. She had never been to Jane’s new house, but Jane told me she spoke to her niece everyday; praying for her and asking for her strength and guidance.

I think about this experience often. My brain still can’t logically comprehend what my senses detected. I saw her, with my own two eyes. I could describe to you everything she was wearing, her facial expressions and smile. Our eyes met and I felt a connection I had only experienced with ‘living beings’. I heard her Adidas slip-on sandals smacking against the floor. I would never have second guessed this apparition wasn’t human, had I not walked through the entire house.

I am so absolutely thankful for this experience, and made sure to express my gratitude to Jane’s niece for trusting me enough to come through that day. It has reinforced my belief in that which lies beyond our realm, passed what most cannot perceive.

If you liked hearing about this experience and want to hear more, let me know in the comments below! Please feel free to share this story with your friends.

With love, Kelsie

Owner, Indigenous Artist & Spirit Talker
Dream Webs - Dreamcatchers & House Blessing