Palo Santo, Your Guide to Using it Ethically

Palo Santo, meaning “holy wood” in Spanish, comes from the Bursera graveolens tree, a species native to Ecuador, Peru, and other regions of South America. Traditionally, Palo Santo has been used by Indigenous communities, including the Quechua, for ceremony, healing, prayer, and the purification of energy.

Palo Santo at Lumos Collective is sourced sustainably honoring the long-standing cultural lineage of this plant ally. Palo Santo is not a trend or an aesthetic. It is a sacred material that deserves reverence, relationship, and respect.

In this Yule collection, your Palo Santo bundle is a tool for clearing space, returning to center, and symbolically preparing for the rebirth of the Sun — the heart of the winter solstice.

Because Palo Santo comes from specific Indigenous cultural and ecological contexts, it’s important to use it with:

• Awareness: Understanding it is a culturally significant material, not a decorative one.
  

• Consent: Using ethically sourced wood only — no living trees harvested.
  

• Intention: Approaching it as a sacred tool, not a commodity.
  
  

You do not need to claim Indigenous lineage to use Palo Santo. You do need to approach it with respect, gratitude, and consciousness of where it comes from.

If you prefer not to burn Palo Santo, you can work with it unlit as a symbolic cleansing tool or choose alternatives like cedar, rosemary, or your Mini Yule Spray.

Wood Meaning & Energetics

Palo Santo is considered both a light-bringer and a shadow-dissolver.

Energetically, it supports:

• Removing stagnant, heavy, or anxious energy
  

• Soothing the emotional field
  

• Bringing clarity of mind
  

• Helping you reconnect to your center
  

• Inviting blessings into newly cleansed spaces
  
  

Historically, it has been used for:

• Treating physical ailments
  

• Clearing negative forces
  

• Creating sacred space
  

• Prayer and community ceremonies
  
  

This makes Palo Santo a beautiful ally during Yule — the moment between darkness and returning light.

Magical Correspondences

• Element: Air + Fire
  

• Planet: Mercury
  

• Chakra: Crown
  

• Intentions: Clarity, purification, grounding, energetic reset
  

• Yule Association: Clearing stale energy before welcoming the rebirth of the Sun

To Cleanse Your Space

1. Light the Palo Santo until it catches flame.
   

2. Blow it out gently to allow smoke to billow.
   

3. Walk the perimeter of the room slowly.
   

4. Move clockwise to call in blessing and alignment.
   

5. Whisper your intention: “I clear this space to welcome new light.”
   

To Cleanse Your Aura

• Hold the stick at arm’s length.
  

• Move it around your body from feet to head.
  

• Focus especially on the heart and shoulders — where we hold burden and fear.
  

To Activate a Ritual

Before spellwork, pass objects or your altar through the smoke to “wake up” their energy. This is also a great way to cleanse all of your materials that you plan to use in your spellwork.

To Work With It Without Smoke

Place your Palo Santo on your altar as:

• A symbol of clarity
  

• A dedication to new beginnings
  

• A grounding anchor for meditation
  

The wood itself carries an energetic memory.

Yule Clearing Ritual

Before sunset on Yule, open a window or door and walk clockwise through your home with the Palo Santo.

 Say: “As the Sun is reborn, so is this home.” Let the fresh air carry out the old.

Yule Lore Connection

Yule marks the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Ancient European households engaged in:

• Smoke cleansing
  

• Hearth rituals
  

• Evergreen protections
  

• Honoring ancestral cycles
  
  

Before inviting in the “new light,” families ritually cleansed their homes to make space for blessings.

Your Palo Santo bundle echoes this:A modern tool rooted in ancient seasonal wisdom — clearing out energetic residue to prepare for renewal, rebirth, and the subtle returning warmth of the Sun.