Within shamanic practice, cleansing is understood as the restoration of harmony between a person, the surrounding environment, and the unseen forces that permeate both. A central method involves smoke and fire: sacred plants such as sage, cedar, sweetgrass, or palo santo are burned, and the smoke is wafted over bodies, objects, or spaces, sometimes with feathers or the hands. This smoke is regarded as a purifying medium that loosens and carries away stagnant or harmful influences, while fire ceremonies symbolically transform dense energies. Tobacco smoke may also be used in specific ceremonial ways, forming protective barriers and marking boundaries. These rituals are often accompanied by prayer or intention, inviting benevolent spirits to assist in the cleansing process.

Sound is another primary vehicle for clearing heavy or intrusive energies. Shamans employ drumming with particular rhythms, rattles, bells, chanting, power songs, and other ritual instruments to break up and disperse what is perceived as spiritual congestion. The sound may be directed toward specific parts of the body or moved through a room to shift its energetic quality. Through such sound-based work, altered states of consciousness can be entered, allowing the practitioner to perceive the subtle dimensions of imbalance more clearly. In this way, sound functions both as a diagnostic and a remedial tool.

More direct methods of removal, often called extraction, focus on intrusive energies or entities that are believed to lodge within a person. The shaman may symbolically suck, pluck, or pull these intrusions from the body, sometimes with the aid of crystals, stones, or other ritual objects that are thought to draw out negativity. Hands-on techniques, brushing, or combing motions are used to dislodge blockages and move them out of the person’s field. Once removed, these energies are entrusted to helping spirits, transformed, or returned to the earth so they no longer cause harm. Such work is typically framed as a collaboration with guiding spirits or power animals that offer protection and support.

Elemental purification practices further extend this cleansing repertoire. Water rituals include bathing with herbs or salts, sprinkling or spraying blessed water, or using herbal infusions to wash away unwanted influences. Salt may be placed or scattered to create protective boundaries, while fire is invoked for its transformative power. Feathers, ritual knives, or symbolic swords can be used to sweep away negativity or cut energetic cords and attachments that bind a person to draining relationships or past events. Throughout these practices, the underlying intention is consistent: to remove what is burdensome, restore vitality and clarity, and reestablish a balanced relationship with the visible and invisible worlds.