Ancient Americans used feathers to send prayers to the heavens and draw healing power from the sky. This practice is known as smudging. It is the use of smoke from resins, herbs or incense to cleanse & purify a space, object, or person.  The best way is to use a feather to push the smoke around where you want it to go. You may direct the smoke over and around a person, an object to be blessed or into the corners of a room. When smudging, the underside of the feather is used to float the smoke in the direction you want it to take.  Use a downward motion and then across.  The underside of the feather is the side that faces Mother earth, the top of the feather faces Father Sky. Everything is connected.