Native Americans use sage from bushes in North American deserts in ceremonies, rituals and healings.
For centuries Native Americans have used white sage in rituals, ceremonies and healing to cleanse and purify negative energies and protect against evil spirits. During sweat lodge ceremonies, they burn sage in bowls or bundles so the cleansing smoke fills the room, allowing everyone to partake of its healing properties. Burn white sage around the house regularly to clear bad vibrations and cut ties with the past.
Instructions
1. Obtain your sage. For the purpose of burning, you can purchase sage from a retailer, forage it from the wild or plant and harvest it yourself. Native Americans go out and gather white sage from local wild areas, offering prayers of thanks to the plant before picking and giving offerings such as tobacco and bread.
2. Check with retailers to make sure smudge sticks they sell consist of pure white sage, also known as salvia apiana, either grown organically or harvested from the wild. Often retailers will sell smudge sticks in the form of common sage, also known as salvia officinalis. This is a European variety and not the botanical type that use in their smudging ceremonies. Sage bundles combined with other herbs like lavender are not more effective or cleansing, they just smell nicer.
3. Tie together bundles of sage with string if the leaves and twigs are loose. Place a large sturdy twig or branch in the middle and gather the smaller twigs and sprigs around it before tying them tightly together. Use embroidery thread if you do not have standard string. If you do not have string or thread, or do not want to hold the smudge stick while it's burning, you can burn sage leaves loose in abalone shells or stone bowls as Native Americans sometimes did.
4. Use either your hands or a feather to fan the smoke and spread it throughout the area you are cleansing. If smudging a house, start in the east and work clockwise through all the four directions. For physical healing, gather smoke with your hands and rub it over your body, starting with your heart, then spreading it against your arms, head and legs.
5. Monitor burning sage at all times. If you do not intend to burn the entire bundle at once, put out with water when you are finished.
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