Dried sage is a base ingredient for a smudge stick.
A smudge stick is a snugly wrapped bundle of aromatic twigs, leaves and herbs burned during a rite or ceremony for specific purposes, such as cleansing, healing or focusing the mind. Smudge sticks are mostly used in pagan rituals. A smudge stick burns with little fire, but a great deal of smoke.
Function
Native Americans use smudge sticks in many of their religious ceremonies. Wiccans use them, as do practitioners of other spiritual disciplines. The process of smudging -- using a smudge stick -- is believed to clear negative energies from an area and carry it away to be transformed into positive energy.
Ingredients
In Native American use, the primary ingredient is sage (Salvia officinalis) or sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata). Other ingredients include juniper, cedar, balsam and other fragrant evergreens. Herbs such as lavender (Lavandula sp.) and cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) are also used. All of these dry well and produce a pleasant-smelling smoke when burned.
Production
Smudge sticks are made by rolling the plant material together and binding it with thin, strong string. The sticks must then be dried for about a week.
Application
A smudge stick is lit until it burns; then the flame is blown out so that the stick smolders and smokes. The smoke is pushed with the hands or with a feather fan all over the body or the area, while praying or thinking positive thoughts. Smudging a particular area, such as a house or even a car, means carrying the smoking stick to all parts of that space. When the smudging ceremony is complete, the smudge stick is extinguished in water and dried again for reuse.
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