White Sage Smudge Sticks
Smudge (literally: smoldering fire) bundles are a completely natural, ceremonial incense that were and are burned to the original Indian peoples in America in rituals and ceremonies, for example during sweat lodge ceremonies. The distinctive rose scent gives your smudge ceremony an extra dimension. As a symbol of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, the flower lends itself well to loving associations.
Healers, energetic therapists and body workers are increasingly discovering the beneficial effect of this herb. Bunches of smudge are used all over the world to reconnect with the power of Mother Nature. The use of smoldering plants and resin may have originated from campfires in prehistoric times, in caves and camps. The ceremony of cleansing people, places and objects with smoke is still in vogue today. Not only useful to drive away pesky flying insects; the smoke of was also used to provide protection against disruptive spirits and ghosts.
In order to apply this protective and cleaning effect, the leaves or resins were heated during healing ceremonies to make smoke, which was then applied over the person or an object, often with large feathers of fans, which purified it from negative influences. Living areas were also cleaned in the same way.
White Sage is burned during ceremonies to drive away evil spirits, negative thoughts or disruptive influences . The leaves are famous for their special scent, and they are used as a natural defense against moths (in clothing) or mosquitoes (in a room). White Sage can be used in countless ways. The American Indians in Central America cover the floor of their sweat lodges with it. They also breathe in through a small bunch of sage and sometimes they rub it over their body when they are in the sweat lodge. White Sage makes the evil spirits sick, they say. They are driven away with it, when it is burned. If not with the good spirits; they don't go away because of the smoke. Good spirits, on the contrary, love white sage.