"In addition to warding off insects
and disease, shamans commonly
burned sacred plants and used their
smoke to ascend their intentions
to the heavens; a way to connect
the material and spiritual worlds."
wikipedia
Smudge Sticks are one of the tools
I find endearing in my celebrated
tradition. I'm enamored from their
historical incipience to their modern
day usage.
Every summer, my guy drives me
up above the New Castle area to
collect fresh sage from the side of
the road. I only collect a wee tad
every few feet and make certain
not to touch the roots. It would be
evil to diminish Mother Nature's
bounty.
Arriving home, I shower, change
and enter a state of meditation to
begin working with the sage. The
sticks must be created whilst the
sage is fresh.
I take an appropriate amount of
sage, hold it tightly as I wrap it
with natural hemp string up one
side and down the other. Once
wrapped, I trim each end and lay
it out to dry.
I play with a bit of art in the third
round. Sometimes, I'll insert a bud
just before wrapping. A different
color herb makes a nice contrast.
I've even used a cinnamon stick.
I choose to gift these as I believe
they stray too far from the spiritual
for my purposes.
I am ever so grateful for sage;
make no mistake . . .
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