I love, love, love to burn sage. And I'm not alone. People have been drying and burning sage as a method of ceremonial cleansing for centuries. Maybe longer. But at least for as long as history of such things has been recorded. To me the smell of burning sage invokes an ancient wisdom, a deep connection to old ways, an invitation to sacred aspects of my own divine femininity. Doesn't it make you feel the same way? If you've never burned sage, well, that's your homework. Go! Go now! Find yourself a few dried leaves or even better, a smudge stick, and light the edge. Blow out the flame and watch the smoke rise. Take it all in. Like a warm hug, a summer breeze, a blanket pulled fresh from the dryer, let the scent soothe and cleanse your spirit in a way nothing else can. Let it lift you away to another place and time. Go with the flow. I've been wanting to make my own smudge sticks since I was introduced to the entire concept. And there's a lot to learn. There are "rules" for smudging, such as it has to be done with white sage (salvia apiana), cedar, or other sacred plant. The plant has to be dried before you can burn it and should be dried ceremonially. Then it should be burned in an abalone shell, which represents water (since the sage represents earth and the burning of it represents fire and air). Some native populations place the abalone shell on deer antlers to ground the process. Some have rules about how you work with the smoke - that you direct it with certain kinds of feathers over a person or object to cleanse it. And those feathers have to be harvested by sacred means. There are even rules about what color string you use to bind the sage, how many times you wrap the string around the bundle, and what kind of string is best. I've read two big old books on the subject and feel like I still don't understand everything there is to know about sage smudging. But of course in my efforts to trust my own inner wisdom, I am assured that I do in fact already know deeply and intimately what is necessary in order to proceed. You do, too.
This past week I had a rare opportunity to make my own smudge bundles. A good friend grows white sage aand needed to trim her plants back. Harvest time! We all got together and decided to make some very special bundles - tied with sparkly rainbow-colored thread, and filled with not just sage but lavender among other flowers and rosemary for healing. The result was a finished set of smudge bundles unlike any I have ever seen - colorful, magical, fairy-like, very glam! I feel like they represent something about me, some aspect of my unique rainbow-hued authenticity, some message about my creative potential. As we gathered and made these beautiful bundles while drinking wine and pink champagne, at sunset, at the new moon, while engaged in deep conversation, I thought about how many women have gathered before us, doing the same thing, creating sacred space and sacred objects together, weaving love and powerful intentions into each bundle, so that every person who receives one of these treasures (and there's something of a waiting list for mine!) can feel the energy as they enjoy the experience of burning them. What I took away from the experience is that you can follow all the "rules" for a process like sage smudging but what matters most is that you pour something of yourself into the work of creating the product so that the process itself is sacred. Sacred process, sacred product.
