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A guide to Native American Herbs and
How to Smudge The Native American Way
The use of botanicals and other natural substances have been used for thousands of years by indigenous peoples all over the world to cleanse themselves and their environment, both physically and spiritually. Here we will be focusing on smudging in the Native American tradition. ... Please be respectful and abstain from any mind-altering substances when doing this or any other Native way. ... Although these ways are done differently from tribe to tribe all over the North American continent, this is the way we have been shown through many years of quiet observation and patient teaching by our elders. ... All things are our relatives and we need to be aware of that when gathering smudging materials as well as in our everyday life. ...
The Three Sisters of Smudging, if you will, are Sage, Cedar or Juniper, and Sweetgrass. ...
Smudging at its simplest form is using the fragrant smoke of particular herbs, incenses or fragrant woods to cleanse something. The type of smudging material you use is dependent on many factors, not the least of which is the spiritual tradition of the ceremony or persons conducting the ritual and the purpose behind the ritual. ...
Smudging in some form or another has been used by indigenous cultures all over the world for a variety of purposes and in many diverse ways It is always done for purification, cleansing or to bless or sanctify items. ...
In the Native American traditions, different types of herbs are used for different purposes. Sage is the most commonly used and is considered to be the "standard" for Native American smudging.
Below we have detailed more information about Native American Herbs and their uses, both for smudging and also for traditional medicinal purposes. ...
Native American Herbs
Sage
Sage is a very important herb. ...
What Native Americans call "Sage" is actually not sage. The true sage (Salvia officinalis) is an herb native to Southern Europe and is what is common used for culinary purposes.
The Sage that Native Americans refer to varies from region to region. ... However we will identify the three most common varieties of Sage used by Native Americans. ... In recent years, the popularity of White Sage has grown beyond Native American use and is widely sold commercially all over the world. ... Thankfully, Native American wild crafters, tribes and other responsible, knowledgeable people have gotten involved and we are happy to report that at this time the wild White Sage is growing abundantly again. ... When it is bound into a stick or "wand", it is difficult to control the consumption when smudging and it will actually burn up much faster. ... Native Americans place small amounts of it along with other fragrant herbs with their traditional regalia, feathers and other valuable items to protect from moths and mites. ... We like to use just the cedar boughs for smudging, no cones or berries. ... On the West Coast, ancient Native American tribes built their longhouses by splitting lengths of this fragrant wood into planks, creating giant warm fragrant homes for their families. ... It is said that when smudging with this herbs, the little green arrows go out in all directions shooting down negativity and protecting its relatives.
Incense Cedar is used in smudging when it is necessary to take a more aggressive approach to smudging.
Approximate Word count = 2767
Approximate Pages = 11.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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