My Journey with Sage Burning

I've heard a lot about burning sage but honsetly wasn't sure of what it really meant or how to do it. When my boyfriend's sister came to visit at the end of last year I took her to Zero Market at Stanley Marketplace and she surprised my by buying me my first bundle of sage. I looked over at it over the weekend and decided that I would read about it online and use it for the first time.

I saw several articles that went into detail about indigenous ceremonies involving sage 'smudging', and I realized that there were definitely some aspects of cultural appropriation that I wanted to be careful of. That is why I decided not to use any of the more elaborate & appropriated practices and to not call it smudging in this post.

That being said, I did have the sage in my house and I read so many people's positive experiences using it that I did want to try burning the bundle. I decided to just do what felt natural to me. I lit the bundle and slowly & intentionally walked around my house allowing the smoke to dissipate into the rooms. I thought about why I wanted to clear the energy while I was doing it and have to say that at the end of it I felt much more relaxed and clear.

I read that burning sage can cleanse the energy in the house or surrounding a person and that it can prevent bacteria and a whole host of other things, and honestly,  I don't know about that. What I do know is that I felt more grounded after burning it.

It also was rather nostalgic. It reminded me of going to church as a child, the priest would burn frankincense and the smoke would get wafted over all of us. I couldn't explain it but I always felt better after those services and the sage reminded me so much of that. I am definitely going to do some more research and continue to learn new ways to enrich my life while respecting people's cultures.