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Smudging

© Traute Klein, biogardener

Native North American smudging is reminiscent of burning incense, but besides its ceremonial uses, it has health benefits associated with the medicinal herbs which are used in the smudging.

The Natives of Manitoba

This article is part of a series of articles on what I have learned from my association with the aboriginal people of Manitoba. The other articles are linked below.

The Practice of Smudging

I do not pretend to understand the principles of smudging, but I understand how it has affected me in the short time that I have been exposed to it. So let me share with you what it means to me. In all my experiences, a dried medicinal herb is placed in a clamshell, or an earthenware bowl, and lit. When the smoke develops, the container is carried to every person in the circle and the smoke is allowed to pass over the face, hands, the clothes, and any other item as each participant sees fit.

The Problem with Smudge

I have been in churches where incense is used in worship. Two years ago, I sang in a group which presented a Christmas Eve midnight mass in an Anglican Church so filled with incense that I could barely see the congregation. It did, however, not bother me in the least, although I certainly was not used to it. Other singers, on the other hand, had such problems with dry throats that they refused ever to sing in that church again. Likewise, the smoke from the smudging has never bothered me, although I have severe allergies which mainly manifest themselves in breathing problems. I have heard people say that they will have a problem with the smudge. They have always been given a choice of leaving the room, but if I remember correctly, no one has ever left and no one has ever shown a reaction to the smudge. It therefore appears that the problems did not materialize even though they were expected. None of the smudges I have attended have ever used tobacco, though. To that I know I would have a terrible reaction. I cannot even touch any part of the nicotine plant without severe reaction. But then it is a member of the poisonous nightshade family.

The Four Basic Smudge Ingredients

In Manitoba, smudging employs four different plants either alone or in combination with each other. All of them are recognized to contain powerful medicinal properties.
• Sweetgrass, sarastana odorata, AKA Mother Earth's hair, holy grass, seneca grass, or vanilla grass. It is a native North American plant which I had not previously encountered. The grass grows in marshy areas to about 2 1/2 feet. When harvested, it is braided and the whole strand is lit for the smudging. I have only smelled its smoke once and did not find it particularly pleasant. Possibly I don't like it, because it is reminiscent of the sweet smell of vanilla which I don't particularly like. The smell also reminds me of the marijuana smell to which I was exposed at university during the hippie years, although it does not share its effects.

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