Smudging

Sweetgrass is known to natives all over North America. It is used in ritual cleansing, it unifies the people in the circle, it raises a heavy heart, dispels negative thoughts, and gives strength to a dispirited person. I therefore expect that the herb is invested with these medicinal properties. One precaution is in order: Pregnant women are advised to stay away from it.

Cedar was previously known to me as a source of cleansing, healing, and strength. It is a source of vitamin C in the wintertime when that vitamin is hard to come by. Its strong smell repels unwanted flying insects such as moths. That is why we line our clothes closets with cedar wood. Only the dark green dried leaves are used in smudging and the smoke gives off the qualities which I have described. I have never heard of anyone having a problem with this plant or its smoke.

Sage, as known to aboriginals, is not the sage plant we use as a cooking herb, although the aroma is reminiscent of it. Only the white sage of California is a true sage. In the rest of North America, other plants are called sage. The one used in Manitoba is an artemisia similar to wormwood, and varieties grow wild in all parts of North America. I enjoyed its pungent aroma when camped on a desert field west of Kamloops, BC, one hot summer night. It gave me the soundest sleep of any camping night. In the morning, I saw that the entire field was covered in short wormwood-like plants which the people of the area call "sage." Its medicinal properties are too numerous to mention here. This is one of the herbs which can be used by women at any time in their menstrual cycle and even in pregnancy. Sage grows freely along country highways in Manitoba, and I smudge it almost daily, because the smoke clears any congestion of the breathing organs within a minute, certainly faster than any other method I know of.

Tobacco is a medicinal plant, but its properties are not healing, because it contains poisonous elements. The tobacco which is traditionally used in native ceremonies, however, comes from a different plant which I do not recognize, one which is entirely healing without negative effects. It is offered as a sacrifice, a thank offering and is credited with linking the earth and the spirit world.

Smudge as a Healer

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The copyright of the article Smudging in Natural Health is owned by Traute Klein, biogardener. Permission to republish Smudging in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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