White Sage, with its incredibly strong, aromatic resins, is the most highly prized Western Sage. It is found in the rugged mountains of the Southwest, where it is burned ceremonially in purification rituals. Its beautiful leaf clusters and enormous flowering stalks burst forth in the spring, painting streaks of white against the rusty green hillsides and filling the air with the pungent scent of wild Sage. Mugwort, also known as Dream Weed for its unique ability to stimulate dreams, is found in the mountains of the West Coast from California north through British Columbia. It is renowned as a smudging herb for its subtle, sweet scent and dream-inducing qualities. So burn a little before you go to sleep and dream sweet dreams of wildflower meadows heavy with the smell of the waning winter rains and new green life rising all around you. Sierra Cedar has a wonderful mountain campfire aroma that makes me immediately think of the granite rock and tumbling creek country of the Sierra Nevada, where it is grows. This classic Western smudge is the scent of warm summer evenings along the Tuolumne River, or of stumbling out of your sleeping bag in the middle of the night, with the impossibly cold, wood-smoke Sierra air lighting up your senses. A smudge stick is a bundle of dried herbs, most commonly white sage. Often other herbs or plants are used or added and the leaves are usually bound with string in a small bundle and dried. Some other herbs and spices that are often used include cilantro, cedar, lavender, and mugwort. They have a strong, pleasant aroma when burnt. |
