White sage is a herbal plant used for spiritual benefits for many centuries, such as curing diseases. The sage was originally used by Native Americans who would use it for sacred reasons.
They believed that it purifies the house, and cleanses the evil and bad aura. The dried leaves are perfect for smudging as incense. It has a very strong scent and can change the air’s ionic composition.
When burnt, it produces negative ions, and as known negative ions increase the levels of serotonin, relieve stress, clear airborne allergens. But to better understand this plant’s herbal and spiritual benefits let’s learn some details.
What is White Sage Used for Spiritually?
White sage besides its spiritual beliefs and meanings has huge antibacterial and antimicrobial benefits. So people used it to cure flu, digestive problems, infections, etc.
This plant’s antimicrobial benefit has also transferred to its spiritual meanings, that’s why its main spiritual benefits are for cleaning the bad energy and aura at home.
The plant’s biological traits are mainly the same as its spiritual benefits. When burnt for spirituality, it’s believed to clean the negative energy. Such as get rid of evil spirits, give wisdom and awareness, providing positive energy and optimism.
Can Anyone Use White Sage?
Indigenous communities in America originally used white sage but through its beneficial features, it spread to different cultures and world corners from west to east and north to south.
As long as you have the faith and the need, you can use the white sage. But always with caution.
While spreading knowledge of its beneficial traits, people started to widely use it, sometimes not knowing its history and meaning, strength and significance.
As the white sage is already overharvested and this causes problems of ecosystem changes as more is consumed than produced. For this reason in some places, it is restricted to harvest it from wild lands.
The white sage can be used by anyone who wants to and needs it. People who believe in its spiritual benefits and those who use it for health problems.
Smudging white sage can cause smoke, which may be irritating for people suffering from asthma or other respiratory diseases.
That’s why it is not recommended to stay in a room with closed windows where white sage is being burnt.
Those people can enter that place when the smoke has already gone. People who have an allergy to sage should also avoid using it.
What Does White Sage Smell Like?
There are many types of sage, nearly 900 species worldwide. All have herbaceous scents with slight differences.
At first, you may find it strong and refreshing but over usage, it may lose its strong aroma and become an ordinary scent for you.
To best describe, white sage has the scent of wood, and herbaceous scent with brightening, refreshing notes.
Since it has an aromatherapy importance, they used it in the essential oil-making industry and in candle production. While burning sage it produces a strong scent but not a bad smell. It also matters how much you burn.
Some people believe that you also need to have a deep connection with the spiritual world to enjoy and smell it’s really scent.
9 White sage spiritual benefits
As we see, white sage has spiritual benefits used by indigenous people of America. Smudging dried leaves of white sage have several benefits and meanings that we will detail below.
1) Cleansing
One of the most used spiritual benefits of white sage is that of cleansing. With its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, it protected the ancient tribes from various infections and diseases.
Up to today, during various such rituals, it is used to cleanse the space from allergies, bacteria, and viruses.
It’s really good for people with respiratory problems, as they get a quick relief from the white sage smell.
2) Release Negativity
Negativity hinders many processes and changes your mood causing stress and in the worst cases depression and anxiety. To cope with it people use different medications and treatments.
White sage in this case has spiritual benefits used by many to eliminate bad energy and negativity. Bad energy can both be present in injuries and traumas, anxieties, and also misfortunes coming from the past.
White sage smudging in this sense cleans the aura and prepares you to have a clear mindset and feeling free from negativity and anxiety.
During the ritual, you sit and let your mind get rid of any bad thoughts and ideas that surround you. It brings the feeling of relief and comfort, positivity, and a new start leaving all bad things that happened to you behind.
It is like a soul healing process that needs treatment from time to time. Such rituals prepare you for meditation, yoga, or other psychological rituals.
3) Grant wisdom
Sage as the word itself has the meaning of wisdom, in spirituality. It is believed that it gives wisdom, intelligence, and insight.
Wisdom is achieved not only by knowing and obtaining some knowledge but also through years of experience and skills.
People believe in this power of gaining wisdom when burning sage leaves and being in that atmosphere. This has scientifically proof too.
White sage has flavonoids in its composition. Which is useful for the anti-inflammatory effects, consequently shielding body cells from being damaged.
Therefore, this component is effective in preventing some diseases; including Alzheimer’s and like diseases. Preserving sound judgment and a clear mind is crucial for wise people.
The regular rituals of sage smudging is believed to give that result. Of course, it wouldn’t do wonders but can enhance the process, mind, and brain wellbeing.
4) Enhances Sleep Quality
Sleep is one of the most important stages for a person and very often. Especially nowadays, insomnia, and poor sleep are the current problems.
As some people don’t want to take medication, this is an amazing natural solution that many use.
White sage, because of its air purifying properties, can be a good stimulant to improve sleep quality. Burning it in the room where you are supposed to sleep can have that desired effect.
However, it is very important to find out the cause of insomnia or poor sleep if you have such a problem, as it may be related to other health problems that may require medication or other treatment.
White sage burns can promote good sleep if used regularly in the bedroom.
5) Reducing Stress
Due to its good properties, white sage and sage in general have anti-stress properties. Not only does it contribute to the neutralization of stress, but it also provides an upliftment of mood.
Burning it, which comes from ancient customs, has an effect on the mind in particular. It reduces stress and calms the nerves due to its sedative, playful and calming properties.
Thanks to it, creative thinking, concentration, and mood change for the better increase. Even during the ancient rituals, the burning of various herbs was considered a mandatory process.
The shaman or prophet would burn incense, sage, or other plants before beginning the rituals. This set the mood for both the shaman and others already participating in the ritual.
Even today, this centuries-old tradition remains, and various herbs are burned during church and other religious gatherings.
Moreover, it really purifies people’s thoughts, calms nerves, and creates more favorable conditions for perceiving and understanding something new.
6) Making Objects Sacred
This is also one of the ancient customs that is common in different cultures and religions.
People often smudge various objects or areas to cleanse them of bad energy and bestow supernatural and positive energy.
For example, when buying something new, be it an object or a house or a car, people smudge it with white sage because they believe that it gives that thing strength and good energy, it can become a talisman for many. This is one of the other spiritual benefits of white sage.
7) Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a therapy performed using different essential oils. The purpose of which is aimed at both the spiritual and physical well-being of a person.
It has an ancient history and has been used for centuries. Through aromatherapy, they extract their essential oils from plants and use them through inhalation.
It begins to affect the emotional centers of the human brain and has a positive effect. Essential oils are also used on the skin, for example during massages.
The skin also absorbs it and relaxes the muscles. It may as well be used during baths for the same purposes.
White sage essential oil is used to affect the emotional field. It has spiritual applications, and is believed to dispel bad emotions, restore lost energy and create a positive aura.
8) Helps Fight Positive Ions’ Bad Effects
There are positive and negative ions in nature, which have different effects on humans.
Negative ions are water, trees, and soil, which have a positive effect on a person, and a positive result on a person’s mood, and energy. It removes stress, fills with energy, dispels depression, and improve metabolism.
Negative ions neutralize free radicals, which contribute to the occurrence of certain diseases, as well as human aging.
Positive ions are already present in air pollution, dust, and strong winds. Everything that has a strong electromagnetic field contains positive ions that contribute to allergies, diseases, and aging.
White sage is able to remove dust, pollution, allergens, and bacteria from the air. When white sage is burned, it generates negative ions, which in turn has a beneficial effect on humans.
9) Enhance Intuition
One of the spiritual properties of white sage is that it stimulates intuition. One of the primary features of Smudging is the stimulation of intuition, which is important during rituals.
During these rituals, the healer is able to correctly perceive and understand various problems and offer easier solutions.
Through enhanced intuition, they are able to establish contact with the spiritual realm and ponder upon spiritual problems.
How to Use White Sage?
One way to use white sage is for smudging specifically for spiritual purposes. This is a Native American custom, so you should be familiar with both the background and the process itself.
Let’s make it step by step, so you can easily do it at home and to get the best results.
Where to get the White Sage?
To start, you need to buy white sage, you can buy it from different places, but you can also buy it from the Native Americans, who will also tell you how to use white sage correctly.
Where can I burn it?
Then you need to have a bowl in which to burn the sage, a long match, and a fanning tool with which you will spread the smoke better.
Before you start, you should have an open window or door, this is done either for safety reasons or to ward off evil, to expel bad energy.
Do I just burn it?
No, there is the spiritual preparation, you should say a prayer related to your story, why you want to perform such a ritual. What you dispel from the house or from within you. After all that, you can burn the sage.
It should be held at an angle of 45 degrees, light it with a match or a candle and let it burn for 20 seconds. Then put out the fire and already the first smoke will start to appear.
You need to have faith:
Then walk slowly, letting the smoke spread to different areas. That’s how you can dispel bad energy, and evil spirits, by dispelling them through a window or door.
Especially let the smoke spread in the corners of the house, on the mirrors, in the corridors. You can also spread it on the objects you want to purify.
Be careful not to let any of the coals fall on the floor, and if so, pick it up quickly and always be in the area. You can use sand, ashtray, or clay dish to gently put out the fire.
Never extinguish it with water or something wet, because it will be difficult to burn it again next time.
Can I Inhaling White Sage Smoke?
It is not recommended to inhale the smoke of white sage. The sage smoke really clears the air from dust, dirt, pollution, and allergens.
But it can harm the lung if you directly inhale the smoke, also people with asthma or respiratory problems should avoid the white sage smoke.
Be careful during the rituals and try not to inhale the smoke directly.
Final words
As we have seen, white sage has a very old history and great significance, especially for Native Americans. It is used in various fields and also for spiritual purposes.
If you want to use it, you need to know its history, usage, and security. And most importantly, you should not use it for fashion or trend, but really put faith and meaning in it all.
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