White Sage

Salvia apiana (white sage, bee sage, or sacred sage) is an evergreen perennial shrub that is native to the south-western United
States and north-western Mexico, found mainly in the coastal sage scrub habitat of Southern California and Baja California, on
the western edges of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.

History

The name Salvia derives from the Latin word Salveo, "to heal" or "to save" (more like, to salve, as in, apply a salve).

It has long been used in healing. An old proverb says "why should a man die who has sage in his garden?". It was used in the Middle
Ages to treat fevers, liver disease and epilepsy. In England, the tea drunk as a healthful tonic. It was also believed to strengthen the
memory. An old English custom states that eating Sage every day in May will grant immortality. It was also said that a woman who
ate sage cooked in wine would never be able to conceive and its fresh leaves were said to cure warts.

It is said that where sage grows well in the garden, the wife rules and that sage will flourish or not depending on the success of the
business of the household.

During the Middle Ages, sage was used to mask the taste of rancid meat. Perhaps its antibacterial action also protected people
from dying of rancid meat…

The Romans regarded sage quite highly and much sacrifice and ceremony was associated with its harvest. They believed it stimulat-
ed the brain and memory and used it to clean their teeth.

The Dutch in the 17th century traded Sage for tea with the Chinese.

White sage (Salvia apiana) is a plant native to high desert ecosystems, and grows prevalently in California. For hundreds of years,
white sage has been considered a sacred, cleansing, purifying, and protective plant. Its leaves are a whitish-green, and if you rub the
fresh leaves between your thumb and forefinger, a refreshing, cleansing scent is released.

Native Americans started the tradition of using Sacred Sage to ward off evils spirits and negative energies, and white sage has
been used in ceremonies to seek blessings of health and prosperity, banish spirits, and encourage protection.

When I first started communicating with the spirit world, I realized that many times, spirits and energies would linger in my house and
in the spaces where I conducted readings. Often times, I would energetically set the intention that the space would be clear, simply
by doing a meditation where I visualized that all the energies in the space were returned to the earth. However, in some cases, this
wasn't enough to 'remove' the additional energies.
Before incorporating any additional cleansing and protective tool into your practice, I encourage you to begin to utilize 'clearing
techniques', that are available to you in meditation. Simply put - imagine that the energies that you are carrying with you - that may
belong to others, are released from your energy, back to the earth. This is called grounding and clearing - and is highly beneficial for
any 'feeler', clairsentient, emotionally in tune soul, or intuitive worker. Clear your energy by closing your eyes, visualizing yourself,
and watching any energy that may have attached itself to you over the course of the day, the week, or the year! Releasing from you,
exiting through your feet, and releasing back to the core of the earth.

You can then expand this routine to your house, or any space where the energy feels thick, or heavy. This space might just be your
living room, after a fight with your spouse. Once you've mastered 'mental clearing', it's time to bring in the boost - white sage!

Sacred sage can amplify any clearing and protective techniques that you are already using. As a plant, and a living being, sage also
has a spirit. The spirit of sage is dedicated to offering protection, blessings, and clearing.

How can you work with white sage?

Most people, including myself, choose to burn it.

Develop a practice to release and clear energy from your space, such as using white sage.

Sage Smudging is a ritual where the leaves of the Sage plant are burned, and the smoke is directed into and onto areas that are in
need of clearing and protection. The idea is that as the leaves are burned, and you speak express your gratitude for its assistance,
the spirit of the sage plant releases its energy of protection and clearing into the space or onto the object that needs clearing. As
the smoke moves through the room or over a surface, the smoke attaches itself to any heavy, negative energy that is within the space,
object or being. As the smoke clears, the spirit of White Sage carries with it the negative energy that was once attached, back up to
the Spiritual Light.

This heavy energy then becomes released, so that it may regenerate into something positive.

You can perform this smudging ritual on anything or anyone that needs a clearing (if it is a living being, remember to ask permission!).
You can use White Sage to help you clear a room, a building, or a property. White sage can assist you in releasing energies and
thought forms from yourself or another that no longer serves you. You can ask Sage to assist you in cleansing unknown energies
from a stone, or an object that you received as a gift!

Sage Smudging Protocols

Obtain a wand or stick of white sage.

The first rule of working with White Sage is this:

After you light the sage, do not stop it from burning. The spirit of white sage knows just how much negativity or heaviness needs to
be released, and will burn accordingly. In fact, I've burned entire wands of sage in one sitting, or had other wands stay 'lit' for only a
minute or two. If you feel you are done burning sage, place the wand in a fireproof bowl, or on the stove and allow the sage to cease
burning, naturally. If you watch the smoke, sometimes it will drift to a particular part of the room, car, or person - that is where the
healing/protection energy is most needed.
A few safety tips-

Have a heatproof bowl to put the sage in, after it has been ignited. Some prefer to use an abalone shell, but abalone is endangered,
so any piece of thick, fired pottery is beautiful and just fine. In fact, this is what I use! If you are using a bowl, you may want to use an
oven mitt on your hands - sometimes the bowl gets hot! Don't use metal or even anything that is made for baking - it'll crack!

Be safe and keep the air as still as possible when you smudge. No fans, or open doors and windows. Any gust of wind could further
ignite the sage and blow sparks and ashes out of the bowl! Avoid wearing billowy clothing and tie back your long hair, if you have it.
You're about to have a mini-fire in your hands, treat it with respect and please be careful.

Light the sage at the very tips of the leaves on top of the wand. Once the flames come to life, blow them out quickly. It’s important to
NOT let it flame and burn. Once it is lit, and the flame is blown out, it will smoke. The movement and release of the energy comes
with the smoke and not the orange flames.

Place the lit, smoking top of the wand of sage, down inside the bowl, and rest the sides of the wand on the edge of the bowl. Use
your hand, a small piece of cardboard, or a feather to "waft" the smoke.

Set an Intention. Using the smoke of the white sage to cleanse and protect, it's important that you ask and set the intention that
this is going to happen. As you work with white sage to cleanse, I suggest repeating a mantra, to remind the energies that you are
releasing that they are unwelcome and asked to leave.

For example, as you smudge, repeat:

I release all energies that no longer serve me to be released from me and this space and into the divine light. You no longer have nor
hold power here. Loving and peaceful energy is welcome and invited in now. This is my sacred space, and anything that no longer
serves me is released with this sacred smoke.

~While this belongs to the writer, I invite you to come up with your own, personalized mantra for this ceremony!

SMUDGING A ROOM OR HOUSE

Keep the windows and doors closed to the room you have chosen to smudge. Start in one corner of the room and gently waft the
smoke after it spirals above the bowl, from the floor up to the ceiling. Always start from the bottom and move to the top - this is the
natural pattern of smoke - to move up and carry away. Move from the back most corner of the room, and move to the next corner,
following the same pattern. If you encounter a window, waft smoke into the four corners of the window, starting from the lower left
corner of the window moving to the upper left, then to the upper right, then back down to the lower right. Seal the window by com-
pleting the "loop", in other words, make sure the smoke is wafted over the entire window frame.

Move to the next corner, and waft smoke from the bottom to the top of the corner, and once you complete the final corner, move to
the centre of the move, raise the bowl to chest height, and waft smoke up towards the room centre. You are now done with this room.
When you leave, shut the door behind you and allow the smoke to penetrate the room for at least 15 minutes. Upon returning, open
the windows and doors to release the energies that have attached to the smoke. Notice how the room feels different - lighter, clear-
er, more airy.

If you are smudging a house, do each room in the above fashion. Start from the back of the house and move to the front. Start from
the bottom floor and move to the top. Make sure to get all rooms and if you have a room with cabinets - open the cabinets and waft
smoke into them the way you would for a window. Your last room should be the one with the front door. Upon completing the house,
exit through the front door and close the front door. Allow the smoke to work for at least 15 minutes. Once you are ready to return,
open the doors and windows of the house.
SMUDGING YOURSELF

Bend over, so that the bowl is about the level of your feet and ankles. Gently waft the smoke upward. As you slowly unbend and
straighten up, you are bringing the sage/bowl and fanning the smoke up, up, upward until you’ve sent the smudging smoke up above
your head. If someone is smudging you, turn around in a circle, and ask them to smudge you, from feet to head on all sides. As you
turn slowly in a clockwise direction, they will stand still and waft the smoke from your feet to your head. Make a complete circle, and
thank them for their assistance. Next, offer to provide your friend with a smudging!

SMUDGING AN OBJECT

If you have a crystal or a piece of jewellery given to you, or anything else that you want to cleanse, hold it in your hand (if it is small
enough). Waft smoke from below the object, so that the sage smoke covers the object from below, traveling. Swirl the smoke around
the object until you feel the cleansing is complete. Remember to repeat your mantra. If you are smudging a protection object such as
a crystal that you wear and have asked it to absorb negative energies, you will want to cleanse this object periodically to make sure it
is fully functioning!

MAKE A TEA

Take 3-4 leaves of white sage, and pace them in the bottom of a tea cup. Pour near-boiling water over the leaves and let them steep
for 7-9 minutes. This tea is used to break a fever, induce a sweat, and clear out the respiratory system. In other words, it's meant to
induce a 'release' of energy from the body - through sweat or mucus. Only one cup is encouraged in a 24 hour period.

WHITE SAGE HERBAL BATH

One of the best ways to embody the protective and cleansing properties of sage is to take a bath in its leaves. Take an entire wand
of sage, separate the leaves and twigs, and release them into a warm bath. Allow yourself to relax and unwind. As you soak, the
white sage will remove any energies from your body and aura that no longer serve you, and deposit them into the bathwater. Thus,
when the tub is drained, the energies are released from you.

All information in this document has sourced from other sites. It was not written by me nor do I
claim to have written this. It is intended as a guide only.
Sources of information:

Wikipedia

http://www.amandalinettemeder.com/blog/2013/9/26/benefits-and-uses-of-white-sage