Sage is a very popular herb for more than cooking. Within the Pagan community, it is commonly used for cleansing and consecrating sacred space. This is usually done by burning the dried leaves and wafting the smoke across the person or place to be cleansed. This is a process known as “smudging”.
Although occasionally loose leaves of dried sage are burned on charcoal, a more common way to smudge with sage is to use a bundle of sage that is held together by twine. The sage is lit by a candle or from a central fire, held in a shell bowl, and fanned with feathers. It’s a beautiful scent, and does a fantastic job of cleansing a space or aura of negativity. It’s a noticeable difference.
Making Sage Smudging bundles is actually very easy, with a few basic essentials. These are:
How you harvest your sage will determine how big you will make your bundles. If you cut full stalks at the base then you can make nice long bundles. If your sage is a new plant trying to get established, you may only be able to harvest the first few inches, meaning your bundles will be smaller. You must harvest branches to make smudging sticks... loose leaves will not tie into bundles and will end up making a horrible mess.
Now that you have a nice stack of sage harvested, divide it up into convenient handfuls. Judge by eye how large you want your smudging stump to be... it won't shrink that much through drying. Usually between 5-8 good healthy branches are sufficient to make a useful smudge.
Next, pick up your twine. (I prefer a mid-weight cotton twine or string. You can get colored cotton twine in craft stores and the like. Remember that whatever string you get, it is going to be burned. No synthetics!) Starting at the base of the branches, loop the twine several times at the base, pulling until the ends of the branches are tightly held together. Holding the base, start wrapping the string around the sage, keeping the tension tight. Tuck in stray leaves that try to escape. When you get to within an inch or two from the top (depending on how big it is) start wrapping the twine back down until you get to the base again. Knot the ends securely, leaving several inches of twine on the end for hanging (or later decoration.)
For drying, you should ideally have them hanging in a dim, dry location. Hanging from the rafters of a dry basement would be nice if you have one. If it's really dusty, you can hang the sage suspended within a small paper lunch bag, with air holes punched in it. HOWEVER, one harvest several years ago, I was very busy. I got my sage harvested and even tied into bundles, but didn't get them hung right away. I left the bundles stacked in my harvest basket in the dining room. Weeks went by, and I still never got around to hanging the sage. The end result was they dried just fine sitting out in the open. So if you don't have a convenient location to hang dry your sage, don't sweat it.
The best part of this is when you light your sage for the first time, and take in the wonderful aroma. There is definitely something magical added to my celebrations when I use the sage that I grew myself from seed. I bless the plants as they grow, and nurture them with my magic and love. There is a deep satisfaction from the harvest that simply cannot be expressed in mere intellectual terms. Unless you've undergone your own harvest, how can you truly understand Samhain?
I love my gardens. They become a parable for my life. So enjoy your harvest, enjoy your sage, and enjoy the fruits of your labors.
Namaste.
~Flame Ravenhawk