Burning sage is one of the ways that make people continue with their lives. It keeps them going, as burning sage ensures people are only equipped with anything but negative. That is why burning sage has been prevalent these past few years.
It almost became spiritual for many, especially because some practice it more often than go to church. With this widespread use, many consequently get influenced. However, there are downsides that most people are oblivious of now but will significantly be affected by it when it finally comes.
Since smudge burning is getting more practiced than traditional times, its demand continuously rose. But, unfortunately, its demand rose so high that the stocks may fail to meet them, even just halfway. In this article, we will talk about the common materials used for smudge burning, where they are sourced, and how they can be taken more care of.
What are the common materials used for sage burning?
There are a lot of materials used when people burn smudge, and it highly depends on their personal preferences. Some opt for lavender since it is pleasant to the nose, while some prefer sage because it is what they were brought up to. These two, among the many other smudge materials, are commonly found in stores nowadays. Adding up to these are sweet grasses and palo santo, among others.
At The Mecka, there are numerous sage kits that you can choose from regardless of which stage you are currently in. So, may it be that you are a beginner or you breathe sage every day already, we have them all for you. So, let’s talk about what we have to offer more deeply.
What is sage?
Sage is a flower that belongs to the mint family commonly used for smudge burning. There are a lot of materials that can be used for smudging, but sage is the most common because of its healing properties.
Apart from being a material for smudge burning, sage is an essential herb for most households. It is native to the Mediterranean and was used even before it was discovered to cleanse negative energy.
How can sage help us?
As a herb, sage has many beneficial properties. Among that is its ability to promote oral health. In fact, a study showed that a mouthwash with sage contents is greatly effective in preventing a particular bacteria-caused dental cavity. More so, sage oil effectively killsanother particular fungus called Candida albicans that also causes dental cavities.
Here are other benefits of sage:
- It reduces menstrual pain.
- It can lower blood sugar levels.
- It supports bone health.
Meanwhile, as a material for smudge burning, sage doesn’t lack in benefits as well. It can:
- Alleviate stress
- Cleanse the air;
- Improve your sleep.
Among others, its top use is to repel negative energy.
Where is sage sourced from?
To make sure that we won’t add up to the near extinction of sage, we source ours from the farms of Southern California and Baja Mexico. These two regions are greatly abundant in sage, so its scarcity will be close to impossible. More so, it is over 38 acres of land, so there is a rotation every harvest to ensure that no area will be overworked. Thus, every sage is of utmost quality and will be replenished right away.
What is palo santo?
Directly translated to “holy wood” from Spanish, palo santo is a tree native to Peru and Venezuela used for smudge burning. Traditionally, it has been used during medical practices to treat certain forms of pain and alleviate stress.
It comes in different forms, namely; wood, resin, and oil. What’s commonly used in smudge burning is wood, while oil is used for its traditional practices, even up until today. Being traditionally used by indigenous people, palo santo is found useful to date for its properties.
How can palo santo help us?
Palo santo, in general, comes with a lot of benefits. However, it is not as well-known as sage, which is why it is still widely available and not on the verge of extinction yet. Therefore, we shouldn’t wait for that time to ever come. It comes with such great benefits, and it will be a massive loss if we can enjoy it only for so long. Its benefits as a whole are as follows;
- Used as a mosquito repellant.
- Used to alleviate headache and throat pain.
- Used to soothe stress when burned.
The palo santo tree’s benefits not only stop there. In fact, it still comes with a whole lot more. To name a few, its oil is used for massage therapy because of its scent. True to its direct translation, it smells like wood. It also smells like that of a lemon, so there’s a gentle wide array of scents in one.
Where is palo santo sourced from?
Considering how sage is close to extinction, we have to be careful about where we source our palo santo stocks. To make sure that it is well preserved, we get our supplies straight from Peru. Also, we don’t cut down trees just to have them sold in stores. Instead, we only get our stocks from trees that have already fallen, so we can let others still grow.
What is this telling us?
Sage is already close to extinction. It just shows how mainstream its use already is. So, it should be well taken care of and also sustainably sourced and ethically harvested. We are benefiting from its abundant benefits, but we should not stop at consuming. Here at The Mecka, we make the conscious decision to only source our products where they are abundant so that we know that they can be replenished quickly and will not go extinct right away.
It takes a swift decision to burn sage to alleviate our feelings, and for whatever reason, we use it. But it takes conscious and mindful action to think of its repercussions in the bigger picture. So, may we all consume but not destroy. But, at the end of the day, it comes back to us.