Description

There are so many botanicals and herbs that are useful for cleansing, purification, uplifting positive energy and protecting from negativity. All the bundles we stock are perfect for your cleansing routine, but look at what other magick they can bring into your life!

Cedar is a northeastern favorite for healing & protection as well as cleansing

Juniper helps raise positive energy

White Sage is a sacred plant used to create sacred space and welcome in the ancestors
(we ensure our sage comes from reliable sources through the California Fish & Game Department)

Rosemary is protective and amplifying

Mugwort is calming and used for astral work and spiritual development

Sage with Copal & Star Anise raises vibrations and enhances intuitive ability

 

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Why we sell White Sage, and why we don’t call it Smudging

White sage is a botanical native to the United States. In recent years, it’s developed a contentious reputation, with many heated arguments over who is allowed to use it and sell it.

Many people believe White Sage (Salvia apiana) is endangered. This is false. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service does not list White Sage in it’s database of Endangered & Threatened plants. (See the full list here.) However, officials are concerned with the future of the plant due to unsustainable (and illegal) overharvesting practices – and also because of climate change, drought, and wildfires. This is why we make sure any companies we buy White Sage from have worked with the California Fish & Game department directly to ensure proper harvesting practices.

Whether or not it’s ethically appropriate to simply use White Sage if you don’t belong to an Indigenous group of people is more tenuous. Some things to consider:

First, White sage is a naturally growing botanical in the United States and was not specifically cultivated by native people (although some tribes do cultivate and tend to it now as a way to participate in the trade and profit of the plant).

Second, not all Indigenous tribes use White sage or consider it sacred. Too often, “Native Americans” are lumped together as a singular group, but individual tribes have rich and diverse cultures and histories completely different from each other, especially as they differ in region. It’s ignorant and insensitive to consider one tribe’s sacred practices and beliefs to be the same across all tribes.

Third, Indigenous people have harvested and sold White sage to traders and people outside the tribe for hundreds of years.

Fourth, while it’s not technically endangered (and I can’t stress that enough), there is concern for the flippant use of White Sage, especially on social media. When using any botanical for magickal or spiritual purposes, it should be used with reverence, care, and respect, and with conservation in mind.

The problem is (generally) not the usage of White Sage, but the illegal poaching of the plant from Indigenous lands. If you do wish to buy a Sage bundle, strongly consider where it’s coming from and the transparency of the people selling it. If you can buy White Sage directly from Indigenous people, please always do that first.

Now, a topic much less controversial are the terms “smudge” and “smudging”. So many new age shops sell white sage (and other herbal bundles) under the term “smudge” for purposes of cleansing and purifying. While the simple act of burning White Sage, even for purification purposes, is not appropriative, since many cultures around the world burn herbs for cleansing, using the term “smudging” is appropriative and incorrect. Smudging is a sacred practice with many Indigenous tribes, made up of specific – and secret – words and actions. It is a sacred ritual for the tribes who use it, and to use the term in place of simple “smoke cleansing” is disrespectful.

We will never refer to our herb bundles as “smudges”, “smudge bundles”, “smudge wands”, or anything using the word “smudge”. Because many cultures have their own sacred smoke rituals, do some digging into your own practices to see if there’s a term that better fits – or just simply call it “smoke cleansing”, because that’s what it is.

ALL OF THIS BEING SAID, I am a white person with French, Scandinavian, and Celtic ancestry, and as such I do not have authority or final say on these matters. This is the conclusion I have come to after extensive research (not just a basic Google search) and communication with members of my local Indigenous population. All of this is subject to change at any moment with updated input from the Native community or the national database of endangered wildlife. Please be in communication with your local minority populations if you are ever concerned about appropriation from said culture. They will always have the final say.