The past few years have certainly given many people a desire to get rid of negative energy in their homes. Smudging, also known as sage, has become a popular wellness practice, with people using it to cleanse their spaces—whether it's their bedrooms, their entire home, or even their cars. But if you hang out in social media circles, you might hear people ask (and you might wonder it yourself): Is burning sage and smudging cultural appropriation?
Sage or salvia grows in different colors and varieties around the world. Culinary sage (the kind used in butternut squash and roasted chicken dishes), also known as garden sage, originally comes from the coast of the northern Mediterranean region. However, most people are referring to white sage (Salvia apiana) when talking about the popular smudging practice.
White sage grows naturally in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, and is particularly found along the coast of Southern California and in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. While white sage is not the only sage native to North America, it is by far the most commonly used and marketed in the health industry. It is also a sacred herb among some indigenous communities, including the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Navajo. For example, the Chumash people, who are native to coastal areas of central and southern California, use white sage during healing procedures to cleanse the central nervous system.
It’s a fair question to wonder whether burning sage is cultural appropriation—long story short, burning sage is problematic for several reasons, the biggest of which are cultural insensitivity and environmental unsustainability. If you're not Native and therefore hesitant to strike a match to clear out bad vibes in your apartment, here's what you need to know about burning white sage.
What is a stain?
Daubing is a distinctly local characteristic. This is an important purification ritual or prayer created and practiced in many North American Aboriginal cultures. Nor does it refer specifically to the burning of white sage. Different Aboriginal communities use different medicines for smudging depending on where they come from, and not every culture uses white sage or smudges. The practice has a long and rich history, and has been around since long before white witchcraft practices brought it to an Instagram near you. In fact, before smudging became widespread, it was illegal—at least for Aboriginal people—and often violently suppressed.
“Prior to 1978, it was illegal for Native Americans to practice their religion, and many, including my great-great-grandfather, were imprisoned and killed simply for maintaining our way of existence,” says Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer Lou Ruth Hopkins tells Bustle. Smearing with sage was part of a prohibited religious practice. Today, Aboriginal people are still fighting to be able to hold these ceremonies at hospitals.
Due to the complex history of sage burning, when non-Indigenous people use white sage to "smear" their homes or other spaces, it violates the cultural importance and authenticity of rituals and prayers - in short, it is Cultural appropriation. So the practice of smearing should not be taken lightly, said Dr. Adrian Keane, an assistant professor of American studies and ethnic studies at Brown University, author of the blog "Indigenous Appropriation" and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
"That smudge represents the deep pain, sacrifice, resistance and rejection of Indigenous people. It represents the ongoing legacy of marginalizing and punishing Indigenous spirituality," Keane said. “So when our religious practices are mocked through these products, or people commodify and make money off our rituals, it’s not about who has the ‘right’ to buy or sell. It’s about power. "
Instead, advocates say, non-Indigenous people can learn to clean their spaces in culturally and ecologically sensitive ways.
Is burning white sage harmful?
White sage is in high demand due to the recent popularity of its application. Demand was so great that many Chumash people in what is now Southern California feared the plant was being overharvested. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says white sage has important medical benefits—it can be used to treat colds and aid in postpartum healing—and is an important part of the surrounding ecosystem.
As Keane explains, overharvesting of white sage—in addition to the threat of increased wildfires and urban development—endangers the ability of First Nations people to access and use the wild plant the way they and their ancestors have for thousands of years. . But some brands and stores continue to sell white sage despite public opposition from indigenous communities. “This is an exploitation that amounts to silencing Indigenous voices and erasing our cultural heritage,” Hopkins said.
For Hopkins, the use of white sage is made worse because the plant is often not harvested properly. “When working with medicinal plants, it’s important to use the plant sustainably. When we harvest sage, we always leave the roots behind and pray over our harvest. This is the same as burning the plant to taint (or rot) part of it,” Hopkins said.
In other words, it's important to preserve the roots so the plant can regrow. If someone harvests white sage without knowing how to do it correctly, they will endanger the plant species by preventing more plants from growing.
Smoke and stain removal
White sage is especially popular among those who practice witchcraft or witchcraft-inspired health rituals. However, saints were not historically part of European witchcraft, from which much of modern witchcraft is derived.
If you've used herbs to cleanse your space in the past and enjoyed the ritual, you don't have to give it up to do it in a culturally aware way. Smudging refers to a specific cultural and spiritual practice, but smoke cleansing offers non-Indigenous people an alternative to smudging. This form of cleansing looks a bit like smudging, but it's the simple act of burning herbs, wood, incense, or other safe-burning materials with cleansing properties. The smoke is then waved over the area you want to clean.
Many cultures have historical and spiritual practices associated with smoke purification—from herbs and woods to incense and roots. For example, people in ancient Egypt burned frankincense and myrrh in prayers, and hospitals in France historically burned rosemary to clear the air of infection. Find out if and what your ancestors burned for purification and maybe even personal satisfaction. But unless you're descended from a native North American, it's probably not white sage they're burning, Keane said.
However, the general act of smoke cleansing is not inherently spiritual or culture-specific like smudging. If burning incense, herbs, or wood is part of your self-love practice and inner wellness work, in addition to burning sage to cleanse the smoke, there are some safe-burning alternatives, including lavender, pine, thyme, and cloves, each Each has its own characteristics and unique performance and does not harm the environment.
Note that if you're browsing your favorite place to buy herbal medicine and look at the smoke cleansing options next to white sage, you may spot Palo Santo ("holy wood" in Spanish). But you may want to hold off on buying palo santo bark as an alternative to sage is also becoming increasingly popular, but buying the bark of this Central and South American tree used by Amazonian tribes can also be harmful, as is adding Like white sage. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list because although the tree is not yet close to extinction, recent overharvesting may put it on the path to extinction.
It is important that during any cleanup process you respect Aboriginal culture and ecosystems. This may include educating yourself and others about white sage, appropriation, and smoke cleansing; sustainably harvesting your own sage or other herbs; contacting brands to ask them to stop selling white sage because of local culture. Donate; or use other plants entirely. Being intentional about how you implement this practice in your life, and being mindful of its origins and meaning, can help everyone.
expert:
Ruth Hopkins , Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer
Adrienne Keene , Ph.D., Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University, author of the blog Native Appropriations , and citizen of the Cherokee Nation
