I have a bit of an obsession with burning nice smelling things in my house – I have an embarrassingly huge selection of incenses and naturally scented candles (can you ever have too many?!), but one of my absolute favourite things to burn is sage. Sage has been used medicinally since ancient times, prized for its array of health-giving benefits, and has been used by many indigenous cultures for centuries as a spiritual cleanser, ridding both people and spaces of unwanted negative energy. 

White sage is the variety traditionally used in Native American rituals and ceremonies , and for years has been grown naturally and harvested sustainably by these populations. However, white sage’s huge upsurge in popularity across the world now means that these sustainable practices are compromised, and much of this sacred plant now comes from unsustainable non-indigenous sources. 

One of the easiest ways around this issue is to have a go at growing your own sage and making your own sage smudging bundle. It’s really satisfying, super easy and far more sustainable, and many different varieties of sage grow extremely well in the UK!

To make a smudge stick:

Harvest about 6 large sticks of sage, cutting it so there’s a fair bit of woody stem ~ you’ll need this part to hold it all together and keep your bundle sturdy.

Leave your sage to dry on a rack in a warm place, or bundle it together at the stalks and hang to dry. You need it to be dry with no moisture left to stop it moulding. 

Once it’s all dry, tie the stalks together tightly with a long piece of string and then wrap the string tightly around the rest of the bundle, trying to compress the sage into as tight and compact a bundle as possible ~ it’ll burn slower this way and last longer!

Go all the way to the top with the string and then work back down and tie it off at the stalks. Trim the end and it’s ready to burn!