How to Smudge with Prairie Sage

When smudging with sage, you may be familiar with the larger smudge sticks (bundles of dried sage) that are commonly used…but Michael, manager of our Sioux Trading Post knows a different (and some would even say a safer) way to smudge with the sage that grows here, in the Black Hills of SD.

YouTube Preview Image

Michael also explains this is how the Lakota people from around here have always smudged with sage.

How to smudge with Prairie Sage

  1. Taking a few sage stalks at a time, strip the stalks of the dried leaves.
  2. Roll the leaves into a small ball (you can control how long you want it to burn by the size of your ball).
  3. Carefully holding your small ball of dried sage leaves, light it.
  4. Place the sage ball in a nonflammable container.
  5. Smudge.
  6. Let it smoke until it goes out.

…and that’s all there is to it.

According to Michael, the reason smudging with a small sage ball works so well is because it goes out by itself and doesn’t take very long – he says those larger sticks are harder to put out, which is often the main concern.

This entry was posted in How To, Sacred Herbs and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.
You may also be interested in these posts:
The Natural Scents of Pow Wow

About Tracey

An art lover with a knack for the web, Tracey is our all purpose content strategist. She grew up in South Dakota, holds a BFA from Minnesota State University, Mankato and an MFA from the University of Delaware. She's thrilled to be back in her home state working with local artists, learning about the beautiful intricacies of the Native American culture, and writing about amazing art.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>