BLACK SAGE-MUGWORT

GENERAL INFO
Hanging the plant around the home helps to get rid of insects. Put sachet bags of black sage in closets, drawers, and cabinets/cupboards to keeps moths away from your belongings, blankets, clothes, and such. Anyone can use the sage for smudging and cleansing. You do not have to be a native Indian to do this; all the Native Indians request is that you do this in an honorable way and without malice. When doing this, they also request that it be performed according to the ancestorial ways.

NAMES/MEANINGS
Black sage is a variety of sages known as Salvia mellifera. Black sage is also known as mugwort.

ORIGINS/HISTORY
Black sage is a dominant plant along among the coastal sage plants extending through California with the inland and coastal habitats and is viewed as the best western native honey plants. It grows in coastal bluffs to the inland foothills, from north to south California and Baja California. Plant in full sun and well-drained soil, provide low amounts of water.
Smudging is the process of burning dried plants or other natural elements and then using the smoke to cleanse themselves, objects, or even places of negative energies and negative spirits, and rid an illness away according to Native Indian cultures.

HORTICULTURE
Black sage can grow to three to six feet high. It is an evergreen shrub and produces white to light blue flowers from March to July. This plant can be grown in full sun but will tolerate some shade. The plant can handle some drought, but it can not take the actual desert temperatures and drought. Without the essential daily watering, the plant needs about fifteen inches of rain to be prosperous. Prune young plants regularly in the first year, so they have a longer developed life span and a long-term development of a solid bushy figure. Go on and prune the flowers the first year. You will end up with more flowers in the long run and longer-lived better-looking plants for years.

Young plants allowed to grow too many long flower stocks will break from the weight of their flowers. After spring into early summer flowering, you can prune back the bushes. Doing this almost immediately after the first bloom will bring better, more fuller blossoms later on. Unfortunately, doing this early on will sacrifices the development of seeds for wildlife to eat. Get rid of dead seed heads in the Fall about October and cultivate as need be. Try to leave some of the pruned dry seed heads in the garden for food, nesting material, and habitat for birds and other wildlife you want around.

Cut back 1/2 inch or more of the leafy part of the branches in Fall. It will keep them in a compact form. Leave at least two green nodes on each stem. These plants might not push any to very little new growth if cut below green nodes and into old wood. Older plants grow less and less each year, so they may only need a light cut back and dead-heading. Black sage is a woodsy shrub growing with a mounding to sprawling, 3-6 ft tall and just as wide. The dark green leaves have a wrinkled surface and are very aromatic when crushed. Tall stems bearing numerous pale blue to white flowers occur from late spring into early summer and brighten the landscape when backlit by morning or afternoon sun. Black sage is beautiful, but it is also vital to butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Quail love the seeds, and some companion plants for Salvia mellifera are Quercus agrifolia, Trichostema lanatum, Keckiella cordifolia, and Eriogonum fasciculatum. These are all safe to plant with and near black sage. The black sage is a shrub and a native Evergreen. It grows like wildfire and Spreads everywhere, which is another reason to keep on top of pruning, or you will lose control of it. It is a dark green color with white and lavender flowering blossoms. It grows best during the summer and spring.

CULINARY

MEDICINAL
Meditation with the aromatic sage scent can change your brain and help you handle stress a whole lot better. So if burning sage enables you to relax and enter more of a focus point, then it is well worth it. Sometimes, the smell alone can calm and relax you, regardless of the chemical properties. The scent alone can have a significant grounding effect. It allows you to think more clearly, reduces anxiety, and creates a sense of calm in your daily life. However, suppose the smell of sage isn’t very pleasing to you. In that case, you can also add other aromatics into your smudgings, such as lavender, rosemary, cedar, rose, thyme, yerba santa, cloves, and cinnamon are all great add-ins to burning sage. Research shows that relaxing aromas like lavender, rosemary, and cinnamon, can help improve how your body and brain work after a stressful encounter or situation.

According to recent studies, sage has powerful antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory qualities. Researchers are at the moment keeping it quiet as a natural treatment for a whole bunch of issues, including depression, dementia, obesity, lupus, heart disease, and cancer. Sage is antibacterial, a natural disinfectant. This ancient Native American practice has been in use for hundreds of years. It is still in use. As it becomes more prevalent in mainstream culture, it is essential to honor and respect the cultural roots of smudging. Burning sage brings you to a mindfulness state of mental capacity, heightens your senses, and reduces stress. I burn sage every day regardless of the type of sage.

MAGICKAL
It is best to use black sage at sunset. It is great to cleanse the atmosphere of your space when needing something encouraging and robust. It is a stronger sage to use than white sage. Silvia melfia is exceptional to use. Do some house cleaning, dust, and declutter, even do some organizing. To use it, light one end of the herb stick and blow it out or let it go out to create an aromatic smoke. Waft the smoke throughout the space with a feather. Cleanse yourself with the smoke. Open a window in every room and one door so that you can remove the negativity and unwanted spirits out of each room. Waft it about with the feather starting in the middle of the room and working outwards in a spiraling motion as if cleansing the air. It becomes immediately effective. Black sage is wild-crafted, hand-tied with thin string to the smudge sticks. It has a sweet herb smell and is burned for multiple metaphysical purposes. Longer-lived for spiritual journeys, astral projecting, encouraging dreams, and visions, psychic powers, and abilities burned just before crystal ball gazing, forms of divine workings. For protection, you would hang the plant over your doorway rather than in whole branches. Or you can crush the leaves and flowers for a sachet type of bag, often along with other herbs such as rosemary, cinnamon, and cloves. Sage is antibacterial, a natural disinfectant. Usually, the dried plant is burned over a red hot glowing charcoal disc placed in a large shell or a bowl on the ground. They put both hands over the smoke, take the smoke within their hands, and beginning with the head and continuing downward washes the entire body with the smoke.”

ITEMS NEEDED
You will need a safe dish to burn the sage for burning the sage. Typically, it would be a large shell that is the native ancestors’ way, an excellent feather to waft the smoke around in the environment you are using the black sage. Plus, a small bowl of corn mill to snuff out the black sage bundle once you have completed your cleansing or smudging.

SPELL
I cleanse this environment and the physical and spiritual souls of these people here. I release you free and clear to be on your way to be free in the spiritual world and to be at peace; you no longer have to be here and unhappy, please go and be free, you are released and to release the environment and people of your unhappiness, you can let go and be happy. To be free, you now need to leave this place. You are no longer required here. It’s time to be on your way. This is my will. So mote it be.

ELEMENTS
Artemis-Greek goddess of the moon, hunting, and innocence of women makes her associated with young women. Taurus, Libra, Venus, Moon, Feminine, Earth