Like ‘Tarot’, some areas of social media are full of misinformation around lil ol’Sage, and as you know, here at Digital Coven, if there is one thing we bloody love, it’s stirring them cauldrons…with sticks made of actual knowledge and insight. So buckle up and let’s dive into the Sage, white sage and it’s other variants.
Disclaimer: This is a UK blog based in London, therefore when we are referencing herbs etc we use terms localised to us…which is the UK. Because we are BRITISH. Again, for those who like to argue, we don’t have white sage native in the UK as it’s an American Herb native to the Americas and we are not in the Americas we are in the British isles…we use British Garden sage…Please do not go down the bean soup route and just read the bloody post and click the citation links for more info, ok? Sheesh.
“Smudging” by Cornelia Kopp is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 [A closed practice]
Top Level:
- Using Sage is NOT a closed practice.
- You can use local and homegrown variants of Sage in any practice…unless it is white sage [see below]
- White Sage, which is the American type of Sage that is causing all of the confusion, is endangered and should be brought ethically from local indigenous people or grown yourself to make sure that it is sourced ethically. Buying it online is adding to its endangerment and putting it at risk of not being able to be used in closed religious practices performed by indigenous peoples in the Americas. Again, this is a guide, we personally recommend that if using white sage isn’t part of your traditional cultural practice, just leave it alone. There are so many variants of Sage that do exactly the same thing that can be used such as Garden Sage which we recommend using instead.
- Smudging, is a closed practice that uses White Sage and should only be performed by those indoctrinated into those practices by people who are already part of those cultures. This doesn’t mean it is closed to White, Black or Asian or Mermaid or Aliens – you just have to be invited by an Elder to learn the practice in a respectful and educated manner otherwise, we recommend that you just stay away from magick that you do not understand and know the ways of. If it’s a close practice it’s usually closed for a sincere reason.
- You can Smoke cleanse with any Sage, but we recommend that you avoid White Sage due to its at-risk status environmentally. If using White Sage isn’t part of your culture then just use another Sage. There are so many not-at-risk variants. Using a cleansing stick or herb bundle is ok to do but doing it and calling it ‘Smudging’ is misinformed as they are two very different ceremonies so please be respectful with your wording. You couldn’t call Christmas, Hanukkah even if they do happen around the same time of year and may involve gifting presents. They are completely different religions and religious practices.
- I honestly don’t know what to say about being gifted White Sage by a non-indigenous person and will leave the answer to that question open to the people who are most impacted by it -If any Indigenous witches who read this blog, wish to comment below or even do a guest post around this I would be most grateful. Personally, my recommendation would be if you are local to the Americas, donate it to local tribes and indigenous witches.
“Misty Sage” by Linda, Fortuna future is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
If you are an older witch who has recently been online, mainly Tiktok’s lovingly called ‘Witch Tok’ community you may suddenly be shocked at the level of vitriol thrown at you for mentioning your use of Sage within your practice. Suddenly, you’re getting comments from people accusing you of appropriating other cultures, being disrespectful to other practices and brutalising the planet. It all seems a bit bizarre, especially as you can still buy a Sage and Herb flavoured Sausage and stuffing from the Supermarket (if you didn’t know this blog was based in the UK that sausage comment certainly gave it away, ha!).
Let me explain, many of these Witches are based in America so aren’t aware of the European variants of Sage and the majority are confusing our use of ‘Garden’ or any of the European variants of Sage for an American type of Sage referred to as ‘White Sage’. These Witches are not being deliberately aggressive, in fact, they are actually trying to do some good and support historically disrespected indigenous communities, they just haven’t learned that Sage is in fact a category of herb and there are many, many variants.
About Sage:
There are over 900 variants of Sage, and many are used in cooking, whilst some are used for their decoration value. May cultures practice sage burning and using sage bundles and stick to remove bad energy.
Salvia officinalis is the Latin name for the herb and its other names include sage, common sage, garden sage, golden sage, kitchen sage, true sage, culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, and broadleaf sage. Cultivated forms include purple sage and red sage. The specific epithet officinalis refers to plants with a well-established medicinal or culinary value.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_officinalis
“Chopped sage” by onenjen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
There are many different types of sage or salvia plants available. They may be either perennial or annual, blooming to non-blooming, but pretty much each of these different types of sage is fairly hardy. Foliage comes in sage green, variegated purple/green, or variegated gold and blossoms range from lavender to bright blue to cheery red.
Garden or common sage (Salvia officinalis) is the most common type of sage used for cooking. You can also make tea from the leaves. It is very hardy and bounces back in the spring even after a severely cold winter. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_officinalis
Read more at Gardening Know How: Sage Plants For Gardens: Learn About Different Types Of Sage https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/sage/types-of-sage-plants.htm
It is native to the Mediterranean areas but has flourished throughout Europe and other continents worldwide where they have developed its own variants. This is where some of the misunderstandings around the use of Sage come into play. (See: White Sage Section) but officially, Sage is not closed and can be used in many aspects of witchcraft and spell casting.
“Sage (Explore 5/21/14)” by Rick Bolin is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Witches Use for [not endangered] Sage:
Again, as I know many people like to skim read it’s crucial to distinguish between “smudging” and “smoke cleansing” or “saging.”
- Smudging is a specific, sacred ritual from various Indigenous cultures (particularly in North America) involving the burning of specific medicines (like white sage, sweetgrass, cedar) in a prescribed ceremonial way. This is a closed practice. Unless you are a trained member of those specific cultures, you should not refer to your practice as smudging or attempt to replicate its ceremonial protocols.
- Smoke Cleansing or Saging refers to the broader, cross-cultural practice of using smoke from herbs for purification, blessing, and energetic cleansing. This has roots in European, African, and Asian folk magic. Saging is an open practice that you can ethically adapt and used in many practices world wide.
Here are several methods, from the most common to the more creative.
1. Smoke Cleansing for Energetic Purification
This is the most well-known use. The purpose is to clear stagnant, heavy, or negative energy from a space, an object, or a person.
How to do it:
- Preparation: Open a window or door in the area you plan to cleanse. This gives the negative energy a path to exit. Light your bundle of dried garden sage and let it catch fire for a moment.
- Ignition: Gently blow out the flame so the bundle is smoldering and producing smoke. Use a fire-safe bowl or an abalone shell (if you use a shell, be aware of its cultural significance and ensure you’re using it respectfully as a beautiful, natural tool, not as an imitation of a specific ritual).
- The Act: Use your hand or a feather (again, as a tool, not a cultural appropriation) to gently waft the smoke around the space. Pay special attention to corners, doorways, and mirrors, as energy can get stuck there. Visualize the smoke binding to the heavy energy and carrying it out the open window.
- Cleansing People/Objects: You can also waft the smoke around a person (ask their permission first!) or over an object like a crystal, tarot deck, or piece of jewelry to cleanse it of previous energies.
- Closing: Once you feel the space is clear, you can extinguish the sage by pressing it into sand, soil, or a fire-safe dish. Thank the sage for its assistance. Close the window if you wish, and perhaps light a candle to invite in fresh, positive energy.
2. Creating a Protective Barrier
Sage’s protective qualities can be used to create energetic boundaries.
- Warding Smoke: As you smoke cleanse the perimeter of your home, visualise the smoke creating a shimmering, protective barrier on the walls. Intend that this barrier will repel negative influences and only allow positive energy to enter.
- Sage Brooms (Besoms): Small, decorative witch’s brooms can be made with sage bundled into the twigs. You can use this besom to “sweep” negative energy out the door, both physically and energetically. Hang one over your door for protection.
“Sage front” by onenjen is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
3. In Spell Work
Incorporate dried, crumbled sage leaves directly into your spells.
- Protection Sachets: Add dried sage to a mojo bag or sachet with other protective herbs like rosemary and black salt. Carry it with you for personal protection.
- Cleansing Baths: Tie a handful of dried sage in a muslin cloth or an old stocking and hang it under the hot tap as you run a bath. Soak in the water to cleanse your own aura. (Be mindful that sage is an herb; if you have sensitive skin, test a small area first).
- Prosperity and Healing Spells: Because sage is ruled by Jupiter (the planet of expansion and good fortune) and has associations with healing, you can use it in spells for abundance, success, or to aid in recovery from illness. Write a wish on a bay leaf and anoint it with a little sage oil, or place a sage leaf in your wallet to attract money.
- Wish Fulfillment: An old folk tradition involves writing a wish on a sage leaf and placing it under your pillow to dream on it. After three nights, burn the leaf to release the wish to the universe.
“Fried Sage Leaves” by Chiot’s Run is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
4. Kitchen Witchery
Since garden sage is a culinary herb, it’s perfect for kitchen witchcraft. In fact I have a whole section on this here https://digital-coven.com/category/witchcraft/kitchen-witch/ and a lovely beginner post here Easy ‘Kitchen Witchery’ for beginner baby witches – Digital Coven.
- Cooking with Intention: When you add sage to a meal (like in stuffing, soups, or roasted vegetables), focus your intention. Stir in wisdom for a family dinner, protection for your household, or healing energy into a meal for someone who is unwell. Your focused intention charges the food.
- Sage Tea: Brew a tea with fresh or dried sage leaves. As you drink it, focus on absorbing its properties of wisdom and clarity. It can be a great drink before meditation or divination work.
- Simmer Pots – Boil sage in a little water and let the stream and aromas cleanse and purify the air – great if you can’t do much witchcraft involving burning things.
5. In the Garden
Grow your own sage plant. This is the most sustainable and personally connected way to use it.
- A Witch’s Herb: As you tend to the plant, you build a relationship with its spirit. You can thank it before you harvest leaves, ensuring a mutually respectful exchange.
- Protection for the Garden: Plant sage around the borders of your garden to physically and energetically protect your other plants from pests and negative influences.
By focusing on these methods and using garden sage, you are engaging with a rich, open tradition of folk magic that honors the herb’s power while respecting the boundaries of Indigenous cultures. The most important tools are always your intention and your connection to the plants you work with.
“sage” by jasleen_kaur is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Why Smudging and the Use of White Sage is a Closed Practice
Again, I am just an Irish Heritage girl from the UK trying to educate y’all…I am NOT affiliated with any of these practices or tribes etc and highly recommend that you please do further research if you are curious.
Native Americans use White Sage in their religious cleansing ceremonies which they call ‘Smudging’. I’ve compiled resources created by Indigenous people to help you learn directly from their voices. The reasons are deeply interconnected, spanning culture, spirituality, environment, and history.
A Sacred Ceremony, Not a Generic Tool: “Smudging” (or wazília in Lakota) is not simply “burning sage.” It is a specific, sacred ceremony with protocols that have been passed down through generations . As Oglala Lakota spiritual leader Warfield Moose Jr. explains, the practice “goes back to our creation stories and the relationship our people have with sage and all our plant medicines since the beginning of time” . It is a formal ritual of prayer and connection, not a general-purpose cleansing technique . The ceremonies, prayers, and purposes vary widely between different tribes, bands, and nations . To separate the action (burning sage) from its cultural and spiritual context diminishes its profound meaning.
Spiritual Protocol and Relationship with the Plant: In Indigenous worldviews, sage is not a commodity; it is a living being and a sacred medicine . There are specific protocols for every interaction with it. For example, before harvesting, one must offer tobacco and a prayer to the plant, explaining the reason for the visit . The plant is to be picked by hand, as metal objects can cause it to “bleed its sacred juices” . When you purchase a mass-produced “smudge kit” from a non-Native retailer, the plant is “stripped of all its meaning and power,” as Red Cliff Ojibwe journalist Mary Annette Pember states . It becomes an object, devoid of the spiritual relationship that defines its sacred use.
“2017 Anishinabe Naming Ceremony at Springwater Park, ON” by antefixus21 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ( A closed practice being performed)
Environmental Impact and Over-Harvesting: The surge in commercial demand, driven by the wellness industry and non-Native practitioners, has led to the over-harvesting of white sage, pushing it toward ecological threat . White sage, native to a specific region in Southern California, is being poached and ripped from the ground by the roots, destroying the plants and the sites where Indigenous people have traditionally harvested for generations . This commercial exploitation directly interferes with the ability of Native communities to practice their religion . As Shilo Clifford, a traditional Oglala Lakota herbalist, points out, Indigenous teachings emphasize reciprocity: when you take, you must give back tenfold to ensure the medicine is there for future generations, a philosophy completely at odds with exploitative commercial harvesting .
A History of Oppression and Erasure: This context is critical. For centuries, the U.S. and Canadian governments actively tried to destroy Indigenous cultures through policies like forced assimilation in boarding schools, where spiritual practices were brutally suppressed . As Mary Annette Pember notes, to now see those same practices, which were once forbidden, “tossed into the great blender of upscale trendiness” by the dominant culture feels like “the final insult and a sign of disrespect” . It’s a painful continuation of a long history of taking.
Citation links for the above:
https://www.vacfss.com/news/how-to-use-sage-for-healing/
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a28847931/sage-smudging/
https://www.grpmcollections.org/Detail/objects/207188
More reading on the practice here:
https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/a-definition-of-smudging
https://www.wernative.org/articles/smudging
“Sage” by idea ablaze is licensed under CC BY 2.0 ( A closed practice being performed)
So reminder of the above:
Sage isn’t closed – you can use Sage in your magick.
Some Sage’s are endangered so avoid using those types of Sage. As there are over 900 types of Sage, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Smudging is a closed practice involving White Sage which you need to be invited into in order to take part.
White Sage is endangered and because of this many indigenous witches request that you do not use white sage in your practices unless gifted by them as White Sage is sacred to them. White Sage is not sacred to most other Witchcrafts so use one of the 900 other varieties such as common/Garden sage which you can buy by the bucket load and have the same effect.
If after reading all of this research you are still determined to used white sage even though it’s not relevant to your cultural practice because you are just an entitled ass hole then I honestly OMFG what is wrong with you!? *BREATHES*
Anyway…and here endeth the lesson.
Witch Myth Busters: Do you have a witch related question that you wish us to delve into and answer? If so us let us know in the comments below or via our social channels.
If you liked this post about Sage you may like our post about the History of Tarot which answers the question ‘Is Tarot a Closed Practice’
With Witch Myth Busters we try our very best to research as much as we can and be respectful but we are always looking for other variants of witches (Myself and AJ are European Witches with Celtic leanings) to contribute their knowledge if you wish to write a guest post about a particular subject or know someone who does please get in touch via digitalcovenuk@gmail.com
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