Study Shows How Smudging Sage Does a Lot More Than “Clear Evil Spirits”

The ritualistic use of plant smoke stretches back to the prehistorical era and is still used, the world over, as a way of ‘cleansing’ the spirit. Now, modern scientific research reveals that the practice may actually have health-benefiting implications by purifying the air of harmful bacteria. 
 

The burning of herbs and plant resins for medicinal and spiritual purposes – so-called ‘smudging’ – is an ancient practice among indigenous people around the world; one increasingly adopted by Westerners. Smudging is a technology believed to unlock the ‘spirits’ of various plant allies to restore balance and ease to the individual or group.  Some liken it to taking a ‘spiritual shower,’ enabling you to wash away emotional and spiritual negativity that accumulates in your body and the spaces you live.

That said, skeptics believe attributing health benefits to the burning of sage and incense reflects ‘magical thinking.’ The practice has even been accused of being a New Age form of cultural imperialism where ‘plastic’ or ‘white’ shamans mimic and co-opt the traditions of indigenous people their predecessors essentially conquered.

 Given the polarized view on this increasingly common practice, as well as the well-known role that the burning of incense plays in even Western religious traditions, such as Catholicism, we decided to explore t to see what we could find.

What studies revealed about “smudging”

First, we uncovered a 2006 review published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology titled “Medicinal Smoke” that looked at single and multi-ingredient herbal and non-herbal remedies administered as smoke from 50 countries across 5 continents. The researchers found, with surprising overlap worldwide, medicinal smoke is mostly used to address the following specific organ systems: Click here to read the rest of this article