Smudging

[IfasehunReincarnated]

:blackicon How many of you smudge and for what purposes? I think we have talked about this before, but not a thread dedicated solely to the topic.

I will post a few articles once people chime in.

[Nesayem]

I use sage to clean the energy fields of my room and personal space. It is actually quite strong so I believe mentally it prepares you to be purified. Once you inhale a deep breath of it you feel really revitalized and awaken. Which is why I say sage works well. I have found that sage works the best for cleansing negative, psychic, and chakra energy.

Also, I have been to ceremonial events when sage was used to purify the space before doing any kind of ritual.

*I would also like to point out that sage should not be used during pregnancy.

[WombanAuset]

I smudge to get rid of bad energy,or prevent them from entering..for example i smudge the house before visitors come and after visitors leave..I also smudge my books..because different people have handled them before I did.
I smudge my womb area as well...it purifies the womb..

[Rebel Queen]

Im sorry but what exactly does the term smudge mean?

[Rebel Queen]

Originally Posted by Nesayem

I use sage to clean the energy fields of my room and personal space. It is actually quite strong so I believe mentally it prepares you to be purified. Once you inhale a deep breath of it you feel really revitalized and awaken. Which is why I say sage works well. I have found that sage works the best for cleansing negative, psychic, and chakra energy.

Also, I have been to ceremonial events when sage was used to purify the space before doing any kind of ritual.

*I would also like to point out that sage should not be used during pregnancy.

Sis why shouldnt sage be used during pregnancy?

[Nesayem]

Beloved,

It will cause pregnancy related problems. "Sage has traditionally been used to dry up milk production when a woman no longer wishes to breast-feed. It should not be taken during pregnancy"(Truestarhealth). Red Sage will stimulate uterine muscles. I have looked up info on the internet and in books that I have at home and they all agree that sage should be avoided.

[Kentake]

Hotep family!,
Sis.Nesayem? why should sage not be used during pregnancy?....i was planning to burn some and purify myself this coming wk. but i need to know why i should not use it...i even wanted to use it during my birth ceremony the 4-1-1 plz y'all!!....i need to know why i cannot/should not use it and if i want to use another herb which one is better??

SANKOFA!,
Sistah Kentake.

Originally Posted by Nesayem

I use sage to clean the energy fields of my room and personal space. It is actually quite strong so I believe mentally it prepares you to be purified. Once you inhale a deep breath of it you feel really revitalized and awaken. Which is why I say sage works well. I have found that sage works the best for cleansing negative, psychic, and chakra energy.

Also, I have been to ceremonial events when sage was used to purify the space before doing any kind of ritual.

*I would also like to point out that sage should not be used during pregnancy.

[SoMarvelus]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nesayem
I use sage to clean the energy fields of my room and personal space. It is actually quite strong so I believe mentally it prepares you to be purified. Once you inhale a deep breath of it you feel really revitalized and awaken. Which is why I say sage works well. I have found that sage works the best for cleansing negative, psychic, and chakra energy.

Also, I have been to ceremonial events when sage was used to purify the space before doing any kind of ritual.

*I would also like to point out that sage should not be used during pregnancy.

Sis why shouldnt sage be used during pregnancy?

Originally Posted by Rebel Queen

Sis why shouldnt sage be used during pregnancy?

Good Question.

[Baba Ahmed]

htp IfasehunReincarnated: yes we often use sage smudges.

@ Nesayem, my wife described use of sage for a pregnant sista. Done by an NDN sista here.

She heated some bricks, dropped sage plants on the bricks, sprinkled water on'em to produce steam. The pregnant sista inhaled the steam. Besides, me wife says milk's not b n produced during pregnancy.

[WombanAuset]

Originally Posted by Baba Ahmed

htp IfasehunReincarnated: yes we often use sage smudges.

@ Nesayem, my wife described use of sage for a pregnant sista. Done by an NDN sista here.

She heated some bricks, dropped sage plants on the bricks, sprinkled water on'em to produce steam. The pregnant sista inhaled the steam. Besides, me wife says milk's not b n produced during pregnancy.

Milk is produced..the colostrum....is produced near the end of pregnancy...it will dry up

[Nesayem]

Peace,
In post #6 I listed some complications that have been found with using sage. Also this week I read that it can trigger epileptic seizures. I havent found a medical source that advocated the use of sage during pregnancy. My mom works at a hospital ( Labor and Delivery RN) and she also has told me that sage effects the production of breast milk.

Baba Ahmed, I guess it all depends on what you are willing to believe and what you are willing to test. I just feel that if medical research shows that something is unhealthy for your seed you shouldnt "test" it out on your unborn. All so we would have to factor in how often the sage is inhaled because I'm sure that there would be a huge difference if a person used it once compared to on a daily basis. But out of a place of sincere love for my sisters and their seeds I would advise against it.

[Savage]

Regarding sage and pregnancy- first and foremost people need to understand that the sage used by the natives of this land of many nations is NOT the same as the sage that is listed as a medicinal herb/cooking herb in many holistic health books and has cautions for use by pregnant women. The only sage that is used for "smudging" that is truly a close relative of that sage is the white California sage, which you can see in the pic that IfasehunReincarnated had in the first post of this thread. Most of the "sage" for burning purposes and that is available either from a commercial source, a powwow vendor, etc... is a completely different type of plant than the sage that there is warnings about. There are several varieties with different looks and smells.

There are also other major herbs for burning used by our people including sweetgrass (which I've heard should not be used by pregnant women), cedar and copal- a tree resin similar to frankinscense and myrhh.

I know a lot of non-NDNs have adopted "smudging", inlc. many Afrikans living over here. Are there similar things on the Afrikan continent? I only know of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony where resin, though I can't remember what kind, is burned. Please enlighten me.

[IfasehunReincarnated]

Some of my favorite herb suppliers:

www.mountainroseherbs.com
www.bouncingbearbotanicals.com

They carry medicinal, spiritual and culinary herbs clearly identified.

[Baba Ahmed]

Thanks

another note re "milk" yes colostrum is called the milk loaded with anti-biotics and proteins that one source says its secreted for a few days after birth. I will not get too deep into this; not my area.

However in this regard its advisable to know that some herbs change depending on their usage e.g., parsley; when in a salad its a food. But juiced and used to treat edema, its a medicine.

Let me say tho that I don't recall my wife having been in a sage burning situation while pregnant. And I do not recall whether she'd been pregnant as we were smudging our house and or yards.

Another point's been raised here; i.e., whether Western "scientific" research is qualified to nix or ok an herbs complete and safe usages. Remember that b4 herbs, supplements can be sold wholesale and/or retail they have to have FDA approval. That its a food. There's a fine line btween what it defines as food or as a drug. Two points: money drives research and developments in America. Money usually provided by corporations with self interest motives. And then notice that like synthetic drugs generally researchers be looking for the "active" ingredient. The most powerful activator. The problem exists in difference of natural healers historical and traditional understanding of a herbs actions seen as synergistic and the Westerners seeking "the most powerful" action separated from other properties. I say this is due to the West (American Europeans) approach in medical treatments that are mainly symptomatic influenced. Either lacking ability or refusing to recognize that the human body itself plays a role in healing actions.

So sistah Nesayem maybe it is a matter of what a person is willing to believe. I will to be a self healer and know that what some folk accept as infallible; i.e., "scientific" declarations, I choose not to. Not in all cases.

Science is also a tool of the politic/financial/industrial order. Health, no life itself, takes a rear seat in the arena of a profit seeking power madden societal leaders. Their religion is named: Scientism. Their priesthood are reputable "experts."

What Im suggesting Nesayem is what Malcolm X advised: to examine all of your beliefs, mostly laid on us by parents. The area of herbs, herbal treatments and study is slowly b n harnessed and controlled by mega pharmaceuticals, policed by the FDA. Check it out. Also while do n that, if u choose to, look into how midwifery was "demonized" in a two pronged attacked as the AMA, et al forced traditional midwifes into their policy making "professional" associatons. Backed by Federal Gov't. They now say who will and won't; what is and isn't; when and where midwifery can happen.
That's right under a Medical Doctors care mainly ina hospital!

If this keeps up, sooner than expected a woman/