Sage Incense




Sage clumps are fairly common stuff for lots of new-agey, natural
and other holistic or magical supply places.

In a pinch, you can even make it yourself witout too much hassle, if you
have a patch of fresh-growing sage.  Pick a few leafy stalks, and kinda
stick 'em together so the stalks join together, parallel to each other,
and tie 'em nice and snug with some string or heavy thread.  Hang it
upside down to dry, and in a few days, you should have a nice little
bundle of sage, ready to burn for whatever purpose you choose (cleansing
and purification is most common, but they have other uses, too).  Or
just dry a single stalk, light the topmost leaves, and when it starts to
burn on its own, blow out the flame.  The ignited leaves should burn
down, and might even go on down the stalk to burn away other parts of
it, if it's really dry.  Play around with it a little, and see what you
get.

One harvesting tip, though--never take more than 1/4 of the plant's
total growth!  More than that will send the plant into shock, and could
kill it, especially if it's a younger, smaller plant!  Prune carefully--
remember, plants are living beings, too, and you wouldn't enjoy
sacrificing big chunks of you to something you didn't understand, now
would you?  :)

Two to three bucks a bundle is the going rate for most "smudge sticks",
ranging in size from about 5-9" long and usually about 1-2" wide.  Some
unscrupulous dealers will try to charge you upwards of $6 for a rod this
size, so don't get so eager to try it that you pay an exorbitant fee for
the stuff.  Sage grows pretty readily, and comes in different varieties,
so don't be afraid to shop around.  If there's no stores in your area
that carry the stuff, ask again and see if anybody can give you a good
mail-order source.  There's plenty of shops here in Seattle that carry
'em ready-made, so i don't know where to suggest you write to for
mail-order.