Sage

Wayne and I have noticed that this year that Sage is in abundance in the desert where I work my dogs.  I'm sure I could collect it and sell it in bundles.  The aroma permeates the air.  Our house smells of Sage after I bring the dogs home.  The dogs carry the smell on their coats.  Thankfully, it is a nice aroma.  I always feel so tranquil when I'm in the desert working my dogs.  I feel as if one with nature.
Read below and you will find out why.

Riders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey's best-known novel originally published in 1912. Most critics agree that it played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre. :0)

Botanical Name: Salvia officinalis

Herbs can be powerful medicine. Some herbal remedies, whether used in tincture, tea or capsule form, holds an incredible and potent medicinal quality. In addition, there are other plants that, when burnt, the smoldering smoke offers various remedies for many physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental imbalances - one such herb is SAGE.

Sage is held sacred by many Native American Indians, because of it’s effective purifying energies. It heals by bringing the patient back into balance and cleanses the body and mind of negative spirits and impurities. It played an intricate part in ancient, as well as current ceremonies and was often included as an ingredient in a mixture called Kinnikinic, and then smoked in a pipe or used was used externally for smudging.

When smoked, it can be mixed with other plants such as white clover, bear berry leaves and mullein. This creates the Kinnikinic smoking mixture to be used in the sacred pipe. The smoke is then given as an offering to the Sprits. The pipe itself acts as the line to the Spirits and the smoke, as it rises, carries the messages. Those who share the pipe, and the smoke, share the same breath.

Sage is a traditional choice for burning and smudging for the Native Americans because of all of the herbs, it is one of the best for cleansing. Medicine People used this herb on people who were ill, to bring them back from the negative place where their body and soul laid. Today, sage is often used in smudging ceremonies for those who are seeking balance and pure thought, spirit and body. An updated smudging ceremony can be performed by nearly anyone who wishes to relieve their worries, open their mind, clear negative thoughts and feelings, harmonize the body and de-stress the spirit. It is often used when a person faces a personal difficulty, when negative luck has seemed to follow, prior to a major transition, within a new house, over a new baby or following a major emotional difficulty. In a sense, whenever a person feels "out of balance" or unlucky.