Sitting here drinking some mint tea, I am thinking I possibly should put something deep and insightful for my first spiritually oriented post in this blog, but I just want to talk about sage, the herb sage, and my recent trip to collect wild sage brush. So here we go…

The Sage Daytrip
This past Saturday (the 25th) Michael and I set out to Grande Coulee, WA. Giving our friend Eala a ride we followed Lily, Mikcos, and Nathan’s car up there.

The 2 hour trip there gave Michael and I the chance to get to know Eala better. She is a solitary witch when it comes to her practice, though she hasn’t always been so. I am glad she was able to come along, I feel the each such trip bonds our group more. She gifted me with a small quartz crystal which I recently put into the tip of Michael’s wand. In case I have never mentioned it, Michael and I met Lily, Mikcos, and Nathan at the Pagan campout last June. Nathan is Lily’s 10-year old son and Mikcos is Lily’s second husband.

When we got to Grande Coulee the energy of the area was really amazing. The area is very much like a desert and there was sagebrush everywhere (I have some pictures from the daytrip here.) The area is a look-out over the Grande Coulee dam (we were also the only ones there at that time) and near the edge there is a pavillion where we did a little ritual.

Lily has been sage picking up there before and she gave an offered the last of the sage she had previously picked. She also cleansed each of us with the smoke, wafting it with a bird wing. I never use to put much credence into personal cleansing like that, but I have found I always feel much better after I am saged or I sage the apartment. I also find when I use frankincense I feel much the same effects.

After the small ritual we went where we were called, Lily, Mikcos and Nathan down a pathway towards the dam and Michael, Eala and myself down a slop in the other direction. I was very clearly able to tell which plant had parts to offer which was nice. Eala went her own way after a minute. Michael and I collected some sage on our way to a spot we were both drawn with two sagebrush plants side by side. One had a recently broken off branch which we took and the other had a lot of new growth. After we collected enough, we return to the pavillion. I didn’t have a problem keeping to my promise with Gaia not to take more then 1/3 of a plant since the sagebrush was so widespread and the individual plants were very nearly trees. While waiting for the others to return, by this time there was a school bus of Japanese exchange students in the area learning about the dam. I just spent my time soaking up the energy of the area, the weather was beautiful too.

Eventually Mikcos, Eala, and then Lily and Nathan returned and we bid farewell to the area. From my vantage point near a cliff edge, I saw a flock of crows circling far below which unnerved me a little but the crows had been watching us for most of the way. I see crows as one of my family’s guardian spirits and they show up in numbers to let me know when to be careful (almost always associated with a car trip.) We then left the area. As we were driving up the road a coyote ran across the road in front of the car (we didn’t hit it) it was such a beautiful animal. We went to a nearby park and ate some lunch, the trip home was rather uneventful but I definitly feel I go the energy I have needed for awhile from the area.

Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Sage is, in the New Age sense, used for purification of the self, ritual objects and a space (like your home.) This is done through smudging, which is wafting the smoke of the burning herb around a person/place/object. Sage smudging has been done by the Native Americans for a long time for cleansing and sending prayers to the heavens. It was sometimes mixed with Cedar, Sweetgrass, Lavender and Copal; something I wish to try when I aquire all those herbs.

Medicinally, sage has several uses, as an anti-hydrotic (something that reduced prespiration), a anti-spasmodic, an astringent, an anti-depressant, to decrease lacation and relief menstral cramps.

To make a useful tea out of sage, steep 1 tsp of leaves in 1/2 cup of water for 30 minutes, then drink it 1 tablespoon at a time. The tea can be used to treat prespiration, depression and to decrease lactation (if you have stopped breast feeding.) It can be garged to relieve a sore throat.

A tincture or infused oil can be made out of it to treat mentral cramps and 15 to 30 drops can be taken at a time as needed though no more then 4 times a day.

CAUTION: Extended or excessive use of sage can cause symptoms of poisoning and should be avoided completely during pregnacy. Over use of pure sage oil can cause convulsions. It is a potent and useful herb but deserves upmost respect.

Sage leaves are most potent when picked before the plant flowers. The sage we picked is actually Sagebrush, which is not related to Common Sage (Salvia officinalis) but has many similar uses (like for smudging and it can be consumed. Sagebrush’s scientific name is Artemisia tridentata.