Garden Blessing Sticks

Ritual ceremony the world over uses the smoke of burning plants to carry prayers to the heavens. Smudging (or “saging”) is a near-universal practice which involves the burning of herbs that are bundled, braided, or loose. One lights the end of the bundle allowing it to begin to smoke—the smoke is then fanned across the body or around a space, or allowed to simply rise up into the air for its intended purpose of cleansing, blessing, healing, or to embody a prayer or intention. 

I honor the place smudging has in traditional native culture, while also acknowledging how most spiritual traditions the world over will burn herbs as an offering to the Sacred. My intention with garden or herbal prayer sticks is that they are not appropriating the ceremonial smudging practice; rather, this is an invitation into a human expression of divine connection through the elements that we can engage through the plants that are right here in our landscapes and that connect us to our own ancestral lineage.

Praxis: Garden Blessing Stick

This video short, which comes from Waymarkers’ Wild Summer virtual rewilding course, offers suggestions on how to co-create your own garden prayer stick or bundle.

Once created, you allow the bundle to dry for 7-10 days. Once dry, the top of the bundle can be lit with a flame and gentle blown on to create a smoking effect. This smoke is the herb/plant releasing their sacred/spiritual properties into the air.

Pay attention to the ways that the elements are working together to create these prayerful conditions. You have plants grown from the earth with the aid of water and sun; fire and air working together to create the sacred smoke.