(Photo Credit Erika M.)
Burning herbs is and has always been a time-honored tradition and held in great respect throughout many different cultures around the world. As part of modern spiritual hygiene many often use sage or herb bundles to not only smudge their homes, businesses, but themselves. Buying herb bundles can get expensive depending on what you burn. Part of being a good steward of the land means finding reliable and sustainable products, to best serve the longevity of our natural resources.
If you have garden, then you have a beautiful stainable resource at your grasp. Making herb bundles is an easy and fun way to customize your spiritual practice. For the sake of ease, we will be talking just about Sage bundles. (But please understand you can do the same steps below with any herb you choose to utilize in your practice. You can even add or blend different herbs together, it does not have to be just one kind).
Grab a large bunch of Sage, fresh is always best. You'll want to 1/2 or 1/3 of the way through, dry your Sage. You can leave it out in the sun, or on the counter, or dehydrate it, whatever you have available. While I find the dehydrator easy and faster, sometimes hanging herbs to dry is fun to look at. The reason you don't want to fully dry the herb out is because when you go to roll, if they are too dry, the herb leaves will crumble apart. If it's too wet, or not dry enough, you run into the chance of your bundle holding too much moisture, not drying, or even growing mold/mildew. You want your sage to be dry enough, to take out a lot of moisture within the leaves and stems, but wet enough to still be flexible in the leaves and stems to give and bend by touch. You will notice the color of your sage start to become dull and less vibrant. This is a normal part of the drying process and exactly what you want to occur.
You than need to find natural based string/yarn to use to tie your bundles. Some people prefer cotton string, while others use hemp. Either is fine and it's completely a personal preference. The main thing that you want to keep in mind is clean, non-toxic burning binding source. Since when most people sage, the bundles are in their hands, it means this smoke will be close to your face, eyes, and mouth, for this reason health and safety is a must. For the sake of the rest of the article, I will refer to it as string.
Now, bundle preferences. Many people like short (3-4 inch) sage bundles, that are roughly 1 inch in diameter. I prefer a medium size bundle (4-6 inches), that are roughly 1.5-2 inches in diameter (I prefer a lot of smoke). You can do whatever pleases you in your practice. I like to have a solid mixture of stems and leaves in my bundle. Leaves are fast burning, and stems burn hot and slow. This means that not only will your bundle have a longer burn time, i.e. lasting longer, but you will also hold ambers easier for relighting, or milking the "flame".
It is extremely important to remember that you want to be clean and clear anytime you are constructing items or tools to use in your practice. Please take the time to bring yourself into balance and ground yourself. I personally smoke clear my workspace, tools, and body before starting. While I wrap, I continuously focus on my intent/ indented purpose for the Sage Bundle, as well as showing gratitude and appreciation for my Team, Nature, and the Universe for allowing me to be able to make these items.
Supplies Needed:
1 small tray, mat, or towel (flat surface for your herbs to sit while you bundle)
1 pair of scissors
1 bunch or 1/3-1/2 pre-dried Sage
1 ball of string/yarn (Cotton or Hemp)
Constructing your Herb Bundle:
Grab tray and place in front of you.
Begin piling sage on tray, with stems all facing the same direction. (Note depending on the size wanted, you may need to add shorter pieces towards to top, to ensure a more even bundle thickness. Not all the stems need to be touching each other at the base, but it's easier to tie if they are all facing the same direction.)
Once you have your desired quantity piled and arranged the way you want it. It should look like an organized mount of Sage.
Grab your string and pull out roughly 1.5- 2 feet of string (Do not cut).
Take roughly 4-6 inches and leave a tail. (Do not cut)
Fish end of string leaving (4-6 inches) out under the base of stems on your mound of sage.
You will than tie 2 simple overhand knots on the stem end. (Pulling very tightly)
At this point you should have roughly 5 inches left of tail (Set aside and do not cut off)
Wrap your string around the end of the bundle 3 times (Tie another simple knot.)
Now you will start spiraling up your herb mound with your string (Pulling tightly as you go). (It is often easier to grab all the herbs in 1 hand at this point and lift them off of the tray while you bundle. Don't be worried if things fall out, you can put them back or save for loose herb burning).
You want to evenly spiral wrap the string up the herb bundle until you reach roughly .5 inches from the tip of the herbs. At this point you will wrap the string 3 times around the top of the herb bundle.
When you begin to spiral back down the herb (still pulling tight), you want to spiral in the opposite slant as you did going upward. (Meaning you should be forming small "X" in your string as you descend down the herbs).
Once you reach the bottom of the bundle you will go around the base 2 more times and tie 2 simple knots again. (Do not cut string).
At this point you have completed your Sage bundle. Leave 4 inches of string (that is still attached to the ball of string and cut) (You should have two roughly 4 inch tails of string that are attached to the base of your bundle.)
Tie a knot using the two tails in order to create a loop so your bundle can hang to finish drying.
At this point I cut the top to be straight and even, while trimming any stems that are sticking out of the base of the bundle. (For even and easy lighting)
You can either hang your bundle in a dry, dark (indirect lighting) area to finish drying over the next week or you can place it in your dehydrator again for several hours until fully dry.
For those who would like to watch a video of how to make herb bundles (Part1 & Part 2), click the button below:
Part 1: Child_Of_Balance Herb Bundle
Part 2: Child_Of_Balance Herb Bundle