Sage and Cedar: Remembering & Re-embedding Ourselves
Sage and Cedar: Remembering & Re-embedding Ourselves
By: Asdzaan Nez
Both sage and cedar are known as “antimicrobials,” meaning they reduce the number of microscopic ‘bugs’ that make us sick and prevent them from replicating in our bodies. Sage for example, is both antibacterial and antiviral, meaning sage targets both bacteria and viruses that aren’t good for us. Cedar has a spectrum of antimicrobial properties, including antifungal.
It is important to understand that plants carry different medicinal properties such as these to doctor themselves when under attack by sickness causing bugs, or when they have been harmed and are vulnerable. However, being that we humans once consistently lived within an active-knowing that we are inherent extensions of the ecosystem, the old ones were able to tap into these self-healing powers of local plants to defend against hardship and disease. In the midst of navigating COVID-19, re-embedding ourselves back into the land by remembering and working with the power of our traditional medicines is more important than ever. Our ancestors knew what they were doing when they passed down practices of smoking, tea-ing, steaming, etc. of these medicines. Together, today… may we remember and re-embed ourselves back into the land in order to revive these practices of self-determination.
Medicinal Smoke:
In more recent times, scientists have done studies on medicinal smoke’s ability to eliminate sickness-causing bacteria on physical surfaces and in the air. They found that medicinal smoke was 94% effective in eliminating them, while also preventing them from returning and replicating for up to 30 days. This is due to many medicines’ antiseptic (sterilizing) properties. Unfortunately in an era of COVID-19, scientists have not yet studied medicinal smoke’s specific ability to reduce viruses. Yet there’s strong reason to theorize that since sage and cedar are antimicrobial, burning them could potentially also help reduce the amount of virus in our environment. ESPECIALLY THE AIRBORNE ONES.
I often speculate how helpful it may be if they would cedar off hospitals and public spaces like grocery stores regularly. It could potentially help with the aerosols that spray from people’s breathing, sneezing, coughing and mouths - which they’re finding the coronavirus uses to travel and transmit from person to person. However for now, smoke yourself and your homes off as often can. Feel free as well to smoke off your masks before leaving home or going into public spaces. It can only help, and it will never hurt.
Our Feet:
The traditional people and spirits in ceremony say to keep cedar greens in our shoes to protect us. This makes a lot of sense, because all the nerves in our body end in our feet, and it is a fact that whatever we put on our skin goes into our bloodstream within thirty minutes. Thus, there is a good chance that the antimicrobial properties of cedar or sage has the ability to enter into our system through our feet to help strengthen our defense against sickness. If you do not have the actual plant, feel free to rub the essential or infused oils from sage or cedar into your feet/on your skin as an alternative.
Infused Oil:
To make your own infused oil, lightly pack a mason jar ¾ of the way full with cedar or sage, then pour canola oil or any other oil over it until it reaches just below the neck of the jar. Never pour the oil to the top of the jar, for as it heats and expands, it’ll push out of the jar and make a mess. Screw on the lid tightly and place in a crockpot. Fill with water until it reaches the neck of the jar, then turn on low and let sit for a week to several weeks. Do not pour water to the top or over the jar; any water that gets into the oil will cause it to go rancid pretty quickly. Pull out the jars and shake occasionally. Add warm water to the crockpot as water evaporates away. Never add cold water, for it will make the jar crack inside the crockpot and burst. When the oil darkens & seems ready, strain the plant material out of the oil and return the plant matter back to earth underneath a tree or bush. Use the infused oil as needed. Add coconut oil or beeswax to thicken to your liking, if you wish to have a salve instead. Careful not to use too much beeswax, or else you may ruin it by making it too hard. The old school way to make an infused salve is to use the tallow from an animal.
Tea:
Feel free to drink sage or cedar tea when sick. Just be aware that cedar or sage shouldn’t be drunk in huge amounts and/or long term. Cedar is so strong that it can be a bit hard on the liver over time if misused. Being that sage is an ‘astringent,’ she has the ability to dry us out. For this reason, if you are breastfeeding and want to keep your milk flowing, avoid drinking sage. Yet if you are sweating profusely or have heavy mucus in your body, sage may be an important option to try. Make sure to drink lots of water with the tea, so that the astringent sage doesn’t dry you out. Additionally, make sure that the sage being ingested is a safe one to drink. Not all sages are safe to use internally. The same goes for cedar. If you are harvesting from a more domestic species of cedar rather than one that grows wild, research it to make sure it’s safe to ingest. For both medicines, first google it to identify which species you are using. Or ask an elder/local expert.
Steam:
We can also steam both sage and cedar to help fight off sickness, inflammation, and heavy mucus in the lungs, sinuses and overall respiratory system. Harvest, then low boil with a lid on. It’s important to keep the lid on it completely or partially so the volatile oils (that carry the medicines, also known as ‘essential oils’) don’t escape with the steam. When the water is a rich brown color, turn off the flame or electric stove. Then place either on the floor between your feet or a low table in front of you. You can also put the pot on a lower chair or stool. Place some large towels or blankets over your back and shoulders, and have it ready to pull completely over you. Some people alternatively say to simply boil water then pour it over bruised/broken cedar greens or sage. I encourage you to try both and see which feels best for you.
If you are low-boiling the medicine, then when ready, turn off and place in the chosen location... take off the lid to let the first initial steam escape. DO NOT lean over the pot before taking off the lid because this initial steam can scald you! After the initial blast of steam has lifted (within a few seconds), quickly lean over the pot of sage or cedar tea, cover yourself completely with the towels or blankets you have prepared, and breathe in deeply as long as you can. Stay under there for at least five minutes, or as long as you can stand it. This is always a good time to pray, meditate or relax. Remember to continue to breathe in deeply the entire time so the medicines can get into your sinuses and respiratory.
Make sure the towel or blankets you are using completely cover you and the pot all the way to the ground, in order to maximize trapping in and accessing the medicinal steam. Feel free to repeat this process by reheating the pot of medicine, then using again. If sickness starts to physically appear on top of the water when you emerge from the steam, pour that medicine outside under a tree or bush, pray and give thanks for it being taken out of you and start a brand new batch. In the past,we have seen sickness materialize as a brown sludge. Keep an eye out. It may look like this or something different. It’s always a blessing and good sign that it’s working, so don’t be afraid.
Cedar Steams:
The pattern that cedar greens make resembles the bronchial tubes and tissue in the lungs. So it is no surprise that cedar is known as a strong ally to lungs in distress. It fights sickness-causing ‘bugs’ that attack the lungs. It is also an ‘expectorant,’ which means it thins heavy mucus in the lungs by adding additional water to it, while also stimulating the lungs to cough and hack it up more easily. Don’t be surprised if you cough lots after a cedar steam. Spit it up, get it out!
Cedar also stimulates blood circulation in the lungs, strengthening them. Cedar is also anti-inflammatory: this is important for sicknesses like Covid that severely inflame/swell the tissue in the lungs, which in turn causes our respiratory system to respond by creating excess mucus. If this mucus floods the lungs too heavily, then it makes it difficult to not only breath but also send oxygen and nutrients out to the rest of the body, especially our organs. Cedar can potentially help with this by calming the inflammation in the lungs, promoting circulation and expelling liquid up and out.
Sage Steams:
Similarly, sage steams are a common practice that our grandmothers back home do often when they are sick. Sage is a hardcore antibacterial and astringent medicine, meaning it dries up excess liquid in our bodies, tightens/tones the tissue and fights off yucky bacteria that is not a friend to our health (note: some bacteria is our friend, like the ones in our gut that are foundational to our immune system). Sage is also a stimulant, which is helpful when wanting to get the lungs and body working to cough and expel up mucus. The medicinal uses of sage are endless and reach centuries back into time, across cultures worldwide. It’d take an entire article just to scratch the surface of all the uses of sage. If curious, Google it. Ask an elder. Try it out.
Gargle & Tooth Powders:
You can also gargle sore throats w sage tea to fight off any bacteria that’s making home in your throat. If you’d like, add a small amount of lemon or apple cider vinegar to the tea gargle (not too much or it can burn your throat.) Gargle more than once a day to be more effective. Helps fight bad breath too. It tightens/tones and improves the health of our gums. If vinegar or lemon is added to gargle, rinse out mouth afterward to protect against their corrosive properties on teeth. A tooth powder can also be made to brush teeth with, using sage powder and salt/baking soda. This will significantly improve one’s oral health. Again, google it or youtube. There’s many DIY recipes for sage tooth powders.
Natural Disinfectant:
Because of their antimicrobial properties, we can use the tea of either sage or cedar to wipe down and clean our homes, vehicles, or personal items -in case we don’t have bleach or don’t want to use toxic cleaning agents. It won’t only help physically clean our space, but also spiritually uplift us.
Spiritual Implications & Healing Trauma:
There are also the equally important spiritual implications of using these medicines. These medicines doctor us not only physically but emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Studies have found, for example, that medicinal smoke is the quickest way to get medicinal properties of plants to the brain: thus helping with symptoms of trauma and anxiety over time. This is likely the reason why back home, we are often told to “breathe in deep [at least] four times” when being smoked/fanned off with cedar or sage. Scientists found that medicinal smoke is used all over the world in over 50 different countries, and disproportionately used to heal the respiratory system, our skin and the brain.
Sustainable Harvesting & Teachings:
Please never over harvest these medicines. Also remember to make your heartfelt offerings. We can offer tobacco, cornmeal, water or whatever else your local community uses as their protocol. The important part is that we provide an offering of gratitude to these medicinal plants. Make sure to explain to the plant medicines who you are, why you need their help, the healing you hope to accomplish in partnership with them and ask for their consent to harvest.
Once the healing happens, always go back to the medicinal plants to make an additional offering as an expression of your gratitude for their solidarity with you. Celebrate with them what you accomplished together. If you cannot return to them physically, go to them in your mind and pray. They’ll feel and hear you.
These medicines are living and conscious beings and if you abuse them, they won’t help you. Work in respectful partnership with them. Never over harvest from just one plant. They need a fighting chance just as much as we do. When harvesting cedar, mimic our traditional low burning fires by harvesting from the lower, overgrown parts of the trees (roughly from the height of our mid-section and down).
Protocol:
Ask your community and elders what your specific local protocol is for harvesting these medicines. Some people say to harvest in the morning when the plants are in the least amount of distress. Other people up north say to harvest only the tips of the cedar greens that are touched by the light. All of these protocols emphasize sustainable, respectful harvesting. Remember, these medicines were created for the plants and ecosystem to doctor themselves. We humans, as extensions of the ecosystem, can tap into this self healing system. Yet we must do it in a way that creates the least amount of harm and distress for our plant allies/elders. Also, NEVER harvest near roads, frack wells, or other contaminated areas if you can avoid it.
Preparing Medicines:
Never dry medicines in direct sun. This will yellow them and destroy the medicine. Keep them out of direct light and somewhere where they can easily breathe. Never put in plastic or other material where they cannot breath as they dry. Or material that will cause them to mold due to an inability to breath and be kissed by moving air.
Access:
During winter and spring, sage is usually either asleep or barely waking up. In times like these, if nothing else, we can use sage seasoning at the store as long as it’s solely sage that is included in the ingredients. In contrast, cedar represents ‘everlasting life’ because it remains green year round. So despite the season, we can find cedar in higher elevations above the eco-zone where only junipers grow. Head to higher mesas and mountains. If you find yourself amongst dense pines and blue spruce, you probably have gone too high up. The difference between juniper and cedar is debated by many because they are such closely related cousins. In the southwest, I was taught that juniper is a hardier tree that grows in lower, drier elevations. The greens are more dense and hardy, and the bark is like paper that can be stripped in long pieces. Cedar, often has a more delicate green and grows in higher, more moist elevations. It sometimes also has a paper-like bark, but in more smaller rectangular sections that cannot be made into very long strips. Both have berries, but juniper’s tend to be much larger than cedar.
