Mystical systems
Smudging
Direct answer
Smudging is the English name for the burning of sacred plants, such as sage, sweetgrass, cedar and tobacco, in the ceremonies of many Indigenous peoples of North America.
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At a glance
- Also called
- smoke cleansing
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- Frankincense, Cleansing, Myrrh
Smudging is the English name for the burning of sacred plants, such as sage, sweetgrass, cedar and tobacco, in the ceremonies of many Indigenous peoples of North America.
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What is smudging?
Smudging is a ceremony of smoke. In many Indigenous nations of North America a sacred plant is lit, often in a shell or bowl, and the smoke is drawn over the person, a place or objects, with prayer. The plants, the words and the rules differ from nation to nation, and some nations do not smudge at all. It is a religious act and is taught within a community.
In recent decades the word has been taken up by shops and wellness writers for any burning of dried sage. Many Native people object to that, and to the trade in wild white sage, and ask those outside the traditions to leave the ceremony and the name alone.
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What sets Smudging apart
Two things set smudging apart from other burning of herbs: it is prayer, and it has owners. The smoke is not itself said to do the work; it carries the words and intentions of the one who prays, under teachings that a community hands down. Because those communities were for generations forbidden their rites by law, the sale of smudge kits by outsiders touches a real grievance. Many teachings hold that the sacred plants are gathered or given, never bought.
- Whose it is: many Indigenous nations of North America, each with its own protocol
- Plants often named: sage, sweetgrass, cedar and tobacco
- English word: smudge, at first a smoky fire lit to keep insects away
- Legal landmark: American Indian Religious Freedom Act, United States, 1978
- White sage: Salvia apiana, wild only in southern California and Baja California
Often mistaken for something else: Smoke cleansing is a general term for burning herbs or resin to freshen or mark a space, found in many cultures; smudging names specific Indigenous ceremonies and is not a synonym for it.
The story behind Smudging
The English word smudge first meant a smoky fire. The ceremonies it now names are far older than the word. In the United States many Native religious practices were suppressed by government rules from the 1880s, and their free exercise was affirmed in law only by the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978. White sage grows wild only in southern California and nearby Mexico, and its poaching for sale has been reported for years.
Why Smudging matters
Smudging is the most borrowed and least understood of the smoke rites, so knowing whose it is matters as much as knowing what it is.
How to read Smudging
The word properly names the ceremonies of the peoples who hold them; burning herbs outside those traditions is plain smoke cleansing.
Smudging in practice: an example
A hospital in Canada that sets aside a room where a First Nations patient may smudge is making room for a ceremony, not a scent.
Where readings of Smudging go wrong
Smudging belongs to living religions and is not a product; any smoke is kept small, attended and aired, away from children and pets.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- smudging meaning, smudging ceremony, sage smudging, smoke cleansing, what is smudging
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What is smudging?
It is the burning of sacred plants with prayer in the ceremonies of many Indigenous peoples of North America. The smoke is drawn over a person, place or thing.
Which plants are burned in smudging?
It depends on the nation. Sage, sweetgrass, cedar and tobacco are widely named, and each people has its own plants, teachings and rules for them.
Can anyone practise smudging?
Many Native people ask that the ceremony and its name be left to the communities it belongs to. Burning a garden herb for its scent is a different act and can be called smoke cleansing.
