White Lies, White Sage: The Truth Behind Endangered Plants & Their Sacred Rituals

Throughout the health, wellness, and spiritual community there has been a new topic of concern: ethics. Specifically, the ethics surrounding the plants we use in our rituals to cleanse and protect and the cultural appropriation of those rituals. READ MORE. 

This year it was evident due to the social media reaction that people were expressing anger and concern over the increase in commercialization of white sage (Salvia apiana) and the cultural appropriation and offensive marketing that overlooks ethics and ecological, cultural awareness of a deeply sacred and spiritual plant. READ MORE. 

As “smudging” has been appropriated from Native American use, the selling of sage offers a cautionary tale for the wellness economy—one where the intentions of users can be subverted by suppliers, and many sellers have no idea of their impacts. READ MORE. 

Native plants educator Barbara Drake talks about what has been lost by separating native people from their land. For years as the founder of Chia Cafe Collective, she has worked to restore, research and promote the use of indigenous plants in California and elsewhere. READ MORE.

I get asked this question so frequently and I always struggle with a response because, for every amazing gardener, there’s a different and probably contradictory answer to this question. READ MORE.