Sweetgrass

The Queen of smudging herbs!  Sweetgrass has the unique property of clearing away harmful  energies and bringing in beneficial energies.  Earthy and sweet yet subtle.  Use her to harmonize and sweeten your mood and your space.

A hardy perennial herb with a sweet vanilla-like fragrance due to the presence of coumarin, sweetgrass is native to Europe and North America. The plant grows to a height of about 24 inches, with long leaves that have shiny undersides. Its name, Hierochloe odorata, literally means “fragrant holy grass,” and the plant has been regarded as sacred everywhere it has been grown and harvested. In Northern Europe, sweetgrass was scattered on the ground in front of churches on saints’ days so that a sweet fragrance would be released when people walked inside. Among Native Americans it has a long tradition of use as a smudging herb (healing and purifying incense) in sacred rituals, and is still widely used for that purpose today. Some tribes believe it to have been the first plant to cover the earth. The leaves, which can reach two feet in length, are woven to make baskets. Sweetgrass has been used as a flavoring for tea, tobacco, candy, soft drinks, and vodka, and as an ingredient in perfumes.