VI: Sage
How sage got me through the pandemic.
Good morning. Today is sextidi, the 26th of Messidor, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le sauge, a desert herb with a cleansing scent.
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The scent of sage has always been given holy powers, particularly for warding off evil or increasing fertility. The Latin name, Salvia, has the same root as salvation, and means safety and health.
Sage is an herb to which people have strong personal associations. Our memories are stored along with scent, the underused sensory information, so just sparking a bundle of sage can often bring up powerful recollections. While burning sage has seen a renaissance in recent decades for cleansing spaces or preparing rituals, my personal association with sage comes from a plant that's not on fire, but crushed in its native arid habitat.
