More Than A Primitive Practice: How Smudging Kills Bacteria In The Air

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Smudging is one of the most timeless practices in the world. Believe it or not, it actually dates back to prehistoric times! Obviously, it’s still used to this day to clear negative energy — though many people think this is complete woo-woo. But recent scientific discoveries has revealed that it actually has a powerful anti-bacterial effect.

The scientific paper titled “Medicinal Smokes” was published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology and places scientific scrutiny on the practice, which is becoming widely used, despite skeptical voices.

The study looked at the burning of various plant matter administered as herbal and non-herbal remedies. The study was far-reaching and included information from 50 countries. It found that mostly smoke used medicinally is focused on aiding lung, brain, and the skin. Many cultures also believed that passive fumes acted as an air purifier. The function of the study was to see if medicinal smoke could be explored in a scientific application. As was stated by the scientists, “The advantages of smoke-based remedies are rapid delivery to the brain, more efficient absorption by the body and lower costs of production.”

A follow-up paper found that the research concluded that, in addition to health benefits, smudging was a powerful antiseptic:

“We have observed that 1 hour treatment of medicinal smoke emanated by burning wood and a mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs (havan sámagri=material used in oblation to fire all over India), on aerial bacterial population caused over 94% reduction of bacterial counts by 60 min and the ability of the smoke to purify or disinfect the air and to make the environment cleaner was maintained up to 24 hour in the closed room. Absence of pathogenic bacteria Corynebacterium urealyticum, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Enterobacter aerogenes (Klebsiella mobilis), Kocuria rosea, Pseudomonas syringae pv. persicae, Staphylococcus lentus, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. tardicrescens in the open room even after 30 days is indicative of the bactericidal potential of the medicinal smoke treatment. We have demonstrated that using medicinal smoke it is possible to completely eliminate diverse plant and human pathogenic bacteria of the air within confined space.”

Shockingly, burning herbs such as sage cleared bacteria by 94%! That is truly incredible. A day later, the space was still found to be disinfected. A month later, many of the original pathogens were still undetectable. Think about this. It’s incredible news! Modern air quality is atrocious in many parts of the world. This could be an excellent way to mitigate those effects. Smudging is much better than using a chemical storm to disinfect an area, and even last longer.

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Amazing!

Check out our smudging items! Burn the sage and let its purifying aroma clear your home and sacred space and uplift you. Perfect to burn before spiritual practices and meditation.

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