Why Are Y’all Commodifying Sage…and other shit?
As we move towards an more spiritually competent society, a time where it is finally cool and the norm to be completely unconventional in one's thinking and spiritual practices, a time where everyone proclaims to be a healer or sell some sort of healing product, we must learn to continue to seek knowledge ourselves, only then will we be one with our experience.
As the world continues to wake up and become more with nature, what seems to be a wonderful thing, also has its ugly. Natural tools used in most Native and spiritual practices are becoming more of a demand as it relates to its commercial use and current trends. The Native Americans groups, herbalist, and conservationist have mentioned their concerns about the unethical, overproduction, illegal harvesting, and commercial use for such sacred plants and medicine. In all other words there are many large companies that are commodifying spirituality for monetary gain.
This is a type of culture appropriation in many ways. Just this week, I visited the local Walmart, and lord and behold, they were selling Sage Kits, Palo Santo wood, incense and Native inspired spiritual items. A part of me became immediately unraveled and extremely upset. In my mind I was thinking “Why in the world would Walmart want to sell spiritual items?” It also bothered me to know who in their right mind would purchase such items from Walmart? Spirituality does not usually come with instruction or a how to do pamphlet, therefore it would be ludicrous to think you can just pick something up and use it without any basic understanding or guidance.
We all tend to love celebrities when it comes to their styles and way of life. We often romanticize their personal practices and social behaviors. However, celebrity influence can become very problematic when we begin, we begin taking on behaviors and practices that we have absolutely no idea about nor do we take the time to learn about. Dating back to the time of the famous Nipsey Hussle’s passing, I can remember Lauren London, mentioning Nispey’s spiritual rituals and the use of sage. Since Lauren’s public recall, sage sales amongst the African American and pop culture has increased by a large margin. I’m in no way saying that it’s a bad thing, but when you ask most of the newest population of sage users why they use sage, they lack the knowledge and the understanding of the spiritual practice they are partaking in. I am liking this to taking another person’s prescribed medications because you feel as if you have the same symptoms, failing to consult a physician yourself.
I am in no way trying to steer you away from your spiritual ascension more than I am encouraging you to grow in your spirituality by taking the time to educate yourself while on your journey. Knowing what you are doing and why is the most crucial part of your spiritual journey because the last thing you want to do is to use your mediums incorrectly and not get the outcome you were looking for, sometimes even getting adverse effects. This is an easy way to turn yourself away from spiritual practices or to believe that your spiritual journey is being dampened. Also, these plants and medicines are gifts from our ancestors thus they are not meant to be taken and used in abundance because you “have to have them”. Gaining knowledge about these items and their properties and their importance is what is going to keep them on our land so we can continue to use them on our journey.
Root worker Notes: It is important that you familiarize yourself with an abundance of herbs and medicinal plants that can be used as burnable much like sage. Root workers used what was convenient to them, what was in proximity; mainly because they were healing the sick. One would not rely on a plant that they could not gain access to by any means, this would be a barrier to one’s healing and their practice. There are many other great plants and resins that can be used in lieu of sage, which is why it is important to do your research
