this is great.  this is actually wonderful.  do you mind if i use this in my bos?

being a hindu during prayer times we always used to burn incensce i never understood its importance just thought tht it was for increasing the fragrance of a place understood its real imp aftr reading ur thread so thnks

I suddenly remember when I was a child, my parents use to burn an incense called "kemanyan". I always wondered what that was all about and now I realise it is a kind of smudging and the incense they use is actually frankincense in English.
They will do this ritual every Thursday nights as they believe the spirits are more active on this night.   .
But they stopped as we got bigger cause I suppose teenagers are more trouble than those darn spirits could ever be .
Well, now i will do this ritual every new and full moon and so far it seems to have helped in many positive ways.
Blessed be.

Different herbs have different uses in the Native American understandings. sage White blue or Buffalo or prairy sage are all used to cleanse and get rid of negative influences usually done to cleanse an area before a ceremony. Sweet grass attracts all spirits good or bad. So is never burned on its own. Tobacco is the most sacred and is used to carry prayers not really smudging. Never heard of using rosemary or lavender. I haver seen Lavender used in a sweat lodge put on the stones at the beginning of the ceremony and it smells great but is not really a smdge. Cedar is also used by many tribes and can be used with or instead of the sage. The diffrent types of sage used are based more on preference and availability than any thing else. The Lakota prefer the Bufallo Sage it is an acquired preference I think. I have used all of them.

I like white sage ,its real strong.I study shamanism a bit too ,I believe most medicine (herbs) were indigeness to ware they were.

Sage is used for the same thing ,world wide,to sanctify.