For hundreds of years, white sage (salvia apiana) has been considered a sacred, cleansing, purifying, and protective plant. Used in rituals and ceremonies for centuries, white sage is often burned in a ritual known as smudging. Smudging is a cleansing ceremony used to rid a person, space or object of negative energy or even bad spirits. Sage emits negative ions and our aura holds positive ions. Through the smudging process we can neutralise our aura or the energy of other spaces and objects to cleanse and renew.