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Sacred medicines
Anishinaabe teaching of the four sacred medicines
The information on this page is only a small portion of the many and extensive sacred Indigenous teachings and protocols that exist. Teachings vary from community to community and from one geographic region to another.
For more information, please consult with a Traditional Elder, Healer or Medicine Person.
Tobacco is the first plant that creation gave to the Anishinaabe. Three other plants, sage, cedar and sweetgrass, follow tobacco and together they are referred to as the four sacred medicines.
The four sacred medicines are used in everyday life and in ceremonies. All of them can be used to smudge with. It is said that tobacco sits in the eastern door, sweetgrass in the southern door, sage in the west and cedar in the north
Caring for medicines
You take care of these sacred medicines by keeping them in a dry place. They can be stored
in paper bags or wooden boxes.
Tobacco
Traditional people say that tobacco is always first. It is used as an offering for everything
and in every ceremony.
Traditional tobacco was given to us so that we can communicate with the spirit world. It
opens up the door to allow that communication to take place. When we make an offering of
tobacco, we communicate our thoughts and feelings through the tobacco as we pray for
ourselves, our family, relatives and others.
Tobacco is always offered before picking medicines. When you offer tobacco to a plant and
explain why you are there, that plant will let all the plants in the area know why you are
coming to pick them.
When you seek the help and advice of an Elder, Healer or Medicine Person and give your
offering of tobacco, they know that a request may be made as tobacco is so sacred.
We express our gratitude for the help the spirits give us through our offering of tobacco. It
is put down as an offering of thanks. Traditional people make an offering of tobacco each
day when the sun comes up.
Cedar
Like sage and sweetgrass, cedar is used to purify the home. It also has many restorative
medicinal uses. Cedar baths are healing and cedar tea can be an excellent source of vitamin
C.
When cedar is put in the fire with tobacco, it crackles. When it does this, it is calling the
attention of the spirits to the offering that is being made.
Cedar is used in fasting and sweat lodge ceremonies as a form of protection: cedar
branches cover the floor of the sweat lodge and a circle of cedar surrounds the faster’s
lodge.
Sage
Sage is used to prepare people for ceremonies and teachings. It is used when smudging to
cleanse the spirit of negative thoughts of a person or place. It also has other medicinal uses.
Sage represents the Western direction. Sage is used by the original peoples to make their
prayers and to signal to creation of one’s need for help. There are many varieties of Sage
and all are effective in smudging.
Sweetgrass
Sweetgrass is the sacred hair of Mother Earth. Its sweet aroma reminds people of the
gentleness, love and kindness she has for the people.
When sweetgrass is used in a healing circle it has a calming effect. The three strands of the
braid represent the balance of body, mind and spirit.
Smudging
Smudging is a tradition in many Indigenous cultures, which involves the burning of one or
more of these medicines. There are many ways to perform a smudge and different
variations and protocols exist.
Smudging allows people to stop, slow down and become mindful and centered. This allows
people to remember, connect and be grounded in the event, task, or purpose at hand.
Smudging also allows people to let go of negative feelings and thoughts. Letting go of things
that inhibit a person from being balanced and focused comes from the feeling of being calm
and safe while smudging.
Smudging is always voluntary. It is completely acceptable for a person to indicate that they
do not want to smudge. That person may choose to stay in the room and refrain from
smudging or leave the room during the smudge. Respect for all is the guiding principle in
any Indigenous tradition.
