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All you need to know about sage

  • deessedesbois
  • Sep 27, 2024
  • 6 min read


plants de sauge

There used to be a popular belief that sage could cure any illness. It's not for nothing that sage has long been considered a medicinal plant.


There are many species of sage to be found all over the world - over 800 of them! For the purposes of this article, I've concentrated on the most widely used, clary sage and sage officinale.


Before you read on, I'd like to tell you about some more personal research I've had with sage during a meditation and as I've come to use it in my garden.


Even before I knew all its virtues, I was growing it in my garden.


Once, I had a canker sore in my mouth that hurt like hell. When I was weeding, passing by sage plants as if by magic, I took a leaf and put it in a ball directly into the mouth where my pain was, and it quickly disappeared. I later learned that it was a good painkiller.


During a recent meditation, I came to understand that it was interconnected with the lunar cycle. During the full moon, sage is more powerful. It's a good time to pick it, if you're growing it, or simply a good time to do your sage rituals for purification, for example.


Also considered a woman's plant, it helps women throughout their lives, right up to the menopause.


As an offering, it would be perfect for the goddess Hecate (goddess of the cycles of life and the moon).


If you look closely, you can see that sage leaves are ridged like cracks that resemble our skin when it's too dry. It's not for nothing that sage is a so-called drying plant. What's more, it likes warm, dry environments. By using it, it reduces excessive secretions and helps drain us in many ways: fights profuse sweating, cuts milk for nursing mothers, helps oily skin by regulating sebum, eliminates grease, prevents water retention, clears the respiratory tract in case of congestion, etc.




History



  • Sage is associated with immortality and longevity. Its Latin name salvia means “saved” or “she who saves”. It has long had a reputation defined as “he who has sage in his garden, needs no doctor”.



  • A sacred plant for the Greeks, it was used medicinally long before it was used in cooking. It was given as an offering to the gods. It was also known as the women's plant, as it aided fertility.



  • Among the Romans and Celts, sage was considered sacred and harvested according to specific rituals. This plant was reputedly intolerant of contact with iron, so metal tools were to be avoided. The sage harvesting ritual involved donning a white tunic and removing one's shoes after washing one's feet.



  • In the Middle Ages, sage was reputed to have healing powers. Dried sage was smoked like cigarettes for asthmatics as soon as the first pollen appeared. Louis XIV, the Sun King, made sage his favorite herbal tea and drank it every day. He lived to 77, considered an advanced age in his day. His longevity is attributed to his healthy lifestyle and daily consumption of sage tea.



  • Frequently added to mead and cervoise (cervoise is an alcoholic beverage made from barley or other cereals), it enabled druids to place themselves in a “prophetic” condition, i.e. in a modified state of consciousness, in order to predict the future and communicate with the beyond. However, it was probably divinatory sage (salvia divinatorium).



  • In the Middle Ages, during the plague, it was believed that embalming the house with sage purified the air and kept plague and other diseases at bay.



  • German physician Christian-François Paullini (1643-1712) wrote a 400-page monograph on sage in 1688.




Spirituality



  • The Romans and Greeks offered sage to divinities, making it a basic ingredient in both funerary and magical rituals. Sage is even said to have supernatural origins.



  • According to one legend, Zeus was raised by the goat Amalthea, next to a sage bush, which conferred divine power on the goat's milk, giving it strength and vigor. This is why the Romans nicknamed it “Jupiter's herb”.



  • Sage officinale's action on the third eye chakra promotes calm and clarity, encouraging wisdom and knowledge.



  • Saint Hildegarde de Bigens believed that sage relieved excessive moods. According to her, sage dries up melancholy and soothes anger. The plant also regulates all moods in the body, restoring joie de vivre. What's more, being very earthy, sage is said to prevent discharge (haemorrhage, uterine discharge, catarrh, leucorrhoea, milk secretion, sweat, etc.).



  • Sage (clary, common and white) has powerful purifying properties. Native Americans burned this plant to ward off demons, lower astral entities and other “negative waves”. It is a protective and purifying plant.



  • It is also useful in lunar rituals and those linked to the goddess Hecate.




Medicine



Sage contains what are known as phyto-estrogens, in other words, chemical molecules whose structure is almost identical to that of estrogen produced by the ovaries. Phyto-estrogens regulate female hormonal imbalances and help the menopause process by alleviating symptoms.



It helps women throughout their lives:



  • Promotes fertility by balancing hormone levels, regulating the menstrual cycle and reproductive health, and stimulating ovulation.



  • Fights vaginal dryness and vaginitis by supporting lubrication with estrogen, and promotes healthy vaginal flora.



  • Relieves menstrual cramps, helping to alleviate symptoms of painful periods.



  • Helps dry up lactation, ideal for women who want to stop breast-feeding.



  • Alleviates menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and excessive sweating. It is therefore a very good plant for menopause (sage officinale is more effective).



Other benefits of sage:



  • Gives energy through its stimulating and revitalizing properties.



  • Combats low morale and depression.



  • Helps relieve stress and anxiety with its relaxing properties. Before going to bed, sage tea can improve sleep.



  • Improves cardiovascular health by aiding blood circulation and protecting the cells and tissues of the heart and blood vessels from damage.



  • It's an antioxidant that protects the body's cells against damage caused by free radicals, thus helping against premature aging.



  • Calms sore throats, coughs, bronchitis and asthma attacks by soothing throat irritation and reducing inflammation of the respiratory tract. What's more, as it is anti-bacterial, it helps fight the bacteria that cause throat infections.



  • Aids digestion and relieves bloating.



  • Has antiseptic, antibacterial and antiviral properties.



  • Drains by being effective against water retention and varicose veins, and fights cellulite, which is often linked to poor blood circulation. It also facilitates fat elimination.



  • Moderates excess cholesterol, attributed to certain compounds in sage that interfere with cholesterol absorption in the intestine.



  • Reduces salivary secretion, by tightening and contracting tissues.



  • It is a diuretic, removing salt and excess water from the body.



  • Firms gums when used as a mouthwash.



  • Relieves mouth ailments such as canker sores and inflammation.



  • Regulates skin sebum secretion, treating oily and combination skin with dilated pores by tightening them.




Uses



As a gargle


  • Useful for sore throats, it soothes inflamed gums and acts against mouth ulcers.


  • Preparation: make a tea and add a little salt or lemon juice, which has mild antiseptic properties. For best results, take the mixture while it's still hot. Sage has astringent properties that temporarily relieve pain.



Sage oil


  • For external applications such as varicose veins or cellulite, to tighten pores, drain, aid circulation, etc.


  • Preparation: You need 2 glasses of olive oil and 2 handfuls of sage. Place the sage leaves in a sterilized jar and pour in the olive oil so that the leaves are covered. Leave to macerate for 15 days, then remove the leaves. Your sage oil will then be ready to use.


  • Caution: Sage essential oil is toxic due to a component (thujone) found in excessive quantities. However, you can use clary sage essential oil, which gives the same benefits. The essential oil is more concentrated than sage oil, so before applying it to the skin, dilute it with a fatty base.



Other uses



  • Sage oil can be used as a spice to flavor meat dishes. It has a strong, bitter, camphorated taste, so use sparingly in dishes.


  • As a hair rinse, it darkens hair. Use it every time you wash your hair for best results. It's also very effective for the first white hairs.



  • Adding sage to a bath helps you relax, while leaving a pleasant fragrance. It is a good sedative for nervous people or those prone to rheumatism, and helps regulate excessive perspiration.

  • Preparation: bring 3L of water to the boil and infuse 5 handfuls of sage leaves for 30 minutes. Filter and pour into bath water.



  • Making sage sachets or adding it to rotting pots leaves a pleasant scent in the home and keeps insects away.



  • Sage is very popular and widely used in incense. If you grow it, it's easy to make fumigation bouquets.




Contraindications



Prolonged use of high-dose sage (especially essential oils and alcoholic extracts) may be toxic to the nervous system, due to its thujone content. There is thus a risk of convulsions. Prolonged use should not exceed 2 weeks.



It is contraindicated for:



  • Pregnant or breast-feeding women.



  • Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or targeted therapy with CYP2D6 substrates, such as GLIVEC, GEFETINIB and TAMOXIFENE.



  • People suffering from epilepsy.



  • Sage can act on blood sugar levels, lowering them.



  • It can also interfere with anticoagulant drugs, as the plant contains vitamin K.







Sources



 
 
 

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