Dosages & Applications of Desert Sage

I had the opportunity to listen to a tape made many years ago by a student attending one of Dr. John Christopher's lectures. The tape was at least 20 years old, and Dr. Christopher was telling about spending time with an Indian medicine man and chief, who told him that the best way to extract the active principles in desert sage was by making a sun tea. He said that the tea would contain all that a human being needed, without heating it. Then the tape, brittle as it was, broke and was discarded, to my distress, but I still remember what it said.

Michael Moore describes how to make a cold infusion: “After pre-moistening a bit, wrap one part herb (dry weight) in cloth and suspend it in 32 parts of water (by volume) at room temperature, overnight. Squeeze out the herb into the tea in the morning, and add enough water to bring it back to 32 parts. Use 1 to 2 ounces of desert sage.” (39)

An old southwest use of desert sage is described by Sam Hicks in Desert Plants and People. He writes: “Mescaha (desert sage), one of the most prevalent aromatic shrubs of the southwest, is commonly used as a medicinal or disinfectant tea. This tea is bitter and unpalatable if cooked too strong. As an effective antiseptic for bathing wounds, the brush tips and leaves are vigorously boiled until the tea is deep green. ... Several years ago a weak tea was customarily taken in the spring of the year as a tonic by ranching families of the west, and the frontier women of the Great Plains states used sagebrush tea regularly as a hair rinse.” (40)

As another use, “sage is sold in stores tied together in bundles, sometimes with cedar leaves, as natural incense or purifying sticks used in sacred spaces, homes and offices to clear residual vibrational energies. Purification with sage still precedes native rituals. The burning smoke is wafted around people and places, usually with a feather. ... Natives rubbed sage leaves on their skin to ward off insects and to mask scent while hunting. A few leaves placed in hot water make an agreeable and stimulating tea beneficial for quickening the memory and senses. I can also be gargled as a mouthwash for sore throats or used as a wonderful foot bath for sore, tired feet.” (41)

The aromatic smoke of desert sage was also used by the native people to benefit those with rheumatism or arthritis. After a large campfire had died down to glowing coals, these were raked out and dampened desert sage branches were layered on top. The person would then lie down on the sagebrush bed and enjoy the warmth and breathe the aromatic smoke, which was said to help arthritic conditions.

“The Western Indians (such as the Navajos) used the Wild Sage (Artemisia tridentata) of the great American Western and Midwestern desert and plains regions for resolving severe body crises such as tumors and cancers. ...The Indians had numerous other uses for the sage...., but its greatest value was medicinal. Sage tea was used extensively as a cure for asthma, taken morning and evening for forty days and at night a sage poultice was applied to the chest and back. Sage branches were burned as a fumigant and the baskets and blankets used during the birthing process were held in the smoke to retain the odor.

The Indians believed in the value of sweating in almost all illnesses and so used as a diaphoretic the sage in making a hot tea. A tea from the leaves of the sage bush was adopted from the Indians and became the standard eyewash of the United States Army in the West. One of the remedies for a headache was sage tea or a compress of sage leaves, the leaves being either crushed or boiled. There were almost as many dosages for influenza as there were herbal drugs. The favorites were hot juniper or sage tea and inhaling the fumes from a fire of sage. If one's legs were ailing, weakening, or shaky they were bathed in a hot sage tea, then poulticed with sage leaves. To steady and strengthen mind and nerves, the Indians, as they do today, drank sage tea.

... Sage tea also was used for paralysis. Sage leaves, fresh or dried, were made into a tea for

diarrhea, menstrual disorders, and swellings. It had a particularly favorable effect as a tonic after childbirth. Fresh leaves were crushed, strained, and mixed with lukewarm water for stomach distress or were chewed for flatulence or as a tea for indigestion. The powdered herb destroyed worms in children and was so accepted officially in 1840 by the incoming whites. The juice of the herb or its powder was put on moist sores which, with this procedure, were said to dry and heal quickly, as were "green wounds."

For numbness of the feet, a wash of sage was recommended, followed by the application of wax and ground nettles. This same sage and wax remedy was used for all foot injuries by the Aztecs.

Sage is still used as a shampoo to promote the growth of the hair and also used by the women as a solution to blacken their hair, combing it into their tresses daily.

In Taos, Indians say, "It is really good for everything"....By way of interest the sage as discussed here is Artemis tridentata or wild sage, whereas the common or garden sage found in many gardens is Salvia officinalis. These two sages, though bearing similar popular names, really belong to different botanical families and should be considered therapeutically separate. They both possess, however, decided aromatic, bitter, and astringent properties.” (42)

In the case of desert sage usage, it would seem that simple is best. Complex formulas were not part of the lives of the native people, and they used the herbs according to their inherent wisdom and the resources available to them. Desert sage was made into an infusion or concoction, and taken internally, or used as a wash externally. It was burned and inhaled. It was used as a green poultice or made into an ointment, and it was effective.