One of the signs that you might be a little witchy is that you tend to save everything.  It’s not hoarding if it’s useful, right?  And when it comes to spellwork, everything can be useful.  If your pockets are currently full of bits of stray string and your shelves full of glass jars (that may or may not actually contain cobwebs on purpose) then you know what we’re talking about.  But here’s something you’re probably not saving that you should be.

Burning white sage, whether as a smudge stick or loose, is almost a witchy right of passage.  Some people will insist that you should discard of any loose sage or sage ash that is “used up” after burning so as to avoid “contamination”.  But we disagree.  Sage ash is incredibly useful, and should not be wasted.

How to do it?  If you are using a smudge stick, roll the burnt end of the stick around on a piece of wax paper.  You should end up with several larger pieces of charred sage on the paper.  Carefully pour into a mortar and pestle and grind until it is very fine (this shouldn’t take long as it falls apart quite easily).  If you are using loose leaf sage make sure that all the leaves in your fire-safe dish are burnt thoroughly before transferring to the mortar, and do the same to grind them.  Using a bit of paper as a cone is helpful for getting the finely ground ash into a small jar or container.  (You will likely only end up with a very small amount of ash, but don’t worry.  It’s potent stuff and you will only need a little bit once you are ready to use it.)

It is difficult to explain what sage ash actually does. It still carries the qualities of white sage, but amplified by fire. It can be both or either a leveling agent or catalyst. It is complex and simple. Sage ash is one of our favorite go-to spell components, and you need it.