sacred herbs
Ritually significant botanicals
Sacred herbs are plants believed to have spiritual, healing, or ceremonial significance across various religious and cultural traditions.
The term encompasses herbs used in rituals, blessings, and traditional medicine—white sage in Native American smudging ceremonies, holy basil in Hindu worship, or frankincense in Christian liturgy.
The shaman prepared the sacred herbs for the purification ritual.
- sweetgrassFragrant ceremonial sedge
- smudge stickBundled herbs for cleansing smoke
- copalFragrant tropical tree resin
- frankincenseAromatic resin for incense
- sageWisdom keeper or seasoning
henbane · cedar · mandrake · rue · juniper · myrrh · lotus · tobacco · spirit offerings · mugwort · palo santo · wormwood · animism · yarrow · mistletoe · vervain · ethnobotany · white sage
- native spiritualitymedicine man, native rituals, vision quest, sweat lodge, medicine men
- plant folkloreherbal lore, folk remedies, tree spirits, nature spirits, forest spirits
- tribal traditionstribal customs, tribal councils, tribal dances, tribal tattoos, medicine men
- Afro-Brazilian Religionaxe, syncretism, spirit possession, drumming, spirit guides
- Vodou Objectsceremonial sword, rattle, rattles, offering bowl, mojo bag
- OrishasLegba, river goddess, sea goddess, thunder god, sky gods