Sweetgrass (Hierochloe Odorata) – Leaves in Braids from the United States

More about Sweetgrass (Hierochloe Odorata)

Many Native tribes in North America use Sweetgrass in prayer, smudging or purifying ceremonies and consider it a sacred plant. It is usually braided, dried, and burned. Sweetgrass braids smolder and doesn’t produce an open flame when burned. Just as the sweet scent of this natural grass is attractive and pleasing to people, so is it attractive to good spirits. It is often burned at the beginning of a prayer or ceremony to attract positive energies.

Wonderfully fragrant braided Buffalo Grass from Oregon, United States. The name comes from the Greek “Hieros”, meaning sacred, and “Chloë”, meaning grass or holy-grass. Each braid weighs approximately 20 – 25 gram and is 65 – 80 cm long.

Hierochloe Odoratais a sacred plant, and is traditionally woven into braids to represent the culmination of mind, body, and spirit. Its scent is sweet, vanilla-ish and a bit grassy.

Other names: Holy Grass, Mary’s Grass, Vanilla Grass, Bluejoint, Buffalo Grass, Zebrovka.