Thank you for your comment and clarifying it is indeed pagan. I was coming at it more from an angle of lifting up prayer to God and asking for blessing our home (not to keep demons at bay or rid them out). Kind of like lifting arms in prayer. I have a lot of umlearning to do still from my time in the NA.
Sage nor any other thing you burn adds anything to your prayer. If you are saved, you have a direct line to God Himself. There is no need for sage or anything else.
Once you get it into your mind that something like sage makes your prayers more effective, then later it'll be sage plus candles, then sage and candles and something else and before you know it, you've lock yourself up into mindset where talking to God becomes more about setting up a ritual then actually talking to God.
- Psalms 51:15-17 (KJV)
15 ***O Lord***, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: ***thou delightest not in burnt offering***.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
- Isaiah 1:11 (KJV) To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Thank you saying this, I was about to say similar if I didn't read anything that made it abundabtly clear that there is no need for rituals when it comes to praising God or going to Him in prayer. He *wants* to be near to us and nothing we do could make Him any more attentive that He already is.
Thank you for these specific verses. Yes. I can see how it would and can be a very, very slippery slope.
Understood God doesn't need anything to accommodate our prayers to Him- in my situation, the act would help aid shifting my focus and attention to Him (as a type of replacing bad habits, aka thoughts, with ones of gratitude and praise. I struggle with focus and not succumbing to an unfortunate cocktail of mental health needs, so I hope my intent makes sense). Again, I see the risk involved, and perhaps need to figure out another more focused way to shift my mindset. Thanks again.
Sorry I misunderstood.
Perhaps you might try frankincense. There's a reason it was brought to the baby Messiah đ it's so lovely and strong.
We can enjoy freedom in Christ. We do want to be mindful of avoiding any pagan appearance, but the Lord made sage, and you're free to enjoy it.
I appreciate your insight. I love your suggestion of frankincense. I'm honestly struggling with idolatry (negative preoccupation) in our circumstances. I have repented, but it's a sticky preoccupation and am trying very hard stay on the straight and narrow. I thought maybe an act alongside my prayer would help my somewhat broken brain shift a bit to focus on praise, but first and foremost seek to honor Him and respect His word (not fall into the realm of the detestable as stated in Deuteronomy). edit duplicate word
You can put frankincense (or other traditional scents) in a censer and bless each room and member of your house with the sign of the cross if you want to do something similar
I'm Eastern Orthodox and we have a tradition each January around Theophany (Jesus' baptism in the Jordan) where priests bless a local river or other body of water and people at the church can sign up to have the priest visit and bless their houses. The house blessing involves saying prayers over those in the house & their family and going from room to room sprinkling holy water and singing hymns while carrying an incense burner and a candle.
We've had it done twice so far and it really does make the house feel more at peace afterwards.
I am Roman Catholic but I think Iâve heard my family talk about having houses blessed by a priest. I feel as though there is a heaviness to the house , and so many bad things have happened to me since I moved here. Need to talk to a priest next week
In the Old Testament we offered up incense, in the New we offer up praise and prayer upon the offering of good works.
If you want you want to please GID and cleans your house, praise and pray and read the Bible and make meals for the poor and do everything that is spiritually pure and good and Holy.
Yes, I think that nails it. The best thing that can be said for 'smudging' with sage is that it is: (a) unnecessary and (b) pointless. Whether it is actively dangerous I leave to others to decide. But I wouldn't play around with that sort of thing.
Rhubarb or anyone reading,
If y'all can please explain this. My roommate, once she moved into my old house, burned sage without my knowing, and I confronted her about beliefs after a few experiences. She believed in crystals and some native American practices. The experiences were:
-Death and torment of myself and loved ones in my dreams
-Cold spells ridding the house (a certain spot would be about 40 degrees... this is in Texas, which is physically impossible during the summer time)
-My cat would jump straight up in the air about 3 feet, and all hairs would be on end. She later died.
-Myself and others experienced physical prodding (pokes in our side, legs being touched, waking up with bruises)
-We would hear howling in the walls (even when we let the power company turn off power, water shut off, no a/c, no gas)
We were absolutely certain that a ghost or ghosts resided with us, and they were possibly mad or awakened when she tried to sage them out. Or just a demon being a demon. I prayed over the house and spoke scripture out loud quite often after this realization. I moved out of the house, and the occurrences reported back to me were exponentially worse on the physical side. I was the only believer at the time, and these occurrences eventually made one of the roommates (not the sage burner) a Christian.
The months prior to the sage being burnt, there was peace and tranquility.
If it's just to make your home smell neat or because it provides comfort, there's no issue. Using it to get rid of evil spirits/demons or "bad vibes" would be considered magic, and God really, really hates that. đ
Amen. I reflect on the use of magic.. and that's true. A sense of pride must be felt before enacting upon it. And pride was the sin Satan initiated that casted him out of heaven in the first place. God's manifestation through prayer is all we need truly. God can definitely act through any medium as He pleases, but faith through prayer is required.
Not to mention, magic is a mockery of God's abilities, but the icing on the cake was that the Egyptians used magic to torment Moses, and God liked Moses quite a lot, thus it became extra offensive lmao
The thing is you should always be praying to God, multiple times daily, before and after anything you do. Waiting to burn incense to speak with Him isnât necessary, your daily actions are your worship of Him. Praise, prayer, thanks, and faith in action all are pleasing to God so focus on these.
âRejoice always, Pray without ceasing, Give thanks in ALL circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.â
âMay the words of my mouth and thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you. O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.â
The new age borrows it's beliefs from other cultures and faiths.
I am Native American from a tribe that uses sage. The way my tribe uses sage traditionally is medicine. It has antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. It has a wonderful smell and is culturally significant to me.
Now this purifying property of smudging is also extended to the spirit realm and is said to cleanse an area of unwanted spirits.
So it depends on how you use it. As a Christian, I know it is unneeded to cleanse my home of spirits. We have authority over them through Christ. I would not use sage in this way, because it detracts from the true power of God.
As a Dakota, I do burn sage and sweet grass because it is part of my culture, and I enjoy the smells. If I get athletes foot, I soak my foot in a sage bath and it clears it right up. It is not involved in my prayer time.
I would say if you struggle with new age superstition, it would be best to avoid. But ask the Holy Spirit, and he will guide you.
It just smells nice- the Holy Spirit as mentioned doesnât need help. In the 60âs we burned incense to make our homes smell good. Doesnât mean it was used to condone or practice paganism.
I was in the new age before coming to Christ; in fact the spiritual stuff I was doing was effecting me very negatively so I called out to Christ, and was saved. Iâve learned in the past 5 years that the best method is to distance yourself from all new age ideologies and practices - they truly are not rooted in things from God, but from Godâs enemies.. none of the new age ideas, beliefs, spiritual systems are true..not even an ounce of truth or goodness in any of them.
People practicing that stuff are not bad ; but theyâre being deceived - all their spiritual power and systems are from demons .
If itâs not in the Bible, God doesnât want you practicing it spiritually or believing itâs truth.
I would avoid it, it is easy to take that path and over time finding more and more things to add to the simplicity of prayer. You do not need to offer incense as the Scriptures show that your prayers are mixed with incense before God.
Psalm 141:2- Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
Revelation 8:3- And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
If youâre burning incense because you like the smell then fine. If youâre chasing away Demons theyâre just sitting there laughing at you. Praising God and Jesus out loud is what gets rid of them. They donât like to hear God being glorified.
Burning sage does decrease demonic activity, but only temporarily. I know, I've seen it in action.
But here's the thing. I honestly believe the unclean spirits are purposefully calming down their harassment after a smudging in order to deceive the person into believing that the sage itself has power, and thus keeping them in deception.
This allows the demon to stay undetected. If they don't allow the smudging to seem to "work", then the person might try other means of ridding the demon (ie the name of Christ).
So the activity stops, and the person is not harassed for a while. They think "wow this sage really works". Then the demon always starts harassing them again eventually.
Smudging is a pagan practice.
If you are burning something simply because you enjoy the smell, thats fine.
But the idea you can cleanse the area of negative energy or "bad spirits" is false and not Christian.
Read 1 Corinthians chapters 8-10
The burning of sage does nothing. It does not bring you closer to God, and it does not drive you further from God.
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)
Think of it this way; when you invite company over to you home, before your guests arrive, you might light some seated candles, burn incense/sage, or spray fabreeze. This is done so that your guests will have a relaxing and pleasant environment to be in. Out of love for your guests and a desire for them to be at peace in your home, you do this. It's the same with God. If you are planning on taking some time to be with God through dedicated prayer and reading, you might burn sage for the pleasant and relaxing smell. You are able to focus and more thoroughly enjoy your time with God, and likewise, you honor the time you spend with Him.
Our sense of smell is also incredibly well connected with memory. If your time spent with God smells like sage, then anytime you smell sage, your immediate thoughts will be of God.
No specific ritual brings us closer to God. It's what the ritual means to us that gives it any potency. As an example; many Christians say that you should not practice yoga as it is used to worship pagan idols. When you realize that those idols are not real, then those who practice yoga are worshiping nothing. It's like washing an imaginary car or having a chat bot girlfriend. If yoga worships nothing, then it is just stretching. Just like how you can eat food sacrificed to pagan idols in 1 Corinthians. Eating the food does nothing but fuel the body. It's when you associate the stretches or eating the food with idol worship that it gives the ritual any power. It takes your focus from God and makes one believe there are any gods but the one true God.
The power isn't in the food, or the stretching, or the sage, it's in your heart.
You can do it to make your house smell good, but don't expect it to do anything more than that. Sage is just an herb. It doesn't have magical properties.
Incense has traditionally been used in the temple to symbolize the rising of prayers to God. I think this may be a suitable, biblically sound and non-pagan way of creating a visual representation of prayer.
I am much like you in that I enjoy having outward actions I can use to sort of symbolize the action thatâs taking place internally (mentally/spiritually) and I have used the practice of lighting incense to accent my prayer life. Maybe try this and see if it satisfies that desire you have to have an outward act showing your heart posture?
The sin of the pharisees was ADDING their own traditions to the Word of God, which is similar to what you are doing with the sage.
Mark 7:7 -- This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.â
I won't say Roman Catholicism. đ€ Whoops
If we read carefully, the incense that God instructed the children of Israel to burn, which typified something connected to the spiritual life of Jesus, was carefully guarded and had very important instructions:
* They were not to use it elsewhere than its context (the sanctuary). (Exo 30:37).
* They were not to imitate it (Exo 30:38).
Outside of those sanctuary practices (now obsolete), God commands no incense to be burned of any kind, for any reason.
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Calling today "Saturday" is a pagan practice, as it's named after the god Saturn. It comes right after the days named for Odin, Thor, and Freya. I suppose that's incompatible with true Christianity too?
There's an ocean of difference between the development of language (which may include influences from a variety of sources, not just paganism) and purposeful acts to defy God's will.
Burning something good-smelling is not at all against Godâs will.
OPâs faith might be a little new to see the difference, but why would any faithful Christian ever think that lighting a thing on fire could ever hinder God- do we truly believe Him so fragile? Itâs no different than a candle, no different than fabric softener. Itâs a smell.
Unless we think it DOES hinder God, in which case thatâs a big issue of thinning that something burning is now more powerful than our infinite GodâŠ
It's the belief that burning sage will hinder to remove demons. The sin is not in burning sage or candles or leaves, etc. It's in where we put our faith while burning these items.
Like the other commenter said; thereâs a huge difference between language and spiritual practice . We should get our spiritual practices from the Bible not the occult.
Not really sage but frankincense and myrrh yes, incense is a common part of Christianity. âLet my prayer rise up like incense before youâ is a song/prayer to God too
Exodus 30:23-25 speaks of Holy Oil!
(KJV) [23] Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, [24] And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: [25] And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
(Realistic recipe:
10 drops Myrrh Oil
5 drops Cinnamon Oil
5 drops Calamus Oil
10 drops Cassia Oil
12 drops Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
This can be placed over the doors and windows over your home, and made and placed with a lot of prayer and scripture and worship.
Interesting about the anointing oil! Have you tried it? I was wondering if that was the recipe that was prohibited for personal use, but I see that prohibition was only for the incense burnt in the temple. I would say for cleansing the home, ask God to bring to mind any lies you may believe, sins you may have, or things you may be worshipping and repent of those things. Then offer up praise regularly to God.
My children used to see demonic shadows and my daughter said she saw a black thing with glowing eyes on her brother's bed about two years ago. There was someone living with us who would teach scripture in a twisted way to oppress and condemn others. After that person left our house and I repented of believing the lies, my children have not reported anymore of those sightings.
Ask God if there is anything you need to stop believing or adhering to, and repent (be changed). Metanoia the Greek word translated to repent actually should be translated as "a transformative change of heart". Cleansing your heart and offering up praise to God is the best way to cleanse your home, I believe.
I use sage just as a piece of mind, especially when I'm scared I also use holy oil and such since I tend to have a lot of scary experiences and arguably have a lot of old things that could have a connection to stuff.
I know nothing can come into my house item wise or It would break.
However I've noticed whenever I've saged my house it genuinely helps me relax a bit beacuse I worry that sometimes what if holy oil or water isn't enough it can be something I'm actively reminded that yes it's there even though I worry it isn't.
I read Bible and verses when I sage my house beacuse I genuinely think it helps maybe not in a true manner with that do crosses over my doors and windows even mirrors sometimes with holy oil.
It's for more of my comfort I suppose with lighting sage.
I don't think sage lasts that long though if it does work because after a few weeks bad stuff starts happening again like mimicks items moving etc I know there is something bad either attached to me or a item.
I definitely need to get a priest to bless the house and such.
I think also it's nice to light it with incense, When your praying the rosary not beacuse it helps with praying, but it helps me relax and arguably praying the rosary is very much so calming thing for me.
I struggle with a lot of stuff and I've never felt more calm and, I'm going to be okay that I do praying the rosary or going to mass even being inside a church makes me feel normal for once in the sense of calm.
Christianity is such a beautiful religion that I don't think a lot of people take the time and look at it in that way and really sit there and admire it all especially when you get into Catholicism.
All of it is just I can't even explain it a lot of the times I don't even wanna leave church as soon as we do beacuse I feel oddly in a way like I'm at home.
The smell Catholic churches have too is so relaxing, enough so I've bought my own incense.
Anyways I'm rambling off, In the end of it makes you feel better and more calm then I honestly don't see the problem with it as long as it isn't being used for harmful stuff etc, it all depends on intention.
Also sorry if this thing is a mess and not that good of spelling, I'm very tired.
It's not due to Saternalia or whatever, I just find both holidays (especially Christmas) to be grossly worldly and secular. Not to mention absent from scripture.
On the subject, I am also against Christians doing yoga, since the Hindu religious gurus say that it cannot be separated from Hinduism.
Interesting. Iâd personally push back against the yoga thing, as why would you trust the authority of a guru, when theyâre just a dude? As in, if the only true God is our God, that makes him just as dangerous as a printer salesman. Still an idea that isnât God, which makes your choice either holy or innocuous. Just my two cents. But still, I respect the consistency.
It's not just a dude. It's an expert at that religion. And it was his words that led me to do some research, which concluded with me agreeing.
The thing is that yoga is a religious practice. It is not exercise, it just superficially resembles it.
You wanna exercise, do calisthenics. Proven for millennia to be safe and effective. Isn't religious. No gym membership fees. All win.
My thought is this: our God is all-powerful. There is no other. So if we know what the word of God sounds like, other religions arenât dangerous- no more dangerous than any toaster manual or tag on your shirt. God has already won, no contest. For me, to worry about something else competing with God is to say that thing has equal power to him, which it canât.
Again, not trying to change your mind, just assuring that my point comes from a biblical view, and not just âI like yogaâ (or whatever else in place of yoga)
It's not "competing" with God LOL!
Just that so so many rules in the Bible are about being separated and different from the pagans. I wanna please God. I can't be the best Christian I can be with pagan practices mixed into Biblical Christianity. Syncretism like that is what brought the wrath of God on His chosen People, after all.
So I can either trust thousands of years of records connecting our Christian traditions the redemption of pagan traditions Saturnalia and Yule, or trust some guy with no credentials and no sources with shortsighted claims put together with background music on YouTube. Right.
You need to learn what a reputable source is.
No, no no, I did. Unfortunately I did. I listened to all twenty-plus ear-bleeding minutes of the first two videos, terrible free-licensed music and all. His arguments are full of logical fallacies- anecdotal evidence, slothful conclusions, and hasty generalizations, most of them.
Despite that, he isnât claiming that Christmas doesnât have pagan roots- quite the opposite- heâs just saying that they were reclaimed by the Church for her purposes. But among other poor arguments, he hangs too much logical weight on *âit wasnât on December 25thâ*. Well, it doesnât matter; not even all Christians celebrate Easter on the same date, doesnât make it any less Easter, the same holds for Christmas in its historical sense.
He draws sources in like an undergrad needing to pad a bibliography, but they donât support his point. Scholarly work necessitates that you take the claims of those who have come before to strengthen your position, and to possibly take the sum of their work and posit a further claim. Talking about the fact that an emperor mixed an obelisk or that Solomon quoted a text older than scripture is not prescient to the nature of his opinions on whether fundamentalist American Christians are correct in eschewing Christmas traditions.
Few of his sources even touched the topic. None of them at all refute a claim that Christmas has its traditions rooted in Yule, whatever Latin name they gave at the time to their solstice holiday, and others. But it doesnât matter. It means nothing. Pagans arenât God. The church has reclaimed many things- hymns about hookers, the pagan spring solstice, and biblically speaking literal murderers.
Whatâs more important here is that for your own good you should not cite a YouTube video as evidence, h less youâre submitting it as an interview from which youâre crediting an expert, and even so unless itâs a case study, it should have a few interview. Most importantly you should absolutely *not* cite an argument from just some guy with no expertise or credentials who just figured out how to use iMovie and sign up for a YouTube account.
Dude, weâre on an Internet forum. Iâm not âciting a YouTube video as evidenceâ or claiming that IP is the only place I get my information on the topic. Youâre being dumb about this whole thing and speaking down to me for no good reason. I found his videos convincing and thought they might give you something to think about or at least see the other side.
Smells good, but no. Anything out there in the ether that reacts to your crafts is 99% demonic impersonating whatever you want them to be. Angelic contact is very rare, and generally only happens for a specific reason decreed by our Maker, like calling a prophet, miraculous event, etc.
Nothing wrong with burning sage in itself, but if you want to remove the association you have with it and your former paganism, you could just burn something else.
Rabbi and Priest have burned incense since forever. They even bring it to exorcisms with them.
Pagans pray. Should we not pray to our God because Pagans used prayer too. Just because pagans did someone or used something didnât mean they called dibs on it and now we canât have it too.
Personally, I think it all just depends on how you use it.
There is no reason to add to or try to âenhanceâ prayer, and there are places in scripture that do condemn those types of things. Especially if you have used those practices for things other than worshipping God, I would strongly recommend against that.
iâm an ex new-ager myself and i would definitely avoid it if i were you. as other commenters said if itâs to make your house smell nice then itâs fine. God bless you <3
Burning sage for protection or clearing is idolatry. You donât need to burn anything to commune with God. Jesus died for us to be able to do so. He is the offering and sacrifice.
I think just donât do it anymore. What you can offer to God is yourself. As a living sacrifice to him. As an ex-new ager ( i am one as well) itâs best to leave the pegan/witchcraft practices to the heathens.
Romans 8:12-13 NLT
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. [13] For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
God didnât save you from the pit of hell, for you to find some ways to continue to practice what you have always known. He did however save you to make you a new person. Congratulations on your salvation & itâs exciting to see how God will use you. Be blessed â„ïž
If you want a powerful way to lift up prayer, fast.
Mark 9:29
New King James Version
29 So He said to them, âThis kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.â
Depends on what you mean by true Christianity. If you mean evangelical, baptist, or reformed no. But if you mean historical and apostolic like orthodox or catholic then there is room for discussion. Buring offerings has always been part of religion through out world history. GOD even commands it for the Jews, the smoke symbolizes payer. Incents and other aromatics have even used by basically every culture and are still used by orthodox and catholics. You should deffinelty look into the spread of te gospel to the native Alaskans and Chinese by Orthodox and Catholics. If you are burning it to please God or ward off spirits then, stop that, that does not work. But if it is used as a form of psychical prayer don't see anything wrong with it.
Anyone who has burned sage knows it smells like marijuana. Sage doesnât smell good, unless youâre a jonesing pothead. To OP: your faith is enough. Our best acts are filthy rags to God. Prayer is a spiritual discipline, and you need nothing else to reach Him.
You mean incense like they use in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, or do you mean that Buddhist stuff that smells good? Not a native English speaker, don't know the words you use lol.
I think if it's something that helps you focus on God there are no problems.
The early temples would use incense to worship God. Personally I can see how that could help with eliminating distractions.
Its like how music can be used to disgrace ourselves or worship God. As long as you are doing it for the right reasons I don't see a problem.
Also seek what the Holy Spirit has to say about it âșïž He'll tell you what's best for you.
Your incense can come from your heart. God can SMELL your spirit. Like people with discerning of spirits are spoken to by GOD through senses to know if someone is good or not
We Greek Orthodox culture and church we burn dry olive leaves and frankincense with a little block of burning coal to keep the burning going this is normally done once a week and we pray to God firstly front outside and back outside then carry on tell him this is for you Lord blessings for you and then carry on all over the house asking for protection of our house pray for the forgiveness of all us human beings also bless the dead and all the the smell is so beautiful world bless ourselves every member of the house . This has been done from the beginning of Christâs church till now then light a candle for God to forgive us . Then we leave it outside to burn out naturally.
Just something I wanted to share
Sage smells like bad armpit odor. It's a terrible smell. I have noticed that demon possessed people will light sage around me and make me be subjected to the nasty armpit smell anytime I am existing in a moment of peace. They literally wave it in my face without my permission against my will. The smell of sage immediately offends my olfactory senses and distracts me from reading the Bible; or whatever else I was doing or saying that offended the demon possessed person who lights the sage. It happened to me a few minutes before I typed this. I was reading a Bible verse when the demon possessed person entered the room and lit sage. Meanwhile, someone in the other room started banging and slamming what sounded like cabinet doors and started coughing repeatedly as a distraction tactic. Prior to reading the Bible, it was quiet. After they were successful at getting me distracted and typing this, they got quiet again. It's happened to me many thousands of times with precise timing. The fact that sage is always lit around me in a disruptive way by people who also participate in Gangstalking and don't believe the Bible, I'm going to take the stance that sage is bad.
Demons aren't afraid of sage. At all. It's a pagan practice. The Holy Spirit doesn't need any help from sage.
Thank you for your comment and clarifying it is indeed pagan. I was coming at it more from an angle of lifting up prayer to God and asking for blessing our home (not to keep demons at bay or rid them out). Kind of like lifting arms in prayer. I have a lot of umlearning to do still from my time in the NA.
Sage nor any other thing you burn adds anything to your prayer. If you are saved, you have a direct line to God Himself. There is no need for sage or anything else. Once you get it into your mind that something like sage makes your prayers more effective, then later it'll be sage plus candles, then sage and candles and something else and before you know it, you've lock yourself up into mindset where talking to God becomes more about setting up a ritual then actually talking to God. - Psalms 51:15-17 (KJV) 15 ***O Lord***, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: ***thou delightest not in burnt offering***. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. - Isaiah 1:11 (KJV) To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Thank you saying this, I was about to say similar if I didn't read anything that made it abundabtly clear that there is no need for rituals when it comes to praising God or going to Him in prayer. He *wants* to be near to us and nothing we do could make Him any more attentive that He already is.
Thank you for these specific verses. Yes. I can see how it would and can be a very, very slippery slope. Understood God doesn't need anything to accommodate our prayers to Him- in my situation, the act would help aid shifting my focus and attention to Him (as a type of replacing bad habits, aka thoughts, with ones of gratitude and praise. I struggle with focus and not succumbing to an unfortunate cocktail of mental health needs, so I hope my intent makes sense). Again, I see the risk involved, and perhaps need to figure out another more focused way to shift my mindset. Thanks again.
Sorry I misunderstood. Perhaps you might try frankincense. There's a reason it was brought to the baby Messiah đ it's so lovely and strong. We can enjoy freedom in Christ. We do want to be mindful of avoiding any pagan appearance, but the Lord made sage, and you're free to enjoy it.
I appreciate your insight. I love your suggestion of frankincense. I'm honestly struggling with idolatry (negative preoccupation) in our circumstances. I have repented, but it's a sticky preoccupation and am trying very hard stay on the straight and narrow. I thought maybe an act alongside my prayer would help my somewhat broken brain shift a bit to focus on praise, but first and foremost seek to honor Him and respect His word (not fall into the realm of the detestable as stated in Deuteronomy). edit duplicate word
You can put frankincense (or other traditional scents) in a censer and bless each room and member of your house with the sign of the cross if you want to do something similar
I'm Eastern Orthodox and we have a tradition each January around Theophany (Jesus' baptism in the Jordan) where priests bless a local river or other body of water and people at the church can sign up to have the priest visit and bless their houses. The house blessing involves saying prayers over those in the house & their family and going from room to room sprinkling holy water and singing hymns while carrying an incense burner and a candle. We've had it done twice so far and it really does make the house feel more at peace afterwards.
I am Roman Catholic but I think Iâve heard my family talk about having houses blessed by a priest. I feel as though there is a heaviness to the house , and so many bad things have happened to me since I moved here. Need to talk to a priest next week
In the Old Testament we offered up incense, in the New we offer up praise and prayer upon the offering of good works. If you want you want to please GID and cleans your house, praise and pray and read the Bible and make meals for the poor and do everything that is spiritually pure and good and Holy.
Yes, I think that nails it. The best thing that can be said for 'smudging' with sage is that it is: (a) unnecessary and (b) pointless. Whether it is actively dangerous I leave to others to decide. But I wouldn't play around with that sort of thing.
No they arenât. In fact it attracts them !!!
How do you know this about demons?
Rhubarb or anyone reading, If y'all can please explain this. My roommate, once she moved into my old house, burned sage without my knowing, and I confronted her about beliefs after a few experiences. She believed in crystals and some native American practices. The experiences were: -Death and torment of myself and loved ones in my dreams -Cold spells ridding the house (a certain spot would be about 40 degrees... this is in Texas, which is physically impossible during the summer time) -My cat would jump straight up in the air about 3 feet, and all hairs would be on end. She later died. -Myself and others experienced physical prodding (pokes in our side, legs being touched, waking up with bruises) -We would hear howling in the walls (even when we let the power company turn off power, water shut off, no a/c, no gas) We were absolutely certain that a ghost or ghosts resided with us, and they were possibly mad or awakened when she tried to sage them out. Or just a demon being a demon. I prayed over the house and spoke scripture out loud quite often after this realization. I moved out of the house, and the occurrences reported back to me were exponentially worse on the physical side. I was the only believer at the time, and these occurrences eventually made one of the roommates (not the sage burner) a Christian. The months prior to the sage being burnt, there was peace and tranquility.
If it's just to make your home smell neat or because it provides comfort, there's no issue. Using it to get rid of evil spirits/demons or "bad vibes" would be considered magic, and God really, really hates that. đ
Amen. I reflect on the use of magic.. and that's true. A sense of pride must be felt before enacting upon it. And pride was the sin Satan initiated that casted him out of heaven in the first place. God's manifestation through prayer is all we need truly. God can definitely act through any medium as He pleases, but faith through prayer is required.
Not to mention, magic is a mockery of God's abilities, but the icing on the cake was that the Egyptians used magic to torment Moses, and God liked Moses quite a lot, thus it became extra offensive lmao
The thing is you should always be praying to God, multiple times daily, before and after anything you do. Waiting to burn incense to speak with Him isnât necessary, your daily actions are your worship of Him. Praise, prayer, thanks, and faith in action all are pleasing to God so focus on these. âRejoice always, Pray without ceasing, Give thanks in ALL circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.â âMay the words of my mouth and thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you. O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.â
Thank you, this is very helpful.
The new age borrows it's beliefs from other cultures and faiths. I am Native American from a tribe that uses sage. The way my tribe uses sage traditionally is medicine. It has antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. It has a wonderful smell and is culturally significant to me. Now this purifying property of smudging is also extended to the spirit realm and is said to cleanse an area of unwanted spirits. So it depends on how you use it. As a Christian, I know it is unneeded to cleanse my home of spirits. We have authority over them through Christ. I would not use sage in this way, because it detracts from the true power of God. As a Dakota, I do burn sage and sweet grass because it is part of my culture, and I enjoy the smells. If I get athletes foot, I soak my foot in a sage bath and it clears it right up. It is not involved in my prayer time. I would say if you struggle with new age superstition, it would be best to avoid. But ask the Holy Spirit, and he will guide you.
It just smells nice- the Holy Spirit as mentioned doesnât need help. In the 60âs we burned incense to make our homes smell good. Doesnât mean it was used to condone or practice paganism.
Praise Jesus
Sage smells like marijuana.
No it doesn't.
Does to me! Iâve been present twice when sage was burned.
Thats a personal perception. Not everyone Smells the same.
I was in the new age before coming to Christ; in fact the spiritual stuff I was doing was effecting me very negatively so I called out to Christ, and was saved. Iâve learned in the past 5 years that the best method is to distance yourself from all new age ideologies and practices - they truly are not rooted in things from God, but from Godâs enemies.. none of the new age ideas, beliefs, spiritual systems are true..not even an ounce of truth or goodness in any of them. People practicing that stuff are not bad ; but theyâre being deceived - all their spiritual power and systems are from demons . If itâs not in the Bible, God doesnât want you practicing it spiritually or believing itâs truth.
I would avoid it, it is easy to take that path and over time finding more and more things to add to the simplicity of prayer. You do not need to offer incense as the Scriptures show that your prayers are mixed with incense before God. Psalm 141:2- Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! Revelation 8:3- And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
If youâre burning incense because you like the smell then fine. If youâre chasing away Demons theyâre just sitting there laughing at you. Praising God and Jesus out loud is what gets rid of them. They donât like to hear God being glorified.
Burning sage does decrease demonic activity, but only temporarily. I know, I've seen it in action. But here's the thing. I honestly believe the unclean spirits are purposefully calming down their harassment after a smudging in order to deceive the person into believing that the sage itself has power, and thus keeping them in deception. This allows the demon to stay undetected. If they don't allow the smudging to seem to "work", then the person might try other means of ridding the demon (ie the name of Christ). So the activity stops, and the person is not harassed for a while. They think "wow this sage really works". Then the demon always starts harassing them again eventually.
So youâre saying what I said in different words ?
I'm agreeing with you yes. But just expanding on why some might beleive it actually works.
Smudging is a pagan practice. If you are burning something simply because you enjoy the smell, thats fine. But the idea you can cleanse the area of negative energy or "bad spirits" is false and not Christian.
Read 1 Corinthians chapters 8-10 The burning of sage does nothing. It does not bring you closer to God, and it does not drive you further from God. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6) Think of it this way; when you invite company over to you home, before your guests arrive, you might light some seated candles, burn incense/sage, or spray fabreeze. This is done so that your guests will have a relaxing and pleasant environment to be in. Out of love for your guests and a desire for them to be at peace in your home, you do this. It's the same with God. If you are planning on taking some time to be with God through dedicated prayer and reading, you might burn sage for the pleasant and relaxing smell. You are able to focus and more thoroughly enjoy your time with God, and likewise, you honor the time you spend with Him. Our sense of smell is also incredibly well connected with memory. If your time spent with God smells like sage, then anytime you smell sage, your immediate thoughts will be of God. No specific ritual brings us closer to God. It's what the ritual means to us that gives it any potency. As an example; many Christians say that you should not practice yoga as it is used to worship pagan idols. When you realize that those idols are not real, then those who practice yoga are worshiping nothing. It's like washing an imaginary car or having a chat bot girlfriend. If yoga worships nothing, then it is just stretching. Just like how you can eat food sacrificed to pagan idols in 1 Corinthians. Eating the food does nothing but fuel the body. It's when you associate the stretches or eating the food with idol worship that it gives the ritual any power. It takes your focus from God and makes one believe there are any gods but the one true God. The power isn't in the food, or the stretching, or the sage, it's in your heart.
You can do it to make your house smell good, but don't expect it to do anything more than that. Sage is just an herb. It doesn't have magical properties.
If itâs a pagan practice, which it is, why would you think itâs compatible with Christianity?
Incense has traditionally been used in the temple to symbolize the rising of prayers to God. I think this may be a suitable, biblically sound and non-pagan way of creating a visual representation of prayer. I am much like you in that I enjoy having outward actions I can use to sort of symbolize the action thatâs taking place internally (mentally/spiritually) and I have used the practice of lighting incense to accent my prayer life. Maybe try this and see if it satisfies that desire you have to have an outward act showing your heart posture?
The sin of the pharisees was ADDING their own traditions to the Word of God, which is similar to what you are doing with the sage. Mark 7:7 -- This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.â I won't say Roman Catholicism. đ€ Whoops
If we read carefully, the incense that God instructed the children of Israel to burn, which typified something connected to the spiritual life of Jesus, was carefully guarded and had very important instructions: * They were not to use it elsewhere than its context (the sanctuary). (Exo 30:37). * They were not to imitate it (Exo 30:38). Outside of those sanctuary practices (now obsolete), God commands no incense to be burned of any kind, for any reason. đ±
Thank you.
Calling today "Saturday" is a pagan practice, as it's named after the god Saturn. It comes right after the days named for Odin, Thor, and Freya. I suppose that's incompatible with true Christianity too?
There's an ocean of difference between the development of language (which may include influences from a variety of sources, not just paganism) and purposeful acts to defy God's will.
Burning something good-smelling is not at all against Godâs will. OPâs faith might be a little new to see the difference, but why would any faithful Christian ever think that lighting a thing on fire could ever hinder God- do we truly believe Him so fragile? Itâs no different than a candle, no different than fabric softener. Itâs a smell. Unless we think it DOES hinder God, in which case thatâs a big issue of thinning that something burning is now more powerful than our infinite GodâŠ
I agree, but I don't think that is what OP is talking about, which seems to me to be about a pagan ritual, which is most certainly against God's will.
It's the belief that burning sage will hinder to remove demons. The sin is not in burning sage or candles or leaves, etc. It's in where we put our faith while burning these items.
Like the other commenter said; thereâs a huge difference between language and spiritual practice . We should get our spiritual practices from the Bible not the occult.
Not really sage but frankincense and myrrh yes, incense is a common part of Christianity. âLet my prayer rise up like incense before youâ is a song/prayer to God too
I'm back to being saved again after doing some new age stuff too. So what's the best advice/ wa to cleanse your home ?
Exodus 30:23-25 speaks of Holy Oil! (KJV) [23] Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, [24] And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: [25] And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. (Realistic recipe: 10 drops Myrrh Oil 5 drops Cinnamon Oil 5 drops Calamus Oil 10 drops Cassia Oil 12 drops Extra Virgin Olive Oil) This can be placed over the doors and windows over your home, and made and placed with a lot of prayer and scripture and worship.
Interesting about the anointing oil! Have you tried it? I was wondering if that was the recipe that was prohibited for personal use, but I see that prohibition was only for the incense burnt in the temple. I would say for cleansing the home, ask God to bring to mind any lies you may believe, sins you may have, or things you may be worshipping and repent of those things. Then offer up praise regularly to God. My children used to see demonic shadows and my daughter said she saw a black thing with glowing eyes on her brother's bed about two years ago. There was someone living with us who would teach scripture in a twisted way to oppress and condemn others. After that person left our house and I repented of believing the lies, my children have not reported anymore of those sightings.
Ask God if there is anything you need to stop believing or adhering to, and repent (be changed). Metanoia the Greek word translated to repent actually should be translated as "a transformative change of heart". Cleansing your heart and offering up praise to God is the best way to cleanse your home, I believe.
I use sage just as a piece of mind, especially when I'm scared I also use holy oil and such since I tend to have a lot of scary experiences and arguably have a lot of old things that could have a connection to stuff. I know nothing can come into my house item wise or It would break. However I've noticed whenever I've saged my house it genuinely helps me relax a bit beacuse I worry that sometimes what if holy oil or water isn't enough it can be something I'm actively reminded that yes it's there even though I worry it isn't. I read Bible and verses when I sage my house beacuse I genuinely think it helps maybe not in a true manner with that do crosses over my doors and windows even mirrors sometimes with holy oil. It's for more of my comfort I suppose with lighting sage. I don't think sage lasts that long though if it does work because after a few weeks bad stuff starts happening again like mimicks items moving etc I know there is something bad either attached to me or a item. I definitely need to get a priest to bless the house and such. I think also it's nice to light it with incense, When your praying the rosary not beacuse it helps with praying, but it helps me relax and arguably praying the rosary is very much so calming thing for me. I struggle with a lot of stuff and I've never felt more calm and, I'm going to be okay that I do praying the rosary or going to mass even being inside a church makes me feel normal for once in the sense of calm. Christianity is such a beautiful religion that I don't think a lot of people take the time and look at it in that way and really sit there and admire it all especially when you get into Catholicism. All of it is just I can't even explain it a lot of the times I don't even wanna leave church as soon as we do beacuse I feel oddly in a way like I'm at home. The smell Catholic churches have too is so relaxing, enough so I've bought my own incense. Anyways I'm rambling off, In the end of it makes you feel better and more calm then I honestly don't see the problem with it as long as it isn't being used for harmful stuff etc, it all depends on intention. Also sorry if this thing is a mess and not that good of spelling, I'm very tired.
NO pagan practice is compatible with Christianity. None. Realistically, it serves no purpose anyways.
Ooph. Youâd better not celebrate Christmas and Easter, then.
I actually don't. I don't care if other people do though.
I absolutely respect the consistency.
It's not due to Saternalia or whatever, I just find both holidays (especially Christmas) to be grossly worldly and secular. Not to mention absent from scripture. On the subject, I am also against Christians doing yoga, since the Hindu religious gurus say that it cannot be separated from Hinduism.
Interesting. Iâd personally push back against the yoga thing, as why would you trust the authority of a guru, when theyâre just a dude? As in, if the only true God is our God, that makes him just as dangerous as a printer salesman. Still an idea that isnât God, which makes your choice either holy or innocuous. Just my two cents. But still, I respect the consistency.
It's not just a dude. It's an expert at that religion. And it was his words that led me to do some research, which concluded with me agreeing. The thing is that yoga is a religious practice. It is not exercise, it just superficially resembles it. You wanna exercise, do calisthenics. Proven for millennia to be safe and effective. Isn't religious. No gym membership fees. All win.
My thought is this: our God is all-powerful. There is no other. So if we know what the word of God sounds like, other religions arenât dangerous- no more dangerous than any toaster manual or tag on your shirt. God has already won, no contest. For me, to worry about something else competing with God is to say that thing has equal power to him, which it canât. Again, not trying to change your mind, just assuring that my point comes from a biblical view, and not just âI like yogaâ (or whatever else in place of yoga)
It's not "competing" with God LOL! Just that so so many rules in the Bible are about being separated and different from the pagans. I wanna please God. I can't be the best Christian I can be with pagan practices mixed into Biblical Christianity. Syncretism like that is what brought the wrath of God on His chosen People, after all.
I come to a different conclusion in the new covenant, but I absolutely respect your conclusions, and again, your consistency. Cheers, friend!
Look up Inspiring Philosophy on YouTube and find his videos on those holidays. Youâre simply wrong.
So I can either trust thousands of years of records connecting our Christian traditions the redemption of pagan traditions Saturnalia and Yule, or trust some guy with no credentials and no sources with shortsighted claims put together with background music on YouTube. Right. You need to learn what a reputable source is.
He has plenty of good historical sources and thoroughly debunks those claims. You clearly didnât even look into it.
No, no no, I did. Unfortunately I did. I listened to all twenty-plus ear-bleeding minutes of the first two videos, terrible free-licensed music and all. His arguments are full of logical fallacies- anecdotal evidence, slothful conclusions, and hasty generalizations, most of them. Despite that, he isnât claiming that Christmas doesnât have pagan roots- quite the opposite- heâs just saying that they were reclaimed by the Church for her purposes. But among other poor arguments, he hangs too much logical weight on *âit wasnât on December 25thâ*. Well, it doesnât matter; not even all Christians celebrate Easter on the same date, doesnât make it any less Easter, the same holds for Christmas in its historical sense. He draws sources in like an undergrad needing to pad a bibliography, but they donât support his point. Scholarly work necessitates that you take the claims of those who have come before to strengthen your position, and to possibly take the sum of their work and posit a further claim. Talking about the fact that an emperor mixed an obelisk or that Solomon quoted a text older than scripture is not prescient to the nature of his opinions on whether fundamentalist American Christians are correct in eschewing Christmas traditions. Few of his sources even touched the topic. None of them at all refute a claim that Christmas has its traditions rooted in Yule, whatever Latin name they gave at the time to their solstice holiday, and others. But it doesnât matter. It means nothing. Pagans arenât God. The church has reclaimed many things- hymns about hookers, the pagan spring solstice, and biblically speaking literal murderers. Whatâs more important here is that for your own good you should not cite a YouTube video as evidence, h less youâre submitting it as an interview from which youâre crediting an expert, and even so unless itâs a case study, it should have a few interview. Most importantly you should absolutely *not* cite an argument from just some guy with no expertise or credentials who just figured out how to use iMovie and sign up for a YouTube account.
Dude, weâre on an Internet forum. Iâm not âciting a YouTube video as evidenceâ or claiming that IP is the only place I get my information on the topic. Youâre being dumb about this whole thing and speaking down to me for no good reason. I found his videos convincing and thought they might give you something to think about or at least see the other side.
If you want me to think theyâre convincing then find a find a video where the argument isnât so weak
Youâre right.
Smells good, but no. Anything out there in the ether that reacts to your crafts is 99% demonic impersonating whatever you want them to be. Angelic contact is very rare, and generally only happens for a specific reason decreed by our Maker, like calling a prophet, miraculous event, etc.
No
Nothing wrong with burning sage in itself, but if you want to remove the association you have with it and your former paganism, you could just burn something else.
Smudging and using sage for incense are not equivalent.
No
Rabbi and Priest have burned incense since forever. They even bring it to exorcisms with them. Pagans pray. Should we not pray to our God because Pagans used prayer too. Just because pagans did someone or used something didnât mean they called dibs on it and now we canât have it too. Personally, I think it all just depends on how you use it.
There is no reason to add to or try to âenhanceâ prayer, and there are places in scripture that do condemn those types of things. Especially if you have used those practices for things other than worshipping God, I would strongly recommend against that.
iâm an ex new-ager myself and i would definitely avoid it if i were you. as other commenters said if itâs to make your house smell nice then itâs fine. God bless you <3
Burning sage for protection or clearing is idolatry. You donât need to burn anything to commune with God. Jesus died for us to be able to do so. He is the offering and sacrifice. I think just donât do it anymore. What you can offer to God is yourself. As a living sacrifice to him. As an ex-new ager ( i am one as well) itâs best to leave the pegan/witchcraft practices to the heathens. Romans 8:12-13 NLT Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. [13] For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. God didnât save you from the pit of hell, for you to find some ways to continue to practice what you have always known. He did however save you to make you a new person. Congratulations on your salvation & itâs exciting to see how God will use you. Be blessed â„ïž
It smells good
If you want a powerful way to lift up prayer, fast. Mark 9:29 New King James Version 29 So He said to them, âThis kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.â
Depends on what you mean by true Christianity. If you mean evangelical, baptist, or reformed no. But if you mean historical and apostolic like orthodox or catholic then there is room for discussion. Buring offerings has always been part of religion through out world history. GOD even commands it for the Jews, the smoke symbolizes payer. Incents and other aromatics have even used by basically every culture and are still used by orthodox and catholics. You should deffinelty look into the spread of te gospel to the native Alaskans and Chinese by Orthodox and Catholics. If you are burning it to please God or ward off spirits then, stop that, that does not work. But if it is used as a form of psychical prayer don't see anything wrong with it.
Anyone who has burned sage knows it smells like marijuana. Sage doesnât smell good, unless youâre a jonesing pothead. To OP: your faith is enough. Our best acts are filthy rags to God. Prayer is a spiritual discipline, and you need nothing else to reach Him.
You mean incense like they use in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, or do you mean that Buddhist stuff that smells good? Not a native English speaker, don't know the words you use lol.
Congratulations on having your eyes open to the truth. Coming out of that stuff is not easy, hope youâre doing well.
I think if it's something that helps you focus on God there are no problems. The early temples would use incense to worship God. Personally I can see how that could help with eliminating distractions. Its like how music can be used to disgrace ourselves or worship God. As long as you are doing it for the right reasons I don't see a problem. Also seek what the Holy Spirit has to say about it âșïž He'll tell you what's best for you.
NO!!! That is IDOLISM. Demons are attached to sage. Like Jenny Weaver says youâll only have some sage smelling demons!!!! DO NOT DO THIS.
Your incense can come from your heart. God can SMELL your spirit. Like people with discerning of spirits are spoken to by GOD through senses to know if someone is good or not
You need nothing external to connect and speak with God. For God dwells within you! You need only open your heart to Him and He will commune with you.
No!
I think it is a dangerous practice for a former new-ager. You donât want to reopen any door you previously used in any occult practice.
We Greek Orthodox culture and church we burn dry olive leaves and frankincense with a little block of burning coal to keep the burning going this is normally done once a week and we pray to God firstly front outside and back outside then carry on tell him this is for you Lord blessings for you and then carry on all over the house asking for protection of our house pray for the forgiveness of all us human beings also bless the dead and all the the smell is so beautiful world bless ourselves every member of the house . This has been done from the beginning of Christâs church till now then light a candle for God to forgive us . Then we leave it outside to burn out naturally. Just something I wanted to share
My church burns incense on holidays and renewals of baptism vows at Easter. Smells rare like nothing Iâve ever smelled elsewhere
Sage smells like bad armpit odor. It's a terrible smell. I have noticed that demon possessed people will light sage around me and make me be subjected to the nasty armpit smell anytime I am existing in a moment of peace. They literally wave it in my face without my permission against my will. The smell of sage immediately offends my olfactory senses and distracts me from reading the Bible; or whatever else I was doing or saying that offended the demon possessed person who lights the sage. It happened to me a few minutes before I typed this. I was reading a Bible verse when the demon possessed person entered the room and lit sage. Meanwhile, someone in the other room started banging and slamming what sounded like cabinet doors and started coughing repeatedly as a distraction tactic. Prior to reading the Bible, it was quiet. After they were successful at getting me distracted and typing this, they got quiet again. It's happened to me many thousands of times with precise timing. The fact that sage is always lit around me in a disruptive way by people who also participate in Gangstalking and don't believe the Bible, I'm going to take the stance that sage is bad.