SWEETGRASS

Hierochloe odorata

Sweetgrass, known as Wiingaashk in the Potowatami and Ojibwe languages, is the sweetly scented hair of Mother Earth. According to the legend, Sweetgrass was the first gift Skywoman brought to the growing earth, and is the representative symbol of our careful tending to her. We braid her sweetgrass hair, and we harvest her sweetgrass patches to encourage more healthy vigorous growth. To learn more, read and cherish this book Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, or get your library card and listen to the audiobook read by the author herself. You will adore her!

My Sweetgrass came to me as a gift from sister Jess at Sweetgrass Knoll, and I have propagated and planted patches and patches of her since then, gifting to others and harvesting the long fragrant leaves. Sweetgrass is rich in coumarin, a naturally occurring anticoagulant with a vanilla-like scent that has numerous pharmacological properties, among them combating oxidative stress, repelling insects, and aiding in wound healing and treatment of lymphedema. 

Like Palo Santo, Sweetgrass is sometimes burned as a cleansing smudge, and so my hydrosol offers a fantastic, smoke-free smudging option.