HOP across to Oprah Magazine and there you will be given several reasons why burning sage has beneficial effects.

One is that ‘smudging’, as it’s called, reduces airborne bacteria. ‘Research has shown that burning herbs or medicinal smoke can purify the air and eliminate up to 94 percent of harmful bacteria for up to 24 hours.’

What’s more “smudging has a connection to mindfulness,” says Shahinaz Soliman, MD, a family physician who specialises in combining traditional medicine with holistic practices. “Because of the ritualistic nature of burning sage, it helps people to achieve a sense of calm and clear-headedness as would meditation.”

Woo-leaning articles such as these, suggests “Dr” Jamal Bryant, above, pastor at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, have greatly boosted the sales of sage in recent years – and that, he railed, is a VERY BAD THING!

Calling sage burning “witchcraft” and “satanic aromatherapy”, he warned his followers last Monday to stay away from the practice.

In a teaching session with the women of his church streamed on YouTube, Bryant explained that he had to dive into some research on the practice after two members of his church gifted him sage for his new home in Atlanta.

I was amazed because two saints gave me sage for my new house. I didn’t know what to do with it. I was unsure of it. And all the more, why they’d feel comfortable giving it to a pastor. Then I began to research and study it and found out that the sales of it have gone up by over 200% in the last four years and have to be constantly placed on restock in natural health stores.

Bryant’s research led him to conclude that “smudging” is a demonic New Age practice that Christians shouldn’t be involved with.

The New Age movement, which currently attracts the “largest amount of African Americans in our history,” Bryant argued, does not bring glory to the God of the Bible but seeks to make humans like gods.

They are spiritual. They just do not believe or submit to authority … They believe through the doctrine of New Age faith or New Age theology, that mortals or humanity through the right wave of devotion and meditation can ascend themselves to become a deity. So they become their own gods.

He went on to assert that “demonic possession” can be reflected in a number of ways, including when someone cannot apologise or is unwilling to submit to the leadership and order of their church.

Christians who depend on burning sage to complement their faith, he argued, are devaluing the power of Christ’s anointing in their life.

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Writing for MadameNoire, Veronica Well said that Bryant’s was talking bollocks – and then added some of her own.

We live in a physical world. God created it and fullness of it. And He did so knowing that His people would need to use His creations to sustain and heal themselves. And sometimes that healing means fighting against the spirits that mean us harm. Whether Bryant wants to use sage in his healing practices are entirely up to him. But to accuse those who do of practicing satanic intercession is ignorant and untrue.

As an aside, when handsome Bryant posted the carefully-posed picture of himself on Facebook, someone called Masi Matte Black asked: