Palo Santo vs Sage

Both Palo Santo and Sage are known for their abilities to cleanse and remove negative energies. However, they are also different in many important ways that make them more or less useful in certain situations! 

Let’s go over some key differences below:

Portability

Sage bundles are great for household use. However, especially after fully drying out, they don’t necessarily travel well. I don't know about you, but my bag is a mess, and would destroy a sage bundle if I tried taking it with me out of the house. While you could keep it in a jar if you really need to, I would definitely suggest Palo Santo sticks for any on-the-go cleansing/grounding you may need! They are made of wood, so they can stand up to much more rough handling than sage bundles if needed.

Space

While both Palo Santo and sage are great for a smoke cleansing, they burn differently—making each one better suited to different sized areas. Sage burns a lot, and will usually billow up a lot of smoke you can use for an entire house. On the other hand, Palo Santo burns out quickly and doesn’t produce lots of smoke at once. You have to keep relighting it to get it to work through a large space. I like to use Palo Santo in more confined areas, and sage for bigger ones. It’s just easier to use what suits the space, rather than trying to relight over and over if it’s not needed with some sage on hand.

Smell

Palo Santo and sage both have very different scent profiles, so it can really come down to that preference when you’re deciding what to use. Sage has a large spectrum of deep, earthy, green type of smells that are very calming. The variety and age of it also plays a part in how it smells when burned. Palo Santo has a much lighter profile that can fall anywhere between citrus and even cinnamon. This makes it not only relaxing, but also invigorating to breathe in!

Customization

Bundles of sage can have different plants and flowers rolled into them for different benefits and scents! This makes sage easy to customize for your own preferences. Meanwhile, Palo Santo is simply one piece that gets burned alone. You could burn other things at the same time; but it just doesn’t have the same ease of use as burning several things in a single bundle. Having more than one separate thing burning at once can also become a risky fire hazard!

I hope these differences between Palo Santo and sage help you choose the best ways for you to use each one for your specific needs! Please feel free to reach out with any questions you have about these awesome, cleansing plants. I would absolutely love to chat with you! 

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