Rosemary Cleansing Bundle.

Even unlit, this bundle reaches across a room: sharp and resinous, a little like pine crossed with something more savory. Light it, and the scent grows more concentrated as the smoke curls toward the door.

Silvery-green sprigs of dried rosemary, needle-thin and still faintly resinous, are gathered into a fist-sized bundle and wrapped tight in unbleached cotton twine. The rosemary is field-grown in the Mediterranean basin and cut in early summer, when the oil in the needles peaks. Small batches are bundled by hand while the stems are pliable, then dried slowly in open air over several weeks, which keeps the color from fading to gray.

Long before it settled into the spice rack, rosemary carried heavier duties in Mediterranean and northern European folk custom: burned at sickbeds and doorways, tucked under pillows against bad dreams, carried to weddings and funerals as the herb of remembrance.

How to use

Light the tip until it catches, blow out any flame, and let the bundle smolder. Trace the smoke through doorways and corners, the way sage is more famously used; rosemary is the gentler, everyday choice, a bundle to reach for weekly. Rest it in a heatproof dish and never leave it smoldering unattended.

Keep one by the door, for the old custom and the clean, green smoke.