Well, my main point with those scriptures, besides God condemning those peoples and practices, is that the activities we are talking about are used by them. I'm not saying incense can't be a spiritually pure thing... just that it's not needed. I'm not saying that Holy Water isn't a good thing... just that it's not needed. I agree with you that these things can irritate the demons... my only concern is that people all too easily begin to rely upon the rites and the rituals rather than the power of God. Remember, our authority is ONLY through Christ Jesus, and His name should be all we need. When something, such as sage, is so frequently used by the wrong type of spiritual people, I as a Christian, want to stay as far from that as I can. That is my concern.
