*Some important things to note before working with incense:
1. Always try to get them from someone who sources them responsibly and sustainably, or even better....grow them yourself.
2. Herbs/ plants are living creatures with spirits all their own. Always honor that when you are working with them.
What is incense?
Incense is derived from the Latin word meaning “to burn”. Burning resins, herbs, wood & plants is a part of our ancestry. By burning the Plant, the energy & essence of the Plant is activated and Its magic can come forth into this realm…into this space and share Its’ gifts. Protection, cleansing, manifestation (and so much more) can be activated in the space of your choosing just by burning incense.
How? Wherever the scent and smoke spreads is touched by the energy of that plant.
This is no small thing!
Benefits of working with incense
When I think about incense, I immediately see smoke curling upward and outward, spreading the scent in magical spirolic ways. It immediately calms my mind and nervous system. There is a reason it’s been used in temples (and other places of worship) for as far back as we can trace human history. I think there is something in us that remembers these times…and deeply longs for them. This is how we can connect to that feeling…to the essence of those times and what was experienced and created there. And so it is one of my favorite tools (a necessity really) to time travel, to cross realms…and to carry what exists in other dimensions into this one. In short – spell work! Ritual! Ceremony!
MAGIC!
How do you use incense?
For me, incense has become a necessity for pretty much all rituals, spells and ceremonies I perform. It clears, cleanses and then sets the stage for whatever rite might be performed. It invokes Spirits to help with the ceremony. It connects me to the energies of old and helps me to drop in and root down so that I am fully present in my magic…embodying the Witch.
In addition to using it to set the stage for rituals/ceremonies, I like to use it to cleanse my home and altar.
It is also often used as an offering for a Spirit I may be working with. They love certain plants and smells. For example, Apollo likes Bay Laurel. Hecate loves Dragons Blood (and so on and so forth)
I will also burn it regularly on the back/front porch for protection (and also as an offering for the Spirits of the land)
How to burn incense
My favorite way to burn incense is to use resins/plants on a charcoal briquette.
Place the charcoal briquette in your caldron (or a burning safe dish)
Hold a match or lighter to it for 30-45 seconds...touching the disk directly. You’ll see sparks start to move through the briquette.
Now it is ready for my incense blend! My blends burn easily on briquettes lit like this because I have ground them down into a powder form. Pour a little of the incense powder on the charcoal disk and watch the smoke spiral… and breath in the scent.
Burning incense this way requires a certain amount of presence (this is intentional). You get to “tend to it”. This is like the magic of “tending to a fire” but you can do it indoors with your incense. How convenient! The charcoal disk will last for 45-60 minutes. You’ll need to add incense to it every 5-7 minutes.
Take your caldron around your home. Let the smoke spiral through the space (especially the corners…. Energy likes to get stuck in corners), hold it over your altar and let that space be cleansed by the smoke. Simply use this wherever you want a space to be cleansed and/or prepared. Don’t forget the most important part…let the smoke spiral and curl around & over you. It is there to bless you.
Note: If you don’t want to continuously add more incense, it’s fine. Just add at the beginning and sit with the scent and smoke for about 5-8 minutes. Then let the charcoal (without incense) continue to burn. Charcoal on its own is also very good for cleansing. But, like I said…I like to “tend the flame” as a meditative practice.
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