In Hellenismos, incense (Latin: incendere, to burn or kindle; Greek: thumiama , θυμίαμα) is used purely as an offering to the Gods. [1] It is not proper to think of it as a means to create a mood or a tool to conjure some kind of magic. The correct attitude is one of generosity, gratitude, worship, and exchange. You are giving a gift of something fine and precious to the blessed Olympian Gods and the extended pantheon of deities.
The use of incense as an offering to the Gods is traditional. It can be found throughout ancient literature. Of particular note are the Orphic Hymns which suggest a type of incense for almost every deity. You will find here frankincense, myrrh, storax, and others.
The two most common substances in the Western world which are used for incense are frankincense and myrrh. Most people associate these two with the Christian holy day of Christmas. In reality, frankincense, myrrh, storax, and many other plant resins have been used since antiquity by all religions.
Historically in the West, incense is a mark of polytheistic religion, "pagan" religion. After the Roman Empire espoused Christianity, the use of incense was suppressed by law during the ensuing persecutions. In time, after the church felt confident that the ancient religion had been thoroughly crippled, the practice of burning incense re-emerged and entered into Christian tradition. Nonetheless, the idea that incense is somehow connected with pre-Christian religion persists to this day and there is good reason for it. Every time we offer a pinch of incense, we prove by our action that our convictions persevere and remain relevant.
This page is dedicated to natural incense materials, particularly resins and gums, which is not to say that other forms of incense are in some way unsuitable as an offering. (Some forms of cone incense incorporate dung, an unacceptable offering to the Gods) No, it is only that the author of this article particularly appreciates the purity and loveliness of these naturally occurring substances.
In our contemporary world of artificiality, a world where the ingredients of most perfumes are concocted in the laboratory, resins are an expression of the primal beauty of the earth. Indeed, they evoke thoughts of exotic places and fascinating stories. To give but one example, the labdanum resin is collected from the rock-rose bush by shepherds who drive their goats into the cistus thickets. The amazingly fragrant resin exudes from hairs on the leaves and young stems of the rock-rose. The animals love to graze on these plants. When they have had their fill, their owners comb out the resin which has stuck to their beards and coats. [2] Such substances as this bring us into contact with natural found beauty of often stunning sensuality.
What are resins and gums? They are secretions of plants, generally encouraged by bruising them in some way. The two words, resin and gum, are often used as synonyms of one another, a manner of speaking we will adopt in this very article, but it is not really correct. Resins are not soluble in water, where gums are. Many natural incense materials have qualities of both, so they may be called gum resins. Another term that you will find is oleo, which means oily or fatty. So we have oleo-resins or oleo-gum-resins.
Sometimes other parts of plants are used as incense, such as the bark, the wood, the flowers, or the leaves. It is said that in Hellas, before approximately 900 BC, the use of gums and resins was unknown or rare, but fragrant woods and plant materials were used as incense. Therefore, such substances are 100% traditional. Even today in Greece in the Orphic community, native plant materials seem to be preferred. For Hellas they are more ancient. An example of bark used for incense would be storax bark (not to be confused with ancient storax). An example of wood used as incense is sandalwood. Rose, lavender, chamomile, chrysanthemum, and jasmine flowers are used as incense. Laurel, oak, myrtle and sage are examples of leaves that can be used, as well as various needles of conifers such as pine and spruce. Many of these plants have associations with a particular God. For instance, laurel is very much associated with Apollon, the oak and the olive are associated with Zeus, myrtle with Aphrodite and Apollon, ivy with Dionysos.
Using natural materials for incense
Many people are reluctant to use these virgin substances. Perhaps you have had difficulty using them previously or maybe you find using stick incense or cones more predictable or familiar. In truth, it is very easy to offer natural incense.
You will need the following items: incense, charcoal, flame, and an incense burner. You will find sources for these items further down this page.
The greatest difficulty that you will encounter is 2-fold: fully lighting the charcoal and keeping it lit. Most of the available briquettes are impregnated with salt-peter to make them self-igniting (with the help of a flame). This is modestly effective and relatively time-consuming. Nonetheless, once the salt-peter is exhausted, the charcoal will often die out. Therefore, the first obstacle to conquer is to fully light the charcoal. Even after charcoal has been thoroughly lit, sometimes it will still die out before burning all the way through. This is primarily due to inadequate air-flow. The solution is to bring in air below the charcoal.
So, the first step is to acquire an incense burner. Before you do anything, simply try it out and see if you the charcoal stays lit. If you use it successfully several times without difficulty, you have purchased an incense burner that is fine "as is." But if the briquette dies out and there is a considerable amount of unburned charcoal, consider my suggestion. I suggest stone aroma lamps like this one or similar:
http://www.somaluna.com/prod/triangular_soapstone_aroma_lamp.asp?m=87
We are not going to use this aroma lamp as they suggest, but instead we will burn charcoal in the cup, so make sure that the aroma lamp is made of a heat resistant material like soapstone. This same technique can be used with other styles of burners, as shown with the antique bronze incense burner in the picture. You will need to use your imagination. Drill many eighth-inch holes throughout the cup, the area where you will place the charcoal. You will be surprised at how easily you can drill through the stone. If you are using a metal burner, you can remove any burrs by twisting a larger bit along the edges of the holes.
I also suggest that you basically ignore the instructions that came with the charcoal you purchased. You will need a gas stove or a candle. Grasp the briquette with charcoal tongs or a pair of pliers and suspend it over the flame. (Better still, if possible, rest the charcoal on the stove-top burner-grate.) The salt-peter will sparkle and finally go out. Continue to hold it above the flame until the coal glows red, turning it over to fully kindle both sides of the briquette. Now position it in the cup of the incense burner. This whole process of lighting the charcoal takes no longer than a minute, maybe two, if using self-lighting charcoal, longer for pure charcoal briquettes. The holes that you have drilled in the cup below the charcoal will allow enough air to flow, such that the briquette should burn all the way through. If you are still having trouble, see if you can drill additional holes. Taking the time to drill these holes will save you much
aggravation in the future and you will be able to make your offerings
without being concerned about mundane practicalities.
As a precaution, place the incense burner with the lit charcoal on a fire-safe plate in the unlikely event that burning charcoal will fall through the holes.
When you are ready to make your offering, take a piece of resin about a quarter inch in diameter and place it on the coal. It is that simple. If you like, you can crush the resin in a mortar and pestle to powder or make smaller pieces, or even mix it with other types of incense. Most resins and gums will quickly ruin a blender or coffee grinder.
After your offering, when the ritual is complete, when the coals are burnt through and cold, what do you do with the remainder? Offerings to the Gods are sacred and what remains should be treated with great respect. There are two approaches to this. You can view the spent charcoal as part of the offering, or you can view it as merely the vehicle to deliver the offering (the smoke) to the God.
If you view the charcoal as part of the offering, I suggest placing the cold briquette on the ground at the same place that you make libations. If you make libate liquids such as wine or milk and honey, the ground must be turned periodically (about once weekly in the summer) so that air can enter the soil and prevent it from souring. The spent charcoal can also be dug into the libation soil and will have a good effect, reducing the souring of the earth. This is the preferred method by this author.
If you view the charcoal as not actually part of the offering, but merely a vehicle, you could wrap it nicely in a paper towel and respectfully dispose of it.
Miscellaneous help with incense
Powdering Resins
If the resin incense that you are using consists of very large tears, it may be necessary to break these tears into smaller chunks or even powder them. For most resins, it is a mistake to put them into a blender. The great majority of resins, frankincense, myrrh and benzoin included, are extremely sticky when broken up. For many of these, there is no elegant solution. The best method I have found is to use a mortar and pestle. Do not use a set made of wood, but use one made of stone, brass or glass.
Some
resins, crystalline, but still rather sticky, will powder in a mortar
and pestle, but then you may find that the powdered resin
semi-solidifies in a jar and is difficult to remove for use. One such
resin is Maydi frankincense. Maydi does not actually require powdering
to burn easily, but it is sticky enough to make it difficult to work
with. I crush it to a powder in the mortar and pestle and mix it with
powdered olibanum, which is rather dry. Using this same principle, you
can usually find a good solution to almost any resin.
After crushing resin, you will find that much of it is stuck to the tools. Most resins are not soluble in water or even alcohol. The best solution I have found, again, is to purchase a tin of acetone from the hardware store. Acetone will very easily remove any resin particles. It is an extremely useful cleaner to have in your home in any case. But keep in mind that acetone is highly flammable, so exercise caution.
Semi-soft resins and gums, such as elemi, galbanum, or labdanum, can be difficult to work with because they never fully harden, are tacky, and get stuck to your fingers.
One technique is to store them in foil or wax paper in the freezer. This will harden them making it easier to break off a piece.
Some of these semi-soft resins and gums combine well with other types of incense and you can take advantage of that. For instance, benzoin Sumatra (not Siam) tends to be quite dry and is easily powdered. You can roll a semi-soft resin in the benzoin powder to make little balls of incense for future use.
Another method: take a wooden toothpick and push it into labdanum or galbanum. Twist the toothpick around, almost as if you were gathering up spaghetti. When you have as much on the toothpick as you desire, start pulling it out while continuing to twist the toothpick. Now roll this in benzoin powder or similar. Rolling it in frankincense/olibanum powder works particularly well (available here: PennHerb, be sure you order "powdered"). Rolling labdanum in powdered rose petals or powdered sandalwood is a very lovely offering for female deities. Once you have coated the resin or gum with powdered incense, you can ease it off with another toothpick, or even cut off most of the toothpick if you like, what remains of the wood will burn away.
Clean-up: Resins and gums, in particular, tend to be very sticky. Their residue is not so easily removed. Acquire a tin of acetone to clean both the burner and also the mortar and pestle. You can obtain this at any hardware store. Acetone is extremely flammable, so exercise caution. Please take note that acetone melts most plastics.
You will also discover that in due time the smoke will leave a shiny, varnish-like coating on your walls, particularly close by your incense burner. This is an unavoidable inconvenience that you will need to endure if you desire to make fine incense offerings.
Using Incense in Ritual: The general suggestion is to be generous but not excessive. In Hellenic religion we honor all the Gods, in particular the Twelve Olympian Gods. If you use the Orphic Hymns, there is an incense that is recommended for each God. However, if you make an incense offering for each God, your entire home will be filled with smoke. Therefore, I suggest that you prepare a libation as a general offering for all the Gods and a separate incense offering for the particular deity, or pair of deities, that you wish to honor for the present ritual. These are suggestions and it should be remembered that in Hellenic religion we do not have a rule-book; you have tremendous freedom to use your own judgment.
You will find some suggestions on this page as to when during ritual you might make incense offerings: Religious Practice
Essays on various incense:
Benzoin - see Storax
The following types of incense are requested in the The Hymns of Orpheus:
Frankincense (32 times)
Aromatic Herbs (23 times)
Storax (13 times)
Myrrh (5 times)
Et Varia (twice)
Crocus (once) [use saffron, Crocus sativus]
Firebrands (once)
Opium Poppy + incense (once, for Sleep)
Incense of the Americas:
Being that we practice Hellenismos, a traditional offering such as frankincense is appropriate and obvious. However, in the Americas we have access to a number of magnificent native resins, wonderful gifts of nature that make excellent offerings. From Mexico and beyond there are the great copal resins. You will discover quite a variety, visually ranging from white, to translucent yellow, to black. And quite a range of different fragrance.
I would particularly like to make the case for the pinion resin from the Southwest. This pine resin is incredibly fragrant, amazingly so, like perfume, and very different the more ordinary pine incense one smells at Christmastime.
Sources of Incense:
Soma Luna has the most complete selection of incense on the Internet, very impressive indeed. When available, they carry the wonderful hojary frankincense, the highest quality, as well as several lower grades. But they have everything you can imagine. http://www.somaluna.com/
Scents of Earth carries the fine Yemen frankincense, very similar to hojary, but a bit less expensive. They currently (2008) have the finest olibanum (Boswellia serrata) available. They have an impressive selection of other resins also. http://www.scents-of-earth.com/
Alchemy Works, another source of many varieties. The owner is quite willing to share his considerable knowledge of these materials. http://www.alchemy-works.com/incense_index.html
Wood Finishing Enterprises is an unusual source for resins. They supply craftsmen with resin to make varnish for fine furniture and musical instruments. Many of their resins are of equal quality to any available, but at a much more affordable price. One must be careful, however. For instance, the elemi that they sell is not suitable as an offering. http://www.woodfinishingenterprises.com/varnish.html
Antique 968 is an Ebay seller located in Oman. He has access to the finest hojary frankincense at the best price, despite any shipping costs. Unfortunately, sometimes he has no product.
http://myworld.ebay.com/antique968
Madeuk, another Ebay seller from Oman, sells quality hojary frankincense. http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZmadeukQQssPageNameZSTRKQ3aMEFSQ3aMESOI
Jerusalem Gallery an Ebay seller in Israel who carries a very smoky and wonderful frankincense at a great price, also a myrrh which I have not tried. http://stores.ebay.com/JERUSALEM-GALLERY_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm
Floracopeia sells a variety of resins, including several grades of frankincense. They notably sell Ogaden frankincense, Boswellia rivae, easy to find as an oil, but difficult to buy as raw resin. Floracopeia also sells the impossible-to-find Hasiki frankincense. http://www.floracopeia.com/index.php
PENNHERB sells many things, but of special interest, they sell powdered frankincense which is specifically called for in several Orphic Hymns and is also useful to help make other sticky resins more easily used (see above Semi-Soft Resins and Gums). It is not so easy to actually powder frankincense. http://www.pennherb.com/cgi-bin/herbstore.cgi/find?;Frankincense
The Labdanum-Creta Blogspot is a great place to learn about the wonderful resin Labdanum. You can purchase Cretan Labdanum through the website. They sell a high-quality product at a lower price. The shipping is reasonable and relatively quick: http://labdanum-shop.blogspot.com/
Sources of Charcoal:
Charcoal is easy to find at incense dealers. Buy a big box. They do not vary too much from one manufacturer to the next, from my experience, with some exceptions.
Sheehan Religious Articles sells the Char-lite Self-Lite Charcoal. This is standard salt-peter encrusted charcoal, but the advantage is the very large size of these briquettes. They are 1-3/4" in diameter. Therefore if you are making many offerings, these may be the ideal choice.
Unaltered natural charcoal is difficult to use for burning incense, but is an excellent choice for burnt offerings, as may be suitable for a larger gathering of people out-of-doors. This charcoal is not impregnated with salt-peter. It comes in irregular shapes due to the fact that it is made from actual branches of trees and shrubs. The most economical way to buy it is from your local hardware store in large bags (usually oak-wood), should they stock it. Another option is hookah charcoal, elegant but very expensive, perhaps appropriate for a very special occasion. You will find some exotic woods amongst these suppliers, woods such as lemon and olive. Here are some sources:
http://www.hookahcompany.com/all_hookah_charcoal_33_ctg.htm
http://www.hookah-shisha.com/store/pc/viewCat_h.asp?idCategory=26
http://www.hookahhookah.com/store/catalog/PRODUCTS_HOOKAH_PARTS_Charcoal-p-1-c-256.html
http://www.hookahkings.com/Hookah-Charcoal-c-257.html
http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Store/Charcoal.asp
Belgian Natural Charcoal - The billow of sparks and smoke that erupts when you light charcoal briquettes is not actually the charcoal, but the "instant-light" additive that helps it to ignite (saltpeter usually). If you want to avoid breathing in the additive, you can try Belgian Natural Charcoal briquettes. This is another form of natural charcoal, except rather than the irregular-shaped branches as in the above-mentioned products, this has been formed into traditional briquettes. I recommend Belgian Natural Charcoal briquettes. Very little smoke at all. They are hard to light and are more expensive. You need to hold the pieces over fire for a few minutes to get them going. This is a truly superior product. Even their instant-light type is superior, both types very dense and the burn time is long:
http://www.somaluna.com/prod/belgian_natural_charcoal_40mm.asp?m=91
Koh-Doh Cup Charcoal - You can find briquettes made in Japan that do not have an additive. This is extremely clean-burning, high-quality charcoal, but the briquettes are very small, too small, in my opinion for incense burners. They measure approximately 5/8" across and the top is not indented as in other briquettes, making it difficult to place the incense squarely on the charcoal. I cannot recommend them for burning incense. They are appropriate for Koh-Doh cups, ceremonial Japanese diffusers using a mica plate. They could be experimented with for people who have problems with the regular method of burning incense. See this article: http://www.sensia.com/kohdoh.htm
Notes:
[1] To clarify this statement, within a religious context, the correct use of incense would be an offering to the Gods, or a God, a Hero, or a demi-God, etc. However, when not used specifically for religious purposes, these substances are appropriate for medicine or various other applications. In ancient times, incense would also be used to fumigate the ritual space when blood sacrifice was performed, in order to mask unpleasant odors, a practical thing. But the idea I am trying to convey is that when we employ incense in ritual, it is not an empty artifice utilized merely for drama or for one's amusement; it is a gift to the Gods and therefore becomes holy. This is not to say that we should somehow refrain from enjoying the lovely fragrance of incense, only to point out that this enjoyment is serendipitous and should not be the motive for using it in ritual.
[2] Or they cut off the resin impregnated beards of the goats. There is another method of collecting labdanum using a tool called the ladanestirio. This is a rake-like instrument that has many leather straps at the further end. The farmer usually waits until the hottest time of the day and drags the ladanestirio through the bushes, gathering the resin. When a sufficient quantity is gathered on the straps, it is scraped off.
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