As part of my daily practice, I offer incense for a pleasing smell. For me, it is part of my devotional practice to my Goddess, my offering of hospitality.
I’ve been doing this for years, and to be honest, I haven’t given it much thought other than lighting it and what it smells like. I never really thought about why it was the color it was or even what or where the scent came from.
And then I started doing some research. Boy oh boy, the things I didn’t know. I am not going to go into a lot of details about it. Feel free to do your own research if you would like. I in no way want this to be, or sound, or to be taken as judgmental. To each their own. If what you are doing is working for you, then keep on keeping on. 🙂
And this next statement may come as a shock to some of you. I’m a bit of a ‘maker’. I like making things. Especially for my devotional practice. I enjoy being able to use something that I crafted for a particular purpose. If you have ever seen my altar, almost everything I have on it, I made. Or someone I know has. I feel blessed to support others in their practice, with my own Forge Bling.
Back to incense. Sometimes trying to figure out what I don’t want, helps me understand what I do want.
What I do not want: fake. No fake colors. No fake scents. And as a side note,I really don’t want to use essential oils. It just takes so much material to make these. I read somewhere it took around 50 rose petals to make one drop of essential oil. Don’t take this as me being anti-essential oil, I just don’t want to support it in my offerings. I also don’t want to use anything endangered or the like.
Now, what I do want: I want it to be as natural and unprocessed as possible (it is an offering, and I am breathing it after all). I want to use the whole herb. I want to include what we grow here at Shadow Sanctuary whenever possible. Being able to add something from Raven’s Keep Forge would also be a big plus. I want to know how it’s grown and harvested. Is it organic? Is it sustainable? Ethical? Cultivated? Respectful? I have spent a lot of time investigating the ingredients I am using. I want to ensure that I am proud to include them in my offering. And thus, you can be too!
This has led me on a lovely little journey. I mean, how hard can it be right? LOL FAAFO. I have found loose incense not to be too difficult. And to be upfront, that is really not what I was after. It doesn’t fit with how I mainly use it. I have made some very nice loose blends, though. I was looking for something that burned in the neighborhood for about 15 minutes. Long enough for it to finish before I finished my morning meditations. Or as an offering some other time of day. Lighting a charcoal disk and tending it is a different type of practice for me. Safety y’all
Over the last year, I’ve taken classes. I’ve devoured online resources and stacks of books. Experimented with different suppliers and products. Added a bit of this and subtracted some of that. I am pleased with what I can now co-create. These enchanting and engaging cones. Hand rolled. No perfumes or fragrance oils. No dyes or synthetics either. I wanted to keep the ingredients simple and the scents subtle.
I will say that I have added a little something from Her smithy that I feel is rather unique, evocative, and mighty. Incorporating this into the incense, I have found it to be effective, impactful, very intense, and highly energetic. I think one could say, it makes them magickally delicious! (No, these are NOT made to ingest!!) What is this ingredient that all the hubbub is about? Cold forge charcoal. Let me try to explain why it’s important to me.
The day after a sacred forging, the forge is cold. And there is charcoal that has not burned to ash. This is wonderfully ‘juicy’ stuff! Think about it. It has helped fuel the creation of Forge Bling, and yet has not disintegrated. It is extremely dry and frankly, it hums. There usually is not a substantial amount left over, and it is precious. It has been through the sacred fire of the forge and yet, it was not consumed. Just like some of us, huh?
This new practice has been a balm to me. It has deepened my personal practice. It’s simply allowed me another way to add to my overall devotion. I have made these the way I use them. Each cone will last 10-15 minutes. These are made of whole herbs. Mostly I grind and powder the ingredients myself. I want them to be as fresh as possible. I am fortunate that we have (that pesky free time is so overrated, amiright?) a small retail tea and botanical gift shop (The Grove Teas & Botanical Gifts). This allows me to get most of what I need at a wholesale price. And this allows me to pass those savings along to you. Win/Win.
I am going to start out with having small amounts available in a few scents. And if that catches, I’ll offer larger packs and more variety. There will be more selection available here on RKF than will be available in our retail shop. Because of the ‘magical’ nature of the blends, some folks don’t dig it. Our retail shop is not a metaphysical one. And this very well may not speak to you, and that’s ok.
And more will be added as I get them worked up
So there you have it. The what and the why. I now return you to the semi-regular Metal Magic programming. I hope you enjoy.
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Incense is such an important part of my practice as well. I haven't made it, but I do make infused oils and blends for specific purposes. Scent, and the qualities and spirit of the plants that create them, connect me to my guides, gods and guardians, and the world around me. I just brought back more of my favorite incense from Japan, from a 500 year old ko shop that has been making this incense since the business began. I can't begin to describe what using it brings to my practice. It takes 3000 pounds of roses to make 1/2 ounce of Rose Otto. Like Lemon Balm, it doesn't give up its scent easily. But it's ability to heal the…