Incense In Magic

Incense is burned for many purposes in magic.To honour the Element of Air
 in a rite, to scent the air with the proper vibrations or as an offering you will
be burning some type of incense.

The most common type of incense is stick incense. It is a long thin piece of
wood caked in a natural combustible substance and impregnated with oil. It is
lit and the flame is allowed to go out, left to smolder and set standing in a
holder that will catch the ashes. The holder can also have a compartment below
for storing the sticks. They come in every scent imaginable and there are even
blanks available that you can scent yourself.

Cone incense is essentially the same substance as a stick incense and is lit
and burned in the same way. The difference is the shape and the type of holder
used to burn it. The cones are between 1" and 1 1/2" tall and they are lit and
placed on a small fireproof stand. Most of these stands also accommodate stick
incense via small holes drilled around the center platform assigned for the
cone to smolder. Likewise you can burn cone incense in a covered censor or a
brazier.

Loose incense is any combination of fragrant herbs and resins that you may wish
to burn. This form of incense is the best for offerings and for those who wish
to make their own blends. You can cut and dry herbs and plants from your own
garden or those you collect in nature. The mixture is smoldered upon a special
charcoal briquette designed specifically for this purpose. It is lit and the
flame is blown out then the entire briquette starts to smolder and turn red.
The dried herbs are then placed upon it and they in turn smolder and smoke. The
briquettes burn for some time so that if more smoke is desired you can deposit
more of your blend upon it or switch blends during a rite. These briquettes are
burned upon braziers or in covered censors, some of which have chains for hanging
or swinging to disperse the smoke for cleansing, smudging and consecration of a
large area.

Granular incense is a loose incense made of ground resins such as frankincense,
copal, myrrh, amber, ect. Resins are made from the sap of trees and such and are
very fragrant. At one time they were more precious than gold. They must be
smoldered on self ignighted charcoal.

A smudge stick is usually made of sage but any bundle of dried herbs can be bound
together into a wand that will then be set to smolder. It then becomes a portable
wand of sacred smoke. These are used for cleansing people and places of disease and
negative energy or for consecration of a sacred space but there are no set rules,
see what you can do with your own home made smudge sticks. If you keep a garden
you can harvest your own herbs, bundle them and hang them to dry and you will have
your own smudge sticks.

Some of the most useful herbs for magical incense are Rose, Sage, Frankincense,
Myrrh, clove, galangal, orange, cedar, juniper, patchouli, lavender, and mint.
there are a lot of herbs that smell pleasant when dried but are quite unpleasant when
burned, take care to test them before deciding which to use in a rite as an unpleasant
scent may be distracting. The exception to this would be in the case of incenses
designed for exorcism or to break spells and curses, one should expect these to
smell badly as it is part of the working itself.

Incense Burners:
Braziers are small decorated fireproof bowls frequently raised on a pillar. These
bowls are used to hold self ignighting charcoal or incense cones safely while they
smolder.

Censors are fireproof containers usually of worked brass. They are covered and
pierced to allow the smoke to escape while protecting the incense from anything
falling upon the briquette and ignighting unexpectedly. The chains that are often
present are useful for hanging the censor or swinging them to disperse the smoke.
Briquettes with loose incense and cone incenses are used in censors.

Stick and cone holders come in a wide variety of shapes with most stick incense
holders being long and thin to catch the ashes and cone holders being more like
small bowls or disks as the cone is compact.

Abalone shells are iridescent shells that varie in size from 3 to 12 inches.
They are used in conjunction with smudging as they make a great pan for the smudge
stick to catch their ashes and rest the stick when needed. These shells are natural
and can be quite beautiful. Sometimes a small fan made of feathers is employed to
fan the smoke for smudging with an abalone shell.

Oils can also be used as a form of incense, either by soaking a blank stick or cone
incense in your own blend or by using either a diffuser or warming ring. These warm
the oil thus dispersing it into the air. Oils are used for Water spells where as
burned incenses are for Air spells. When herbs are thrown directly into a fire they
are considered offerings instead of incense and are Fire Spells.