Solitary Witchcraft - Making Sense of Incense Part 1

Witches burn incense for rituals, but when you are learning the craft how do you know which incense to burn for what? It’s easy to know what scents you like and what relaxes you. But do you know the reason it relaxes you? Let’s explore some scents of incense and give them a sniff.

Incense can be found in the form of smudge bundles, braids, ropes, sticks, cones and cubes. At one point in time the fragrant smoke was used to carry prayers and hope to the Gods and to create a sacred environment for humans to meditate and commune with their gods. Incense resins and botanicals are still used today in various Native American and Metaphysical ceremonies to promote ritual consciousness, the state of mind necessary to rouse and direct personal energy. The fragrant smoke purifies a room and surrounding area of negative and disturbing vibrations. They can be used for meditation or simply scenting a room which what I often do.

There are so many kinds of incense out this article will focus on just a few of the many scents out there. As for where you purchase incense the resources are many. If you type in incense in a search engine you will find many online resources. I have found incense for sale not only in the local metaphysical shops but in specialty shops, boutiques, gas stations, cigarette stores and the like. Depending on the type of incense you wish to purchase (and the size of your wallet) as well as the purity, it is important to research your sources before you make your purchase. The higher quality sources are a little more expensive. It is up to you to determine if this will affect how and when you use it.

Amber

This is one of my favorite scents to use for general relaxation or to just scent the room. The focus of Amber is for love, comfort and happiness. It is a wonderful scent and it blends well with many environments. It is often used in healing and meditation as an emotion balancer.

Cedarwood

Cedar is not only great from keeping bugs from eating your clothes but the scent is also used for purification and healing. It is also useful for banishing negative emotion and bad dreams. Native Americans often use it in sweat lodges to release heavy emotional energies that built up.

Cinnamon

Despite its wonderful smell and the dozens of recipe it is part of, as incense it has many uses. Cinnamon is used often for healing and money rituals. It is useful in purifying a space and to stimulate high meditative states. Some of suggested its use as an aphrodisiac as well as increasing psychic states.

Dragon’s Blood

One of my favorite scents is used in protection and combined with other scents it increases their potency in rituals. It is used in consecration, protection and good luck rituals. It is also used in rituals involve love or exorcism.

Frankincense

It’s not just for Christmas anymore. Frankincense releases positive vibrations that drive out negative energy. It is used in purification rituals as well as spiritual growth and meditation.

Frangipani

If the name of this incense isn’t familiar don’t feel bad. It is also known as Plumeria and you would know them as they are used in leias where they are cultivated in Hawaii for that purpose. In its incense form it is used for its soothing vibrations to restore harmony, peace and calm.

Ginger

This spice is great for tea and adds a spicy bite to ginger snaps. When burned as incense it is used in rituals for money, success and psychic growth. It is also used in love spells which I don’t recommend for personal reasons.

Honeysuckle

This has a wonderful scent for lightening an environment. The scent is also a good aid to intuition and psychic perception. It is used for in rituals for love, fidelity, money, protection and psychic power as in clairvoyance.

Lavender

I love the scent of lavender. As incense it is wonderful for cleansing a space, healing rituals in addition to attracting and protecting relationships. It is also good for promoting sleep and peacefulness.

Lilac

This is another scent I love especially since I have a lilac bush in my yard. The advantage of using lilac in rituals or to just scent a room is that it brings harmony and peace to everyday life. It is soothing and good for warding off negative energies as well as protection.

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These are only a very few of the huge variety of scents that incense comes in. It is clear from these few samples I have discussed that many of their magical properties overlap the same areas. Incense can be used singly or in combination to increase the power of rituals and/or meditation. Sometimes it is just a pleasant backdrop. One year I burned amber and dragon blood incense sticks when I was writing for NaNoWriMo. I felt it inspired me.

More to come.