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Although most Americans are only familiar with incense cones and sticks (with bamboo rods), incense comes in a variety of forms. It might not seem that important at
first thought, but the shape will have a huge impact on how well your incense burns and the required tools. You will need to carefully consider the form of your incense not only to improve its combustibility but also to
properly incorporate it into your rituals.
Loose Incense
This is certainly the oldest form of incense burning. Born in the camp-fires of the ancients, the practice of adding aromatic plants and woods to a smoldering campfire surely marks the birth of incense. "Loose" incense, unlike sticks
or cones, is not a "self-burning" form. That is, you must supply heat to loose incense or it will stop burning.
In modern times, the most common way to do that is by using charcoal tablets inside an incense burner. Incense burners for loose incense (called "censers") will be discussed in detail in chapter 3, but charcoal deserves
some comment here. Most people who burn loose incense use "self-lighting" incense tablets. These are round charcoal tablets that usually have a round impression in the center. The impression is used as a crude bowl to hold the
aromatics you place on the charcoal. Manufactured by several different companies, they bear a variety of brand names. If you enjoy burning loose incense, I would urge you not to use this type of charcoal. This type of
charcoal is "self-lighting" because it is full of saltpeter. After holding a flame to one edge of the charcoal for fifteen to twenty seconds, the charcoal will begin to spark and sputter. A burning line will move over
the surface of the charcoal and then the tablet begins to glow. That's the saltpeter. It makes them easy to light but it also makes them burn too hot and smell very bad.
If you use this type of charcoal, try this experiment. Light your charcoal as you normally would, but don't put anything on it. Don't use a lid over your censer or use a censer that is dirty. Allow the charcoal to burn by itself
for two to three minutes while you sit far away from it. Go back to the censer and smell. If you smell a pleasant aromatic, your censer probably has some leftover oil or resin on it. More likely you will smell a subtle but quite
foul odor. That is your charcoal. That scent is added to anything you burn on that charcoal. Ninety percent of that smell comes from the saltpeter in the charcoal.
Does this mean that you shouldn't burn incense on charcoal? Definitely not! As you'll see later, this form of burning is useful to all incense makers. It allows you to test new aromatics and new blends without devoting the
resources to rolling incense. The good news is that there are two different solutions to this problem. The first, and in my opinion the best, solution is to stop using self-lighting charcoal. Instead, switch to bamboo
charcoal. This type of traditional Japanese charcoal is made without the use of saltpeter. It is a little more difficult to light than the "self-lighting" type of incense (and it's more expensive), but you'll find the
results well worth the effort. This charcoal has only the faintest scent and will have a minimal impact on the scent of any aromatics you might burn on it. To totally eliminate the smell of the charcoal you can burn "kodo
style" (see Appendix E). A second Japanese method to avoid self-burning charcoal is "makko burning" (also discussed in-depth in Appendix E), but personally I hate to see anyone waste makko like that, so I'd suggest finding bamboo charcoal.
Loose incense is a great technique, but it has a number of drawbacks. The primary one is that it is not self-burning. Even if you switch to high-quality bamboo charcoal, you still need the charcoal, a censer, ash or sand, plus the
incense itself. Conversely, you can drop a cone of incense into your pocket and light it up anywhere you go. That's much simpler than loose incense. Smoke is another problem. You have less control over the amounts of smoke produced. Novice users in particular tend to add too much material
to the charcoal and raise huge plumes of smoke. Charcoal that contains saltpeter burns very hot and will burn a great deal of material very quickly, so you need to keep replenishing the incense if you want continuous burning. This is also true of other types of charcoal.
All incense makers should learn to burn loose incense. It was the first form and is still quite useful. It just isn't convenient to use. It is far easier to carry a little self-burning incense with you than everything required for loose incense. You also get control over the
amount of smoke. Keep these tools around for experimentation. I won't talk much about the composition of loose incense in this book. There are many books on the market that discuss this form of incense in-depth. In fact, most New Age books that have "incense" in the title
only 3 discuss loose incense or only vaguely talk about self-burning incense, so I'll leave the details of making loose incense to them.
Sticks with Bamboo Rods
This is the form that most Americans think of when you mention incense. These days, even grocery stores and pharmacies carry nationally known incense brands. Many people like this form of incense, but I consider it the worst form. Have you ever wondered why the incense has
that stick up the middle? Does it help the incense burn? No, in fact it frequently stops the stick from burning. In fact, there are two types of incense that use bamboo sticks. The first are rolled incense. This is rare, but not unheard of. Some natural incense is quite weak and
won't stand on its own even when dry. It is wound around the stick for support. Some people also roll incense and then insert a bamboo stick into the stick (at least one major producer does this).
Much more commonly, the stick in question began life as a "blank" incense stick and oil was then added to it. The vast majority of commercial incense is made in this fashion. This type of incense is easy to make. Unscented
"blanks," which are what you get if you buy "punks" at a fireworks stand, are soaked in synthetic fragrance
Cones are a great form for several reasons. First, they are easy for even first-time incense makers to create. The shape can be formed very roughly and still burn or it can be very refined. Cones can also be molded. They are
relatively durable, so you can carry them in your pocket. Making a burner for a cone is as easy as finding a discarded soda can or even just putting a nickel on a rock. If you roll cones by hand, each one will have a
distinctive look. Molding tends to give you a more commercial uniformity. Just be aware that rolling successful cones is slightly trickier than thin cylinders.
Spaghetti Sticks and Cylinders
This is the ultimate form to give to your incense. Cylinders are essentially round rods of incense material. They can range in thickness from the size of a pencil down to the thickness of a toothpick. Cylinders generally offer
the best burning properties and maximize your chances of successful incense making. The thinner the cylinder, the better its burning properties.
This form of incense is also called a "joss" stick. I call cylinders the thickness of spaghetti or thinner "spaghetti sticks." You'll see I use that term throughout this book. Spaghetti sticks are the very best form of incense for
most purposes. They will burn better than any other shape. In fact, you might find that some of your recipes won't burn in any other form. They are easy to light and can be made in any length. The only real drawback to the
spaghetti stick is that they are more fragile than other forms. Spaghetti sticks can be rolled to size by hand or extruded (for details on extruding see chapter 6). You can also make square "cylinders." You might even occasionally
see commercial sticks that are square. Those are easy to make by rolling the incense dough flat and cutting the sticks rather than rolling them individually.
Coil Incense
The incense coil is a slightly modified version of the spaghetti stick. Rather than leaving the stick straight, you can circle the incense around in an ever-widening spiral. This is another very old form, long understood in the East. The great advantages of coil
incense are both the burning time and the small storage area required. A spaghetti stick can be made quite long, but the longer they are the more prone they are to break. A spaghetti stick that is three feet long is the practical limit. Such a long stick would be extremely difficult to
store safely and would need a three-foot-long storage box. Whereas a coil made from a three-foot-long spaghetti stick will only require about nine square inches to store. By coiling incense, you can make a single piece of incense as long as you'd like.
Other Forms
While wet, incense is a lot like wet clay. It can be formed into virtually any shape desired. That gives the incense maker a lot of flexibility and allows for some creative efforts. The incense disk is one fun form. I once supplied a Sunday school class with enough material to
make fifty incense disks with frankincense. Rather than burning the incense, they made disks and put a small hole through the top. They then slipped a string through the hole and the kids were able to wear the incense! I've made disks like this with groups myself and it was a lot of
fun. Most incense will warp a little as it dries, so disks don't usually stay flat but they are a unique way to show off your incense making skills. If made thin enough, most incense will burn in disk form. Alternately, you can break pieces from the disk and burn those instead.
In addition to the simple disk, you can buy inexpensive cookie cutters and cut your wet incense dough into any shape you desire. The shape might not completely burn, but they often do. Most people never even light novelty incense of that nature. They usually keep it intact.
You'll find that you can have a lot of fun with wet incense.
Another unusual form of incense is "moist" incense (also called "kneaded" incense). This is incense that will never completely dry. There is a very famous Egyptian Kyphi incense recipe that has been reprinted in many books on the subject. It is made with honey as a binder and is
intended to be kept wet and burned over charcoal. In Japanese moist incense is known as "nerikoh." It is made using honey or plum meat and is actually aged in a sealed contained that's buried from several months to several years. Moist incense is a truly unusual form and was an
important step to making self-burning incense. It's also a lot of fun to make.
Other Incense Forms
Since incense dough is so easy to work with, you'll find that you can make most anything from it. You're only limited by your own artistic skills. From log cabins to abstract sculpture, you can use cylinders as construction material or you can form lumps of incense dough into the
desired shape. There are two important tips I'd offer to the creative incense maker. First, don't start out trying to craft sculpture. Learn to make good incense first, then try your hand at sculpture. Second, try to use thin strips of incense if you plan to eventually burn your work of
art. If building a cabin of incense, for example, keep the various layers of "logs" separated from the layers above. You don't want all the logs burning at the same time or you'll create a mass of smoke. Not to mention that your creation will burn very quickly. Wax paper works well to
keep layers from sticking together while they dry.
Choosing a Form
In addition to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each form, there are a few other factors to consider when choosing which form of incense to make. You should keep in mind that each batch of incense dough can be used to create more than one form. You can divide your dough
into parts and create some cones, some spaghetti sticks, and some coils (or whichever combination you prefer).
The first factor you need to think about is the tools and workspace available to you. If you want to make extruded sticks, for example, you'll need an extruder. If you want to make molded cones, you'll need a mold. You can make spaghetti sticks (or even thick cylinders) that are over
twelve inches long, but do you have a drying board large enough to hold a stick that long? Coils and cones require the least amount of space both to make and to dry.
The next factor to consider is how you intend to use the incense. Will you require a long burning time or will a short one do? Keep in mind that the burning time of your incense is primarily determined by its length. The longer your incense (or the taller the cone), the longer it will
burn. Thicker incense will burn a little slower than thin, but be wary of making incense that is too thick. Thick incense tends to go out—never make incense thicker than an unsharpened pencil. You also need to think about where the incense will be burned. If you plan to use it outdoors,
you might want to consider making sticks with bamboo rods. If you need a long burning time but only have a small space for the incense, then a coil might be the perfect choice.
Finally, if you're making incense for ritual purposes you need to consider both your own ritual practices and.the specific spell work you're planning. How do you use incense on your altar? (For specific suggestions on this topic, see Appendix D.) If you normally use a censer and
loose incense, you might consider leaving at least a portion of your dry-mixed incense in powder form. Just put some aside before you add liquid to it. If you plan to use cone or stick incense, do you have an appropriate burner that you feel comfortable using on your altar? What kind
of incense would best suit your planned spell work? If your spell calls for only one blend or aromatic you might want to make a single long stick or coil. If it calls for the use of different aromatics at different points of the spell you might want to make a series of small sticks or
cones and then light each one at the appropriate time. With your new understanding of using and making incense, you might even rework your spell to incorporate your new wisdom.
Incense can be shaped in a wide variety of ways. From the humble cone to the longest coil, it all offers us pleasure and energy. The shaping of incense is a great opportunity to let your creative energies flow. Considering the form of incense you wish to create takes an understanding not
only of the forms themselves but also of the intended use and magickal purposes of the incense. Personally, I like to make incense in many different shapes and forms. Try them all and find the ones that suit you the best.
Reprinted from "Incense: Crafting & Use of Magickal Scents"
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