I am a kinda freak when it comes to incense. Seriously our house constantly smells! Either from food after cooking, from essential oils or from any kind of incense. I personally love to use Nag Champa Incense sticks, dried Sage leaves, Cedar wood or Palo Santo, also called holy wood. Every time I go back to Austria I also bring some traditional Frankincense which we normally only use on Christmas. But except the fabulous smell why are we actually burning all that stuff? What is the whole purpose behind?
Burning Incense like resins and herbs is an ancient tradition whose origin is as old as mankind and the use of fire.
The fact, that our ancestors might have stumbled over it by accident while sitting together around the fireplace and throwing aromatic woods, pieces of bark or herbs into the fire seems pretty comprehensible. They started to use smoke for rituals with medical, religious or magical purposes. Later a more practical everyday application was the smoking in order to ferment or make food more durable.
Influenced from around the world..
In Ägypt and Mesopotamia censers and incense were grave goods for the Pharaohs.
In ancient Greece smudging has already been used for medicinal purposes.
The Romans consumed incense on a massive scale in honor of the gods and in sacrificial ceremonies.
In the East people are particularly known for their distinctive art of smudging.
In America the Indian people smoked incense for healing and harmony and to find the connection with nature.
In Europe, burning was more common in the form of ‘herbal tufts’.
Further on..
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- Smoking Incense is also used for cleaning atmospheric space and to disinfect of apartments or houses. That was already known by then because they also used it against any kind of epidemics and tried to prevent it so from spreading.
- Incense also served to perfume body and clothes.
- Incense ceremonies were increasingly used on special days like weddings, baptisms, seasonal changes or to greet guests. Also used in meditation to strengthen the spiritual energies to unite body and mind.
- In India, Tibet, China and Japan the burning of incense has a very high priority until today. Practiced by millions of people daily.
How to apply..
All you need to do is burn one or more of the ingredients mentioned above. You can direct the smoke around your space. I simple go from one room to the other, redirecting the smoke in each corner of the room. In native traditions you normally begin smudging by facing the direction of east, then turn south, west, north, and back to east to put the ashes out. As you smudge, visualize any negative or low-vibration energies leaving your space or your body. Most of us feel instantly better after we smudge! And you can smudge any time of day or night, as often as you like. Open your windows for a couple of minutes after clearing your apartment / house.
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