How to empower your incense
Incense is a tricky one. Some types of incense are not made by a practitioner- or perhaps not made in a way that truly honours all of the elements found within an incense- a case of throw a couple of ingredients together found in a correspondence book, bash them about a bit and leave it at that. (That's if they use real herbs and oils at all- much incense on the market is created from just fragrance oils)
No mention of breathing life back into dry herbs, developing a working relationship with the herbs.
No sense of growing their own herbs, or leaving offerings for the herbs, blessing the herbs or anything of the sort. No sense of the sacred herb spirit courts or their connections to other spirits.
No reverence for the spirits and powers at work.
Luckily, if you buy incense from the right place, from practitioner that you know are worth their pennies, then you don’t have to worry about this.
With the incense here at Bramble and Bone, you definitely don’t have to worry about this. We grow plants from seed as much as is possible and leave them offerings, tend to them, bless them and work with their spirits from the second they spring up from the soil to the moment that they arrive in your hands. We've been taught about the courts that the sacred herbs tend to and grow alongside- and initiated into various plant sects and paths within our lineages. We treasure the knowledge that the plants give me.
So, given that we've done a lot of the work for you in terms of empowering the incense- why this article, you may ask? The truth is… there are always things you can do to up your incense game- and we'll talk a little bit about it here.
One way to empower your incense is to tie it to the land spirits that surround you- tie your work in with what lies under your feet and surrounds your space. This could be taking a small pinch of dirt from your area and mixing it in. It could be collecting some water from the local river and placing a few drops in your incense. It could be collecting some leaves from that big old oak tree in your garden and mixing it in. Give the spirits of the place that you trust and invitation to your workings.
Another way is to tie it to you, to your very person. If you’re using a devotional incense, and you want to give an offering to a deity after signing a contract with them, add in something of yours if the nature of your contract suggest it. If you’re using a protection incense, and you’re the one who want to be protected, add in something of yours. This could be anything- if you own your plot of land, dirt from your own land would be good. Your own tears, hair or blood could also work well. Your signature or photograph.
Another wonderful way is to tie the incense to the land of the liminal- if that’s your working style. Some Gods, spirits and fairies work in the liminal- such as Hekate and the Witch Lord. For this, you just need to collect something from a liminal space. Dirt from a graveyard gate, the soil under a hawthorn, brick dust from the tunnel under a railway, dirt from a crossroads- all are good options for tying your incense to the liminal. If you want something a little bit easier to use, try drawing out a breaching sigil, piercing charm, a veil lifter or something similar, and mixing that in with the incense.
Ultimately, with this adding of hair or dirt or brick dust, there does come the unfortunate side effect that the incense may not smell good. However, a working incense doesn’t always smell good- it’s ultimately there to do the work. It’s created to fulfil its purpose- and although we personally try and find a good line between smelling good and working, many incenses may not fall into that category. Some very respected practitioners that we know and trust raise their hands and admit that their incense do not smell good- but the herbs are there to do the workings, not smell nice. But like we said, we do put an emphasis on creating a good smelling incense as well as a working one.
Finally, you can charge the incense you use during a ritual- you can speak to the spirits of the incense, tell them the working you are to do. This ties the tool, and the spirits that work with it to your intent.
We hope this article has inspired you to further empower the tools you create and buy!
