I have decided to create a unique Incense blend for Samhain this year. With resin incense becoming increasingly popular, it felt like the right time to take the plunge into making this.
I have made a limited quantity of this blend, and it is available for purchase at the price of €6 per glass jar. You can do so by getting in touch via Facebook or Instagram.
How to use the Samhain Incense Blend:
You will need:
- Fireproof container - a censer, or a cauldron will do just fine.
- Charcoal disc
- Tongs - if you have fancy charcoal tongs, all the better, if not then kitchen tongs will work just as well.
- Lighter or matches
- Samhain Incense Blend
When working with loose incense, make sure you have adequate ventilation in the room you will be using.
Many people like to put a layer of sand at the bottom of their cauldron/censer/fireproof container of choice for extra insulation. Be careful when you handle your fireproof container as heat travels and it can still be surprisingly warm to the touch.
Light up your charcoal disc, holding it with your tongs. Once you're happy it has lit up, place it in the middle of your fireproof container - I shall refer to it as a cauldron, since that's what I prefer to use.
Place a pinch of the Samhain Incense Blend on top of the charcoal disc. A little goes a long way. It is always better to put the incense on a little at a time, topping it up whenever you wish. That way you won't be wasting any, and it won't be overpowering.
About the blend:
When working with loose incense, one can find many recipes out there, however it often happens that they are created with the intent in mind rather than the scent.
I am happy to say that this blend has a pleasant scent! I asked a dear friend, who is brutally honest and who is well versed in the usage of loose incense, to provide me with feedback. I was looking for 3 boxes to be ticked - how well it burns, how well it smokes and what it smells like.
The feedback received was that it burns nicely, it smokes well, and it has a pleasant, long lasting smell when it is burning.
It is a given that I was also interested in knowing how well it fares ceremoniously - and the feedback in that aspect was that it worked very well. The lingering scent after the rite was complete - and I quote verbatim - helped bring up subtler sensations and connection to the work done.
What's in it?
This blend contains several ingredients, which I will break down below. The vast majority of the ingredients have been locally sourced in a sustainable manner - for example, the Cypress has been gathered from my favourite cemetery here in Malta whereas the Olive leaves have been harvested from our own Olive Tree.
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember.
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Rosemary is a herb that has long been associated with remembrance and death. In ancient Roman times, the herb was used in burial rites for this reason. There are also several accounts of funerals in England where mourners traditionally tossed bouquets of rosemary on top of coffins.
Come away, come away, Death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid;
- William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
The cypress is a symbol of mourning, spanning from classical antiquity to modern day times. It remains the principal cemetery tree in both the Muslim world and Europe.
In the classical tradition, the cypress was associated with death and the underworld, as it does not regenerate when cut back too severely. Athenian households in mourning were garlanded with boughs of cypress, and Cypress was used to fumigate the air during cremations. It was among the plants that were suitable for making wreaths to adorn statues of Pluto, the ruler of the Underworld.
In Greek mythology, besides Cyparissus who was turned into a Cypress tree to be able to forever mourn the death of his favourite stag, the Cypress tree is also associated with the Goddesses Artemis (Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt, twin of Apollo), and Hecate (Goddess of magic, crossroads and the underworld) .
While Wormwood hath seed get a handful or twaine
To save against March, to make flea to refraine:
Where chamber is sweeped and Wormwood is strowne,
What saver is better (if physick be true)
For places infected than Wormwood and Rue?
It is a comfort for hart and the braine
And therefore to have it it is not in vaine.’
- Tusser, 1577
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Dried mugwort added to a fire will help keep it smoldering for a long time. In ritual, Mugwort is used for strength, psychic work, protection, prophetic dreams, healing, and astral projection.
The protective properties of Mugwort have been recorded since the European Middle Ages. It has also been used since ancient times as a remedy against fatigue and to protect travelers against evil spirits and wild animals. Roman soldiers put mugwort in their sandals to protect their feet against fatigue.
It was one of the nine sacred herbs given to the world by Odin. In Pre-Columbian times the Aztecs used mugwort as a ritual incense.
Mugwort, whose latin name is Artemisia Vulgaris, is dedicated to the Goddesses Artemis and Diana.
"At dawn one/we will see the form of the opoponax sitting on a windowsill."
- Monique Wittig, translated by Helen Weaver, L'Opoponax.
Opoponax is a resin from the plant of the same name which enjoys a warmer climate and grows in Iran, Italy, Greece and Turkey. The resin can be called "sweet myrrh" and King Solomon is said to be the Myrrh variant referred to in the Song of Solomon, as being the noblest of resins.
Opoponax is sometimes referred to as Sweet Myrrh, and when included in a blend, it helps the scent longer for a longer period of time.
Opoponax helps relax the mind, ease stress and anxiety, and is particularly helpful in meditation.
"Under a juniper-tree the bones sang, scattered and shining.
We are glad to be scattered, we did little good to each other.
Under a tree in the cool of the day, with the blessing of sand.
Forgetting themselves and each other, united
in the quiet of the desert."
- Ash Wednesday, T. S. Eliot
Juniper is traditionally used in Scottish folkloric and Gaelic Polytheist saining rites, where the smoke of burning juniper is used to cleanse, bless, and protect the household and its inhabitants.
Juniper was a symbol of the Canaanites’ fertility Goddess Ashera or Astarte in Syria. Although burning Juniper gives off only minimal visible smoke, this smoke is highly aromatic, and in ancient times it was used for the ritual purification of temples. The smoke is said to aid clairvoyance, and continued to be burned for purification and to stimulate contact with the Otherworld at the autumn Samhain fire festival at the beginning of the Celtic year.
"In the olive grove, a wise man at the feet and a wild man at the head."
- Traditional Sicilian proverb
Olive is the traditional plant used in Malta to protection against the evil eye. Eirene, Goddess of Peace, was depictes holding an olive leaf in her hand. In the Bible, an olive branch is also a symbol of hope and Peace.
It has therefore been included in this blend as a plant to allow peaceful transition between the world of the living and that of the dead.
”Why should a man die when sage grows in the garden?”
- English proverb
The Romans regarded sage quite highly and much sacrifice and ceremony was associated with its harvest. They believed it stimulated the brain and memory.
The White sage included in this blend is coated in Dragon's blood resin.
Dragon's Blood is great for protection work, and boosts the properties of all other ingredients in a loose incense blend. It is particularly a useful resin to use when emotional strength is needed, and it is also often used to honour deities and the Ancestors.
This is a time of the year to honour and to remember our loved ones who have died. It is said that the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead is at its thinnest on Samhain - that's the 31st of October. Having said that, the transition is gradual, and the entire month of October is a good time for psychopomp workings.
May your reunion with those who have passed on be joyous and fruitful, and may it bring closure.
