by Carl F. Neal
[contents]
5
Censers and Holders
The incense censer (burner) is a versatile tool that is a vital part of incense use. Sticks, cones, powder, coils, and charcoal-fired incense can all work well in a properly prepared censer. Although there are specialized censers or burners designed for specific types of incense, one carefully selected censer can serve virtually all of your incense needs.
The first factor you should consider is how you are going to use your censer. Will it be used strictly indoors resting on an end table, or will you bring it to outdoor rituals where it will be carried and handled by a variety of people? Knowing your censer’s purpose will help you decide what material it should be crafted of as well as the form or shape that would be most appropriate.
Another important consideration is the type of incense that you burn. Most stick incense, especially masala-style, needs nothing more than a container that can catch ash. Masala-style incense will not distribute heat to its censer unless incorporated into “incense chaining” (see chapter 12). Joss sticks will burn down to whatever material holds it, so a wooden censer, or one of other combustible material, isn’t an ideal choice (although the typical thin joss stick doesn’t produce enough heat to be a major concern). When burning cones, cylinders, powder, or charcoal incense, there can be significant amounts of heat transferred to the censer. This has a major impact on safe handling while incense is burning and later as it cools down.
I have personally owned a hundred or more censers over the years and still haven’t tried a fraction of the wonderful censers I’ve seen. One of my incense making students once did me the great honor of gifting to me a censer he had made of copper—a material I had never even considered for a censer —and I’ve found it useful in many unintended ways, including burning powders and cones. Once you’ve become an incense addict, it is easy to begin collecting censers, but I think it is important to have one general-purpose censer to begin with. You can then add more esoteric ones as the need or opportunity arrives.
Materials
Incense censers can be found made of nearly any material. Essentially any substance that can be shaped in some fashion and is not flammable can be used to make a censer—even some materials that are flammable are used. Personally, I think that some materials are superior to others, but the reality is that your choice in material can be based on aesthetics or personal taste. For those who make ritual use of incense, the choice of materials can reflect the work you are doing or path that you follow.
Metal
A wide variety of types of metal are used for making censers. Brass is perhaps the most popular choice for censers, but aluminum, pewter, bronze, copper, iron, steel and other metal censers can be located with ease. Aside from the aesthetic aspects, care and durability are things to be considered when purchasing or creating a metal censer. Softer metals (such as copper and pewter) are easier to shape or engrave but obviously also more subject to physical damage. Harder metals such as iron and steel can provide rugged durability but are also significantly harder to modify.
If you intend to use a censer outdoors, especially while camping or attending an outdoor festival, a sturdy iron or steel censer would be a great choice. On the other hand, a large iron censer might not be the best choice for your bedroom end table. If you don’t intend to modify the censer (engraving, carving, etc.), you can purchase one made of any type of metal. If you do plan to modify your censer, bear in mind your personal limitations with regard to cutting or engraving the metal you choose.
Another consideration with any censer is how it conducts heat. Generally speaking, metal censers become quite hot with certain types of incense (especially charcoal burning), although one that is large and contains the proper fill material is still safe to handle. Unless you have tested a metal censer to ensure it does not become hot with your incense use, it is always a good idea to place it on a heat-resistant plate or tile to avoid damage to the surface underneath. Metal censers are sometimes designed with handles, chains, or other attachments that allow them to be safely moved even if they do become hot.
Stone
While stone may not jump to the front of your mind when considering censers, it is actually quite a common material. The most popular form of stone censer in the United States right now is soapstone. Soapstone is well-known as an excellent distributor of heat and is sometimes used around fireplaces. As a result, it tends to spread the heat evenly around the censer and will stay warm well after charcoal has been extinguished. Soapstone is easy to work with and can be found in a wide variety of forms, from dish censers to cone “temples” to deep bowls. Soapstone censers are easy to modify because of the softness of the material. Knife blades, sandpaper, and simple metal drill bits can all be used to customize and modify soapstone censers.
Marble is another common stone that is used in censer construction and it handles heat extremely well. Although marble is beautiful and has no problems with heat, it is much more difficult to modify. Lava rock is also used in some censers, along with a variety of other stones.
It is important to note that sedimentary rock, such as sandstone, should be avoided in most cases or at least used with extreme caution. This type of stone can trap water and can actually explode if overheated. I will grant you that I have never heard of this happening with a censer, but it is still good to keep this in mind.
Although stone censers are generally heavy and seem quite durable, many stones (especially after having been worked) are brittle. They can shatter if dropped, so handle them with care. Most stones will also retain heat for longer than most other materials.
Ceramic
This is my personal favorite as a material for censer construction. From the simplest hand-formed dish fired in a ceramics class to the most intricate and beautiful Japanese koro, ceramic censers have long served both casual and formal uses of incense. Ceramics handle heat very well, can be formed into virtually any shape or color, and cool faster than most stones. Ceramic censers are typically fragile, so they aren’t ideally suited for outdoor use. This isn’t to say that they can’t be used outdoors, but caution is always called for when used over bare earth, concrete floors, or other areas where they could so easily be destroyed by a simple fall.
Ceramic censers are so flexible in form that nearly any shape is possible. Modifying a ceramic censer is much more difficult than it is with censers made from some other materials. If you have access to the proper materials and equipment to make ceramics, then you could make and form the shape of your censer and use colors of your choice. For the rest of us, it is best to buy a ceramic censer that you don’t feel a need to modify. Even paint on a ceramic censer can be difficult to apply and easily worn away.
Wood
Although at first thought you wouldn’t see any use for a wooden censer apart from holding masala-style sticks, wooden censers have come in an interesting assortment of forms. In the past, some types of incense clocks actually used wooden censers. One form included the use of wires strung between two sections of wood where a joss stick or cylinder was suspended. The thin wires did not cause enough burn resistance to impact the incense. Simplified versions of this type of censer are still for sale today. When used as a clock, the wires allowed an alarm bell to be attached to the incense.
Wood certainly offers a material that is easily modified. It comes in a variety of shapes and range from very plain, utilitarian forms to elaborately carved censers. It is simple to add your own designs with carving, burning, cutting, painting, and staining. Generally speaking, I think wood is best incorporated into a censer made of a combination of materials, but with proper construction and appropriate fill materials, nearly any type of censer could theoretically be made from wood.
Glass
Glass is often seen as an ideal material for censer construction, but there are important considerations to keep in mind when s
electing glass. Because of its flexibility when in its liquid form, you can find glass censers in a wide variety of forms. With an appropriate fill material and when matched to the right style of incense, glass censers can be both beautiful and functional.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about glass censers is the consideration of how they handle heat. It seems natural to think that since glass requires such a high degree of heat to liquefy, it would naturally resist any heat from incense. This is not the case. I have seen more than one improperly used glass censer shatter from heat, so don’t assume that a glass censer is heatproof.
Much like ceramics, glass censers come in a huge variety of colors and shapes. Also like ceramics, glass censers are difficult to modify. Glass is easier to modify in at least one regard: it can be etched. Etching is most commonly done by sandblasting or with a chemical etcher, allowing for some customizing not possible with ceramic censers.
Glass etching kits are available at many hobby and craft stores. Chemical etching is quite simple and fun to do. An easy way to accomplish customization with chemical etching is as easy as applying peel-and-stick letters, numbers, or symbols on the glass. The entire area is then “painted” with the etching chemical and allowed to sit for a while. You then wash off the chemical and the stickers. The result is that all the glass that was “painted” is then etched while the areas that were protected by the stick-and-peel material are left untouched. In minutes you can modify many types of glass censers using this method.
Combinations
Some of the most beautiful censers I’ve seen were made from several different types of materials. Brass censers with wooden handles, wooden censers that hold a stone dish for burning, and pewter censers mounted on a marble base are all examples of what can be done using a combination of materials. Combinations of materials can allow you to take an essentially un-modifiable censer and customize it to suit your needs. Add your own wooden base or holder to an otherwise difficult-to-customize stone dish and you suddenly have something personal and very unique.
Size
The size of your censer depends primarily on how you plan to use it. If you need a censer that you can easily handle during a ritual for one, a small censer would likely be better. Conversely, if you plan to use one to scent a three-hundred-square-foot room, you would need quite a large censer (or numerous small ones). There are a few important factors to remember in regard to size when considering censers.
One important consideration is the height of the censer. Height essentially impacts your decision in two ways: First, height determines how much ash, or how large a piece of charcoal or incense, the censer can hold. If you plan to experiment with Asian-style incense burning, you will need a deeper censer to allow you to bury the charcoal. If you are burning small cones or incense trails, you could use a censer that is very shallow.
Width also impacts a choice in censers. I am an advocate of censers that are easy to use, and a deep and narrow censer is very difficult to use. Therefore I prefer the bulk of my censers to have a mouth double the height of the censer. A 1-inch-tall censer should be at least 2 inches wide. Obviously when you get to larger censers (any censer more than 4 inches wide), this concern drops away. When it comes to smaller censers, wider is better.
There is a very specific aspect of the use of your censer that width impacts. Although you can put incense into a censer and then light it, with many censers this can be very difficult. In the case of charcoal, it is very ineffective. In general, I prefer to light my incense or charcoal and then place it in my censer. In order to do that, it has to have a mouth wide enough to accommodate your fingers and the burning incense. I can’t count the number of times I used to burn myself because I was trying to insert burning incense cones into a deep censer with a narrow mouth. If you must use a censer that won’t comfortably accommodate your fingers and the incense, consider using tongs or tweezers to move the burning incense.
Styles
Just as censers come made from a wide variety of materials, they also come in a seemingly endless variety of shapes and forms. Clearly the most important consideration of form should be the type of incense you use, but as I mentioned before, it is always a good idea to have one all-purpose censer and then acquire any specialty censers you might want. It is certainly true that virtually anything can be transformed into a censer, but tools designed for a specific purpose, following a long-standing tradition, are often more useful than those that tinkerers like myself create based on a whim.
Censers for Charcoal Incense
If you use incense that is not self-burning, your censer is perhaps a more important consideration than for other forms. This type of censer needs to be able to withstand the heat from charcoal tablets. If you use the “self-lighting” style of charcoal, it burns very hot indeed and requires a censer that won’t break or crack from the heat. I talk more about the material used to fill such a censer later in this chapter, but I do want to mention that some fill materials transmit heat more than others, so take that into consideration as well.
Typically, any censer that can be used to burn incense on charcoal will also work for all of the self-combusting varieties of incense. There are specific styles listed later in this chapter that will work only with self-combusting styles, but I’ve always felt that this type of censer offers the most versatility and utility. I’ve broken these types of censers into three general forms to make them convenient to discuss, although really the variety is endless.
Dishes
This is my least favorite of the all-purpose censers. A dish censer is just what it sounds like: a shallow container, sometimes without a lip, where charcoal or self-combusting incense can sit while burning. Dishes can contain a fill material, but often do not. The lack of fill is one of the reasons I don’t care for them. If you select a dish censer, make certain it is of a material that can resist a great deal of heat, and avoid glass dishes. Charcoal tablets placed directly onto glass can easily crack or even shatter the censer. Even for dish censers, I recommend using some type of fill material.
Cups
Cup censers are cylindrical and are sometimes literal drinking cups. I’ve used coffee mugs in this role many times. With an appropriate fill material, cups and mugs can work quite well. I don’t recommend glass for this style of censer either, as cup censers usually have a small diameter and can be subject to a lot of heat.
One particular type of traditional censer is certainly worthy of mention here. The Japanese koro is a type of censer traditionally used in the kodo ceremony. Most traditional koros are quite expensive, although I have seen a few priced under $50 from time to time. You might want to look for censers described as “kodo censer,” “kodo cup,” or similar names. The name doesn’t matter, only the size and shape. When used with low-heat charcoal, koro-type censers can be easily handled or passed. See chapter 9 for more details on this, but the koro is a perfect example of a cup-style censer. Cup censers don’t have to be small, either. I own one that is 6 inches in diameter and because of its size, it functions more like a bowl censer than a cup.
Bowls
In my opinion, this is the most versatile of all censer shapes. Unlike cup censers, bowls are narrowest at the bottom and are wider nearer the top. Bowl censers are often much larger than their cup counterparts, although small bowl censer are sometimes used as well. Large bowls that aren’t terribly deep (for example 10 inches in diameter and 4 inches tall) have served as my primary censers for years. You can purchase ornate censers in virtually any form, but the most useful censer I own is a thick ceramic bowl of those dimensions. I purchased it for a very low price at a local discount store, and it has served me extremely well for many years. The real advantage of the bowl style is its width at the opening. The wide aperture allows for easier access to the incense and the fill material. This is especially important when burning incense trails, but it is helpful with any form of incens
e.
In all fairness, there are some censers that don’t fit neatly into these categories. Another Japanese form is a bowl that tapers at the top. Is it a bowl that tapers or a cup that is distended in the middle? I don’t want to slice my definitions up that finely, so suffice it to say you can always find censers that won’t fit into these convenient categories, nor is it a critical consideration. These categories are merely intended to give you ideas about the censer that you need to find for your own incense magick.
Incense Boats
Sadly, this is one of the most familiar styles of incense burners in America. Perhaps sadly is overstating it a bit, but the incense boat is such a specialized form that it shows how little exposure the general public has had to the incredible variety of incense forms. The incense boat is a long, narrow (relative to the length) censer designed primarily for masala-style sticks of incense. Available in glass, metal, and other materials, it is often made of wood. This style of censer is often seen in supermarkets or discount stores. My only real dislike of this style of censer is its the lack of versatility. Wooden incense boats aren’t particularly safe for anything aside from masala sticks. This isn’t to say that incense boats pose a safety hazard (although as with any censers, it might), but using cones or even joss sticks in a wooden incense boat could cause damage as burning incense comes into contact with the boat itself. There are incense boats made of metal or stone that are much more versatile. A metal or stone incense boat can handle the heat from cones, coils, cylinders, and—with some designs—even charcoal.
The incense boat has risen to higher levels of sophistication in design. Covered incense boats (sometimes called “incense coffins”) can easily conceal and contain ash and often come with storage compartments in the bottom. Some of those made of stone could serve as a primary censer. There are designs that are ventilated well enough to burn with the lid closed. They present an almost mystical visage as they exude smoke from multiple openings. They are also a good way to conceal the glowing of burning incense if you are trying to control every aspect of light in a ritual.