by Carl F. Neal
The true gift of ash as a fill material is the way it traps air. As with most fillers, you can insert incense sticks into the ash. Cones and cylinders will often burn completely in an ash bed, without a leftover “nub” of unburned incense. Incense will even burn below the surface of the ash. All of this is possible because the ash traps air.
Ash does require maintenance for the best performance. You will need to periodically stir the ash to “fluff” it into a more workable medium and replenish the air within it. You should also screen your ash occasionally (frequently if you burn a lot of joss sticks) to remove any bits of unburned incense or charcoal. I just use an inexpensive mesh strainer that has been retired from kitchen use. This sifting will reduce unexpected scents from the ash.
When ash has been used extensively, unburned oils and resins can seep down into the ash. Eventually those oils and resins will cause the ash to generate its own scent. That is usually not desirable, but you could view it like leaving resins on the lid of a censer. However, the scent of well-used ash is rarely as pleasant to my nose as the subtle scent from a censer lid. If your ash begins to take on a scent you don’t like, sift and spread the ash on an old cookie sheet. Bake in a low oven for an hour and then allow it to cool. Stir the ash and check it for scent. You may have to repeat that step several times if your ash is heavily used.
I can almost hear you asking, “But how do I get enough ash to fill a censer?” That’s a great question. The surprising answer is that you can buy it. Usually called white ash, this is used in Asian incense burning and can be found from most retailers who carry high-quality Asian incense. The ash does become gray over time (quite quickly if you use “hidden trails” as discussed in chapter 11), but when purchased it is white and scentless and ready to be added to your censer.
I have seen and experimented with other fill materials, as I know many incense users have. Soil is a good choice for certain types of ritual work, especially soil from a sacred place or a place related to the magick work at hand. Sea shells, marbles, chocolate candy (I do NOT recommend using chocolate as a fill material), and more have been used in censers. As long as you take care not to use any flammable material (which would disqualify chocolate from the list) you can be very creative with fill materials. For an all-purpose censer or one that is frequently used, ash or sand is probably going to be your best choice.
Heat Source
Non-combustible incense requires an external heat source. Heat for incense comes from a variety of sources, but for the most part needs to be compact, easy to use, and safe. Incense cannot live without the element of fire, and the power of fire should always be respected. In the twenty-first century we still tend to use ancient techniques to heat non-combustible incense even though a modern alternative is available.
Embers
The most traditional of all heat sources, hot coals or embers from a fire can be used in a censer. If pre-cut wood chips are placed on the outside edge of a fire, they can be easily removed once they are glowing. That’s a nice way to be certain you will have an ember that will fit in your censer. Keep a close eye on the wood! Wood chips small enough to fit into an average censer burn quickly. You will need to add several of them to get one that glows properly before it is burned away. You also need to watch the chips in the fire because they can vanish very quickly once touched by the flames.
Self-Lighting Charcoal
This is the type of charcoal often found in New Age and magick shops. Charcoal becomes “self-lighting” when it is impregnated with saltpeter (potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate) during the manufacturing process. While it isn’t truly self-lighting, it is very easy to light. Holding a charcoal brick with tongs over a candle flame will cause it to quickly spark to life. You will see tiny explosions across the surface of the charcoal as the saltpeter helps the charcoal to ignite.
This type of charcoal is ready for use faster than other charcoals. Other than that, self-lighting charcoal is a method of last resort for me. The addition of the saltpeter has two significant drawbacks. First, it burns far too hot. Incense should be smoldered, not burnt to a crisp. You can take a lovely tear of frankincense and drop it onto self-lighting charcoal and have a disgusting smell within moments. At first you smell the wonderful aroma of frankincense, but it is then followed by the lingering odor of its burnt remains. Very well-made loose incense can burn up in seconds with this type of charcoal. For this reason, the only practical use I’ve found for self-lighting charcoal is for incense burning in windy conditions. In a well-made censer with a proper lid, self-lighting charcoal can remain functional in weather conditions that would disable any other type of charcoal.
The second drawback to this type of charcoal is the smell. If you use a self-burning charcoal brick, you may want to allow it to fully ignite, then move it to a fresh censer and carry it into another room (this completely isolates the smell of the charcoal from any of the tools or other incense). You will be amazed at how foul the smell is from self-lighting charcoal. Saltpeter is one component of that smell, although I have never found any charcoal of this type that was made of high-quality wood either. So it is likely not the saltpeter alone causing that unpleasant scent.
Scentless Charcoal
The next choice for a heat source may be a little more difficult to locate, but it is certainly worth the effort. Scentless charcoal is very nearly that—scentless. I would classify all of the “scentless” charcoals that I have used to be “very little scent” instead. When compared to self-lighting charcoal, scentless is a real blessing. Scentless charcoal is generally nothing more than powdered charcoal and a binder. It does not contain saltpeter or other such oxidizers. Not only does that reduce the odor dramatically, it also means that this type of charcoal burns at a significantly lower temperature than self-lighting. The result is that incense burned on this type of charcoal gives a truer scent and smolders for a much longer time. Your incense lasts longer and smells better. Those two things alone make it worth the search.
Look for “low scent,” “scentless,” or “bamboo” charcoal if you want to get the best results. Be sure to read the package carefully, but certainly any charcoal from a respected name in incense (such as Shoyeido or Baieido) will give you results that exceed self-lighting charcoal. It does take a few minutes longer to get the scentless brick to fully ignite, but I have found that a small, scentless brick burns as long as or longer than a much larger self-lighting brick. A nice surprise is that, brick-for-brick, scentless charcoal is usually no more expensive than self-lighting.
Aroma Lamps
An aroma lamp is a great alternative to charcoal that is often overlooked. They come in a huge assortment of shapes and sizes, but a typical aroma lamp will be similar in its functional aspects to all other aroma lamps. There is usually a small bowl that rests or is suspended above a small candle. Tealight candles are usually placed underneath to provide heat to the bowl that is partially filled with water. Once the water is warm from the candle, drops of essential oil are added to the water and the gentle heat slowly releases the scent into the room. You can accomplish the same kind of gentle heating with the use of an aroma lamp in place of charcoal.
Most aroma lamps are adjustable after a fashion. You can vary the heat by moving the candle up or down below the bowl. When selecting an aroma lamp, I prefer to have the candle rest several inches below the bottom of the bowl. Although being so far separated from the bowl would cause the candle to heat the bowl very slowly, this gives you the range to adjust it. I usually place coins under the candle if I want to increase the heat. Each coin placed beneath the candle will raise it a fraction of an inch. Tiny changes in the proximity of the candle can have a noticeable difference in burning time and the scent of your incense.
To modify an aroma lamp for use with incense, I have never found that I need to do more than place a little aluminum foil or a small ceramic tile in the bottom of the bowl before us
e. That prevents any residue from remaining in the lamp and you can easily clean it. It also allows you to continue using it as an aroma lamp rather than dedicate it to incense only. You will have to experiment with each aroma lamp you acquire, but I typically keep the candle flame from making too much direct contact with the bowl. One inch below the dish’s bottom is a good starting place. This approach to incense, when used at the lowest practical heat level, allows your non-combustible incense to burn virtually smokeless.
Electric Incense Warmers
Another option now available to us is electric incense warmers. Available from both Asia and the Middle East, these popular items are often adjustable. They use a small electric heating element to gently heat your incense. A friend of mine sent me one that I enjoyed for many years until it wore out. That particular warmer was not adjustable and tended to be too hot, so she also included a plug-in lamp dimmer to allow me to adjust the temperature. I admit that this type of burner is the height of luxury. To have such control, to not need to wait for charcoal to ignite, or aroma lamps to warm up, and so on is wonderful. Electric heaters offer nearly instantaneous satisfaction.
Although electric incense warmers are versatile and utilitarian, I have never found a way to comfortably fit them into any spell work. If you just want to have a “background” scent throughout your work, then you could place an electric burner just outside your working area. I would never string an electric cord into an area where I was doing spellwork, but that’s just me. I’m sure there are many readers out there who feel differently, and those people may find some very creative ways to incorporate an electric warmer into their magickal work.
Preparing a Charcoal Censer
These instructions assume that you are using your censer for non-combustible incense and charcoal. Censers for combustible incense only require special preparation if they are used for incense trails (chapter 11) or chains (chapter 12). The careful preparation of your censer can have a huge impact on success with any particular incense experience. For instructions on preparing a censer for kodo-style incense burning, check out chapter 9.
The first step is to determine if you will use a fill material and, if so, which material you will use. For any type of non-combustible incense, I suggest using a good fill material if you are using any kind of charcoal. If you are using new fill material, you can pour it into your censer. If your censer has a lid, be certain to leave enough space between the lip of the censer and the top of your fill material. In most cases I do not fill censers past the halfway mark. This is not a hard and fast rule, but it is a good place to start when working with a new censer.
You can level out the top of your fill material by setting your censer on a sturdy, level surface and sliding it back and forth gently. You can also very lightly tap the bottom of the censer. Take care with the tapping approach, as it will also compact your fill material slightly. This is particularly important when working with ash.
Next you need to light the charcoal. Regardless of the type of charcoal you are using, it is best to hold it with tongs or pliers so that you can handle it easily and safely. Hold one edge of your charcoal brick directly in the flame of a candle. You can use a lighter for this process, but it will get very hot before your charcoal is ready for use. A candle is a steady source of flame that won’t burn your thumb. Slowly rotate the charcoal in the flame. You want to see every edge of the charcoal glowing before putting the charcoal down.
Once the edges of the charcoal are glowing, let it rest for a few minutes. For formal uses, you can place the charcoal into one censer to ignite, then move it to the censer in which it will be used when it is ready. You need to allow the charcoal to rest until the entire brick is glowing. In bright light the brick will appear to be covered in a thin gray ash, but in dimmed light you will clearly see it glowing. This is the sign that the charcoal is ready to be placed in your working censer and put to use.
If you want to lower the heat from your charcoal, you can use a small ceramic square on top of the ignited incense brick. I have some 1-inch-square ceramic tiles that I use for this purpose. Placing one atop your charcoal and then putting your incense on the tile will reduce the heat, lengthen the burn time of the incense, and also make for simple cleanup afterwards. Placing incense directly onto charcoal requires that you periodically scrape the ash from atop the charcoal brick. If you use a ceramic tile, you can simply change the tiles. Always use tongs or pliers to handle hot tiles, and place them into a safe container, such as a ceramic bowl on a heat-proof surface. Those little tiles can get deceptively hot!
Selecting the right censer for you might look like a daunting task, but it shouldn’t be. Incense is supposed to be relaxing and a tool for peace and introspection, which is the same attitude you should adopt any time you are shopping for incense or paraphernalia. Look for a censer that speaks to you or your task, and then use the information in this chapter to see if it will meet your needs. One carefully selected censer will last you a lifetime. As you might imagine, I do own and have owned a great variety of censers during my thirty-five-year romance with incense. Still, I use the same censer 90 percent of the time. I have owned that censer for well over a decade and will likely continue to use it for much longer. There is great joy in setting out to find a censer like that for yourself. If you can’t find a censer that speaks to you, then consider making one yourself. Or you can do as so many of us have and acquire a collection of different censers. In the end you’ll discover which of them best fits your needs; the others can still be used when the occasion calls for it.
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6
Other Techniques
There are a few other aspects of incense use that didn’t seem to fit anywhere else, and I didn’t want to leave them out, so they are gathered here for you. I’d like to be able to tell all of my readers that this book is completely comprehensive and contains every approach and technique ever created for the use of incense. It isn’t. Ancient approaches keep coming to light, new techniques and approaches are being developed by enthusiasts every year, and by the time this book is printed, someone will probably have shown me an approach I’ve never thought of before. I hope that you will continue to learn about incense long after you have finished reading this book. Perhaps one day you can teach me your latest technique!
Incense Sweeping
This is a technique that I have mentioned in passing already, but I’ll go into more detail now. This is the process of using incense to “sweep” over your body to cleanse, purify, and prepare it to enter a sacred space. Some practitioners use this technique daily or before every magickal working; others use it only in preparation for rituals.
There are several ways to approach sweeping. Often times in group rituals or ceremonies, someone will walk among the gathered attendees before the ritual begins. A smudge bundle or other form of incense is offered to each person so they can use their hands to “sweep” the smoke onto various parts of the body. While sweeping can involve any or all parts of the body, sweeping the head, face, and chest are the most common. A thorough practitioner may sweep her entire body with smoke.
A complete sweeping of the body is most easily accomplished with the help of another person. The person being swept can pull smoke down the front of her body and over her head easily. The person holding the incense can then move smoke down across her back. Or, as I discussed earlier, you can sweep yourself without help if you sweep the front of your body and then place the censer on the ground and carefully step over it to allow the smoke to travel up your back.
Air Mixing
This is a great technique that I truly love, although I have never thought of any mundane uses for it. The concept behind air mixing is that incense is often composed of several different aromatics that, when blended together, create a unique new scent. So what would happen if you mixed those same aromatics after they have been burned? This idea was the birth of air
mixing.
I first used this technique by accident. In fact I imagine anyone who has burned two different scents simultaneously in the same room has noticed the effect. I had cast my circle with censers at all four quarters. As I called each quarter, I lit a stick of single aromatic incense. I had used a representative herb in each quarter, so I had four different scents burning together by the time the circle was cast. As I walked around my altar several times, the smoke from the four censers was pulled into my wake. Soon the four independent scents had become a single new scent. Several of the rituals in this book are based around that experience.
Air mixing is an interesting effect. It happens slowly and requires that you stir the air in a specific way to get the full intensity. The only effective way I’ve found is to walk in a circle between the censers. I can’t imagine that you could easily duplicate this effect outdoors, but in a reasonably draft-free room it is easily accomplished. It truly is a magickal experience and it can symbolize many things to many people, e.g., “From the many, one” (e pluribus unum). Air mixing is unity, it is change, and it can be quite moving. Best of all, it is easy to do.
I suggest that you avoid using “complex” incense for this method. Simpler is better in this case. Using multiple incense with many ingredients in each can easily turn into a cloud of overwhelming scent. The odds that all of those aromatics would be compatible in scent are quite low. By using single-aromatic incense (like sage, frankincense, or sandalwood) you can select a few that blend well without fear of scent incompatibility. The technique will work for all forms of incense, although using multiple censers with non-combustible incense might be challenging. You could even use different forms of incense in each censer. If you choose to analyze the symbology of this process deeply enough, you can make every aspect different for every quarter. You can use censers of different shapes, colors, and materials. You can use a different form of incense for each quarter (sticks at one quarter, loose incense at another, powder incense at another, etc.), use a different aromatic, draw a different symbol in the ash, and on and on.