by Carl F. Neal
Hidden Trails
This is an amazing twist on incense trails. I’m certain that some ancient users had to have done this, but I’ve never found a reference to it in any literature. Since we know that incense charcoal burns just fine beneath a bed of ash, I wondered if other incense would burn below the surface. It was easy to confirm that they do. However, testing this idea with an incense trail was going to be a little tricky. You can’t simply push an incense trail below the surface as you can with most other forms of incense. So I decided to scatter ash over the top of my trail until it could no longer be seen. I left one tiny bit of trail visible so that I would know where to light it.
When I burned this first “hidden” trail I was struck by its potential for magick, art, and entertainment. The trail burned as planned, but it was almost as if an invisible hand was writing in the ash with a burning finger. The clean, white ash darkens quickly when the trail burns beneath it, leaving a dark drawing. And with clean ash, it smells just as it would if burned uncovered. I suggest covering the entire surface of your censer with a small amount of clean, white ash. If you only cover the trail itself, the form might be obvious even though the incense itself is covered.
For magickal work you can create an appropriate trail and then cover it. The others in your circle will have never seen the design, so they will have a natural attraction to the trail as it is revealed. This extra focus and attention can strengthen the alignment of the energies that are raised in the circle. The most surprising part for me is that even if I create the trail and know exactly how it should look as it burns, I still find myself rapt by the slowly revealed symbol or word.
Covering a hidden trail with ash.
This technique has non-magickal applications as well. Sadly, I am not an artist. I can draw interesting shapes and letters, but beyond that I fear I am incompetent. But I can envision someone with actual drawing talent using this medium. Can you imagine a gallery showing of incense art where the visitors are part of the process as they watch the art reveal itself slowly? Scents can be paired with hidden trails as appropriate. As different parts of the incense art is revealed, the scent can change to complement it. If a tree is appearing, then a nice cedar might be appropriate, while drawing a meal or food image might use an oregano blend. I’m sure a real artist could employ this medium far more effectively than the way I’ve described it here.
This technique can also just be for fun. You could have your own incense night when everyone makes their own hidden trails and lights them at the same time. Doing something like this would best be done with one censer in each room to allow the scents to stand on their own. With small censers you could use several in one room. As the trails reveal themselves, the guests can try to guess what shape or scene will be revealed. Just watching even the most mundane shape appear in the incense is fascinating. I still enjoy it after many years and can’t imagine ever growing bored with hidden trails.
Rituals
Incorporating incense trails into your rituals is only limited by your imagination. Many of us have gotten used to making the incense component of our rituals nothing more than lighting a stick of incense and forgetting about it. Incense trails are the exact opposite approach. They require time, either before or during your ritual, and lots of care. An incense trail can move incense from having a peripheral presence to being a point of focus in your ritual.
Circle Meditation
For those of us who aren’t artists, this is an excellent ritual use of incense trails. Prepare your censer for drawing in the ash. Make a circular impression in the ash. You will find many suitable stamps around your home, including water glasses. The size will only be limited by the size of your censer and the amount of ash filling it. If you are using a small censer then make the circle as large as you can within your censer. If you are using a larger censer (I have a large ceramic mixing bowl filled with ash for making large trails), the size of circle you use should be determined by the amount of time you want the incense to burn. The wider and longer the trail, the longer it will burn.
Use the open end of a drinking glass to make a small circle. An upended bowl will make a larger circle. Slightly move whatever stamp you choose to use to create an impression ¼ inch wide and ½ inch deep. When you fill the trail with incense powder, you have a couple of options. You could fill the entire circle with one scent, or you could use a different scent for each quarter. If you choose to use four scents, try to keep them all balanced in length. Try to fill exactly a quarter of the circle with each scent. You can also mark each quarter of the circle.
Select a starting place where you will light the trail. You should then make a break in the circle at that starting point by pushing a bit of ash into the trail. (If you don’t put a break in the trail then the incense will burn around the circle in both directions. That can be a good effect, but only if it is anticipated.) If you want the incense to burn clockwise (deosil), light the trail on the left side of the break you made in the circle. If you want it to burn counterclockwise (widdershens), light it on the right side of the break.
As the incense burns around the circle, spend your time in contemplation about the element represented by that quarter. As the circle burns through the eastern quarter, think about the power of air (or whichever element is associated with that direction in your tradition). Consider air in its many aspects and how it contributes to the magickal work that you do. As the incense burns into the southern quarter, contemplate the power of fire. At the end of the circle you will have spent equal time contemplating all four elements. When the incense is extinguished you can enjoy the blending of the four different scents and contemplate how the elements work together.
A Spell of Parting/Joining
The time comes in everyone’s life where they must part from someone or something that has been important to them. This could be from the end of a relationship, a death, or loss of a home or job. Any time a person needs to be separated from someone or something important, this is a great ritual to ease the transition.
Prepare your censer while you are preparing your altar for the ritual. Stir the ash in your censer and level it, packing it lightly. Draw an inverted capital “Y” with the single line facing away from you. Fill the trail with incense powder. If you wish to take the ritual to another level, you can make each of the legs with different scents. A single scent burns down the single line then two new scents begin after the line splits.
First complete any preliminary work you need to do (cleansing, casting of a circle, calling of deities, or any other preparation your tradition follows). When you are ready to begin the spell of parting, light the top, single leg of the trail and say:
Paths cross and separate again. Our time together has ended and now we must each return to the path to which we are drawn. I bid peace to you and yours, but from this time forth,
you have no control over me, nor I of you.
You can repeat this if you wish or simply contemplate the relationship or situation that is ending. Remember the good times and the bad. Remember why this person or thing came into your life and why it is leaving. Though the mechanics are the same, the ritual you would do for someone who has passed away would clearly be different from a ritual for the end of a romantic relationship. Always try and see things as they truly are. You had this person in your life for a reason and the person has left for a reason. Face that reason, whatever it may be, and consider it as the incense trail breaks off into two different paths.
As the two new paths burn, think about your future and how you want it to look now that this change has taken place. Where are you going and what do you hope to find? You can enhance this ritual even further with the use of a hidden trail. You can cover the entire trail before lighting it or, if you prefer, you can cover just two or even one of the branches. Covering the trail can represent the unknown, which is what we all face at the end of a relationship or situation
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You can also reverse this spell and use it for a joining instead. What a wonderful thing to have in your censer at a handfasting or other event of unification! Simply turn the form over into a right-side-up capital “Y.” Light each of the two top arms at the same time. As they burn down to the single trail toward you, the two paths become one.
A Magickal Surprise
This is one of my very favorite uses for hidden trails. It’s a lot of fun and a way to share your incense creativity with your friends. Create a hidden incense trail and then present the censer to someone else. Mark the place where the trail should be lighted and then allow the other person to enjoy your surprise message. Likewise, a hidden trail could be prepared by a host for a gathering. The censer could be displayed and the guests could enjoy the surprises that are hidden beneath the ash.
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12
Chaining
Combustible Incense
When using an ash base in a censer, you have some amazing options for incense burning. One of the most versatile and useful techniques is “chaining” incense. Just as a chain of dominoes can be knocked down by tipping a single tile, multiple pieces of incense can be burned by lighting a single piece. This ability has many obvious applications for both fun and, more importantly, magickal purposes.
There are a few techniques that can be performed without using an ash base, but most chaining techniques will require an ash bed to work properly. Chaining uses one burning piece of incense that, properly positioned, can be used to light many others with ease. An ash bed ensures the incense will burn completely and will properly light any incense touching it. Since incense will burn underneath a properly prepared bed of ash, some incense may even be burned below the surface.
Naturally, the first step for most chain burning is to prepare the ash bed. This can be done just as you would prepare ash for charcoal. The simplest approach is to stir the ash to fluff it and then lightly tap the censer a few times to level and slightly compact it. The ash needs to remain fairly loose but compacted slightly so incense placed on the surface won’t sink too deeply.
Joss Stick to Joss Stick
Any form of self-burning incense can be chained, but the easiest is the joss stick. Most commercial (and even homemade) joss sticks work great for this technique. Keep in mind that all incense used in chaining must be small enough to fit inside your censer. For instance, if you plan to chain three joss sticks, all three must be able to fit in your censer simultaneously. The only exception would be incense used to light the chain, which could stick up above or out of the censer.
Admittedly, some joss sticks will work better than others. I’ve found that most commercial joss sticks can chain easily, but occasionally I’ll find a scent that isn’t completely reliable. Homemade incense is more likely to have problems, although most of what I’ve tested has worked. To test a joss stick’s suitability, make a simple chain with it.
Begin by breaking the stick into two pieces small enough to lay comfortably together in your censer. Lay one piece of the stick on the surface of the ash. (Don’t forget to lightly pack the ash first or the stick might immediately sink below the surface.) Place the second piece at a 90-degree angle to the first so that only the tip of it overlaps the first piece. Don’t allow the second piece to hang over the edge of the first—only its tip should be on top of the first piece. You can place the second piece anywhere along the length of the first piece, but for best testing results, overlap the second stick at least 1 inch away from the end you light.
With the two pieces overlapped, you are ready for testing. I’ll talk more about lighting chains later, but for now just use a butane lighter to ignite the end of the first stick. You can simply apply the flame directly to the end of the joss stick as it lay on the ash bed. Remember, the first stick is the bottom one, below the overlapping second one. You may have to keep the flame in contact with the end of the stick for several seconds longer than normal since it is lying flat. Usually a piece lit this way won’t flame, but simply start to glow. If yours does flame, remember not to blow it out. After all, it is atop a bed of ash that can be easily blown. If the stick flames for more than a few seconds, fan it lightly with a card or small paper to gently blow out the flame. Better yet, you might briefly cover the censer to extinguish the flame. The censer’s lid is the best choice for this, although any flat, non-flammable item (like a ceramic tile) will also work. For obvious reasons, avoid placing paper or cardboard over the censer to extinguish flaming incense, and definitely don’t use your hand.
When you light incense in this way, you may notice that where the flame touches it, the ash might change colors. This is especially true with older, heavily used ash. That’s to be expected and is actually a cleaning technique for soiled ash (see the Ash section of chapter 5). It is also normal for ash to change colors where burning incense touches it. Oils deposited from the incense smoke often cause this. The heat may also change the color of used ash, as can incense with a large amount of resins since some tiny particles may not burn completely.
Overlapping joss sticks to create a chain
(the overlapping is exaggerated for illustration).
Once the first stick is burning, watch as it burns down to the point where the second stick overlaps it. At first glance, the incense may appear to go out, but don’t fear. Even if the second stick fails to ignite, the first will nearly always continue to burn, although the second stick might obscure the glowing point for a minute or two. In most cases, just as the glowing point emerges from beneath the second stick, both sticks begin to glow and burn normally. As long as that happens, the incense is well-suited to chain burning. If the second stick fails to light, you might try the experiment a second time to be certain. The vast majority of incense I’ve tested this way (including samples from every major Japanese manufacturer) works just fine. Once you’ve confirmed that your joss sticks will burn in a chain, you can begin to experiment and have fun. Just remember that the burning stick should always rest below the stick you wish to chain.
Masala to Masala
You can use the same technique for sticks with a wooden rod in the center. Naturally, it’s a good idea to test any particular brand or scent first to make certain it will burn while lying flat. If it will, then it stands a good chance of chaining also. In many cases, masala sticks can use the same techniques as joss sticks. It may be necessary to break off the part of the wooden rod that extends beyond the incense material.
You can also take advantage of the wooden rod in masala sticks to create “crossed sword” chain burning. While you can do this with joss sticks, it usually results in part of the incense left unburned, so I prefer the technique only for masala-style sticks. This technique will also work using many kinds of censers, so an ash-filled censer is not mandatory for “crossed sword” burning. Begin with one stick set in a censer at an angle. A normal incense boat can be used for this, but a censer filled with ash, sand, or other materials will also work very well.
“Crossed swords” incense chain.
Place a second incense stick so that it crosses the first stick much like two crossed swords. It is usually best to have the second stick have the least amount of overlap as possible, so you may want the second tip set very close to the first stick rather than overlapping in the middle, as crossed swords are normally seen. The reason is that when the first stick burns down to the point of overlap, the second stick will ignite and burn in both directions. If you overlap the two sticks in the middle, the second stick will ignite, burn into two pieces, and the top part of the stick will fall, posing a fire hazard.
Cone to Cone
This is a more difficult process, but it can still be done with a proper ash bed. There are several different configurations that will work for cone to cone burning. The easiest method is to lay both cones on their sides. Place the second cone so that its narrow tip is in direct con
tact with the bottom of the first cone. Light the first cone at the narrow tip and once it burns down to the wide base, it will ignite the narrow end of the second cone fairly easily.
Alternately, the cones can be placed on their sides so that the wide bases are touching as completely as possible. This may pose a bit more of a challenge since the wide base of the second cone will be more difficult to ignite; if the second cone has extremely good burning properties, it should work for you. This method will also produce a bell curve of smoke. It will begin with a thin stream of smoke that builds into a larger and larger stream. When the second cone is ignited there will be a considerable amount of smoke coming from the pair. As the first cone burns out and the second cone burns toward its narrow end, the amount of smoke will continue to decrease. This technique can be effective for chanting or other ritual work that begins slowly, builds to a crescendo, and then reduces slowly to a low volume or speed.
Another technique for chaining one cone to another is to place the second cone on the ash lying on its side. Place the first cone upright with the wide base on top of the narrow end of the second cone. This will cause the second cone to be pressed into the ash a bit, but that should not be a problem. Light the narrow end of the first cone. As it burns down to the wide base the second cone’s tip will ignite. The second cone will then burn on its side. This second cone can also then be chained using one of the other cone-to-cone techniques, creating a chain of three, four, or more cones to suit longer rituals.