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The Scent of Winter!
Aromas have a way of bringing back powerful memories. For many people, re-creating the scents and emotions of childhood, or even of some distant ancestral memory, is part of the magic of the Winter holiday season.**
Here are the directions for making your own magical, Winter Night's incense. It is the kind that is made from loose ingredients, which are either burned on top of a quick-light charcoal disk or placed into a fire.
As you mix and blend your incense, focus on the intent of your work. This particular recipe is one which evokes the spices and magic of a cold December night. Use it during a Solstice or Yule ritual or as a smudging incense to purify a sacred space. You can also toss some into your fireplace just to make the house smell great!
Tip: Make a larger batch of incense so that you have plenty to give to friends and family as terrific holiday presents! (And don't forget the charcoal.)
You’ll need:
• 2 parts juniper berries
• 1 part cedar
• 1 part pine resin or 3 parts dried balsam needles
• 1 part laurel leaves
• 1 part chopped sweetgrass
• ½ part rosemary
• Mortar and pestle
• An air-tight jar to store the finished incense
• pretty paper, markers and glitter to make a label
See instruction below on how to use the charcoal method for burning incense.
Add your ingredients to your mixing bowl one at a time. Measure carefully, and if the leaves or blossoms need to be crushed, use a mortar and pestle to do so. As you blend the herbs together, state your intent. You may find it helpful to charge your incense with an intention. This can be a desire to honor the returning Sun, an intent to bless the home, or dispel the darkness. Whatever you choose, simple hold the intention in your mind and heart as you prepare the incense.
You can take a small bit of the incense and add it to either a muslin or silk bag to use as a sachet in a drawer or closet.
Store the rest of your incense in a tightly sealed jar. You may wish to decorate the jar with a pretty, hand-made label and place it in a spot for display! (A seasonal drawing or picture photocopied onto pressure sensitive paper makes a great label!) Use glitter to decorate the final result to honor the twinkle of ice and snow!
Use your incense over the long months of winter and celebrate the Spring Equinox in March by ceremonially burning whatever remains!
As the sun returns, back to the earth,
we celebrate life, death and rebirth.
A time of magic, at the longest night,
for without the dark, there cannot be light.
To burn the incense on charcoal, you'll need:
• A small, heat-proof bowl
• Dry sand to fill the dish about half full
• A hot pad or trivet to protect the surface under the dish
• Charcoal tablets/disks to burn your incense. (The charcoal brands "Three Kings" and "Swift-Lite" may be found at new age or religious goods shops and at various on line retailers. Only these kinds of charcoal are safe for indoor use. Do not use any other kind of charcoal!)
• Matches
• Your finished incense
- Place a layer of sand in a heat-proof bowl so that it fills the dish about half way.
- Place one charcoal tablet on a bed of sand in a heat-proof bowl. Place it so that the hollow side is facing upwards.
- Now, place the bowl on a hot pad BEFORE you light the charcoal.
- Make sure the bowl with its hot pad is placed well away from anything that could catch fire and also well away from little hands!
- Carefully light the charcoal with a match. It will sparkle as it catches alight.
- Once the charcoal is gray it is hot. Now you can sprinkle and little of your incense on the coal and enjoy the aroma!
NOTE: When you are through, let the disk burn down completely. Stir the sand to smother any remaining sparks.
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**For instance, my maternal grandmother used moth flakes in her home and loved to perk coffee on her stove top. Today the combined aroma of those two scents immediately transports me to the mid 1960's, at 49 Terrace Avenue in Floral Park and recalls a vivid image of my smiling grandmother!
Burning this incense is an easy way to fill the house with the aroma of Winter and an excellent way to honor the Solstice. - Editors.
Let us know how your incense turns out! editors@spiritliving.org.
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