Kemet Design Bast Incense

Another powder or granular incense from  Kemet Designs  - this one is named after the Egyptian goddess Bast or Bastet, who has the body of a woman, but the head of a cat. She was originally a war goddess (the cat head then was more that of a lion) but became a goddess of perfume, so it seems appropriate that an incense should be named after her. I am becoming aware of a large and significant sub-culture of incense makers who are interested in magick and the ancient mystic arts. Or, perhaps, it's more that there is a magick sub-culture which is interested in making incense, as that is part of the ancient arts. Anyway, there are a number of such incense makers who make granular incense, and a Bast incense seems quite popular. I'm intrigued by this one by Star Child, who are based in Glastonbury. I might pop up to their shop to get a few incenses.

Anyway, this one by Kemet Design is advertised as "A rich blend of rose, orris root, sandalwood and myrrh. The scent is rich and inviting."  As with the Kyphi, this is not a strong incense, and is a little dry, so there is more burning going on than actual fragancing. To avoid scorching I tried the trick suggested by Mermade Magickal Arts of putting the incense on some foil in the burner, as this reduces the direct heat. This does work to an extent at first, though the aroma is very slight, and there is a curious damp aroma, same as I found when using foil to protect my myrrh resin. But I tried it in my hotter burner, so it didn't take long before the powder got scorched again. However, before it did I got an aroma reminiscent of burning tea leaves, and I know about the aroma of burning tea leaves because when I was a young and curious teenager, that is one of the things we used to do. Roll some tea leaves in cigarette paper and smoke it.

Anyway, again... I am curious about this incense, and I would like to try it without a burning smell. So I put a little water in my burner, and scatter the powdered incense into the water. Yes! This has the desired effect - I can smell the incense, and it's not burning or scorching! Eureka!

Yes, there is a tea smell - not burning this time, but a delicate light scent of green tea, and a hint of rose. It's quite herby, but also a bit fatty or buttery, but I'm not getting sandalwood or myrrh.  I'm not getting on with this. If somebody has a suggestion of how I can burn this incense without scorching it, please let me know. If not I think I might chuck it away - I've had complaints from my two girls upstairs about the burning smell....

Score: 15