Incense in The Wind: Spiritual/Ritual Incense

Tuesday 26 June 2018

Spiritual/Ritual Incense

Incense is burned for a variety of reasons: sometimes for the aesthetic pleasure of the scent, sometimes for therapy or medical reasons, sometimes to create a mood or atmosphere, sometimes to cover up bad odours or to discourage flies. But it is mainly associated with spiritual or ritual use. Some incense may be burned for a variety of uses - some ritual incenses such as frankincense and myrrh are also often burned just for the aesthetic pleasure of the scent. But there are some incense which is burned purely for the ritual/spiritual aspect. I didn't get that for a long time. I was so locked into incense being something that I burned for pleasure, that I assumed that even ritual incense would smell nice. When I asked why people would want to burn those smoky wet dhoops which produce quite acrid smelling smoke, it was gently pointed out to me that the smoke itself is considered to have cleansing power. And something clicked. So in my Incense Listing I have separated out those incenses which clearly prioritise the ritual/spiritual aspect of the incense as it seems inappropriate to be judging them on the same criteria as incense which is mainly burned for the nice smell. I group them here as well. I still have my personal appreciation scores next to them, but I wonder if that continues to be appropriate.

Pure resins, woods and blends that are mainly used for spiritual or ritual reasons rather than just the aroma