Sourced and hand-crafted in Israel by Benyamin Shoham of Seraphim Incense who, in relation to the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians and other Muslims, told me: "I condemn all acts of aggression against any human, animal or plant. I am a man of peace, and I promote peace on earth mainly by providing medicine from mother earth to the hearts of all people."
I love that this incense is made in the Holy Land because some of our earliest and most evocative and lasting writings about incense come from this area. Benyamin writes: "Each incense stick I craft is more than just a blend of herbs—it is a story, a prayer, a piece of the land itself."
He describes how he makes the incense: "I gather my ingredients from the forests, hills, and deserts of Israel, selecting each herb with care and respect. Only plants that have reached their full potency are chosen. The herbs are dried, crushed, and blended by hand, following ancient knowledge of scent and energy. No chemicals, no artificial scents—only the raw, untamed power of nature. Every batch is rolled with focused intention, honouring the sacred purpose of incense. Whether for healing, meditation, or ritual, each stick is a tool for transformation."
My heart goes out to this, though my head and my experience knows that most of it is New Age smoke and mirrors. I love that each stick is "rolled with focused intention", but I know that such intention is not going to be realistically picked up in an olfactory way. What matters most is the construction of the fragrance profile, and protecting the scent ingredients so they are not consumed too quickly in the burn. However, I find myself more engaged and willing when I encounter incense made by hand with love and care than when the incense is made by machine from synthetic ingredients. I know that the love and care and the natural, hand-picked ingredients do not necessarily transfer to a more profound and precise olfactory experience, but it is what excites, warms, and interests me more. I'm an old hippy so such things do move me....
The brown, gritty hand-rolled paste on the stick is hard and dry with a gentle sweet floral scent which presents as being perfume or crystal based (due to the energy, strength, and volatility). I'm curious, as this is named as a cedar incense, that there is no cedar or even wood quality on the stick. However, it is an attractive, gentle, and inviting scent.
He describes how he makes the incense: "I gather my ingredients from the forests, hills, and deserts of Israel, selecting each herb with care and respect. Only plants that have reached their full potency are chosen. The herbs are dried, crushed, and blended by hand, following ancient knowledge of scent and energy. No chemicals, no artificial scents—only the raw, untamed power of nature. Every batch is rolled with focused intention, honouring the sacred purpose of incense. Whether for healing, meditation, or ritual, each stick is a tool for transformation."
My heart goes out to this, though my head and my experience knows that most of it is New Age smoke and mirrors. I love that each stick is "rolled with focused intention", but I know that such intention is not going to be realistically picked up in an olfactory way. What matters most is the construction of the fragrance profile, and protecting the scent ingredients so they are not consumed too quickly in the burn. However, I find myself more engaged and willing when I encounter incense made by hand with love and care than when the incense is made by machine from synthetic ingredients. I know that the love and care and the natural, hand-picked ingredients do not necessarily transfer to a more profound and precise olfactory experience, but it is what excites, warms, and interests me more. I'm an old hippy so such things do move me....
The brown, gritty hand-rolled paste on the stick is hard and dry with a gentle sweet floral scent which presents as being perfume or crystal based (due to the energy, strength, and volatility). I'm curious, as this is named as a cedar incense, that there is no cedar or even wood quality on the stick. However, it is an attractive, gentle, and inviting scent.
The scent on the burn is herbal, plant-based, somewhat fruit-inclined (perhaps raspberry). There's a sort of damp, outdoors feel - wet, almost rotting (but not quite) vegetation. The scent of the wet, slimy leaves of bulrushes. Vegetation is key here. There's tomatoes, or - more precisely - tomato sauce or ketchup. A pleasant sweetness. A sense of decay. Chrissie said she could smell death. Not foliage death, but people death. I wouldn't go that far, but I understand what she's saying.
After the incense has burned, and the scent has diffused, there is a more balanced and attractive and, yes, woody, fragrance in the air. This is perhaps more of an incense to burn in an empty room as a smudge, perhaps, than one to burn live when you are present. As a smudge it is a little light and gentle, and I don't find the room cleansed, or the atmosphere charged, but the residual smell is more than acceptable.
After the incense has burned, and the scent has diffused, there is a more balanced and attractive and, yes, woody, fragrance in the air. This is perhaps more of an incense to burn in an empty room as a smudge, perhaps, than one to burn live when you are present. As a smudge it is a little light and gentle, and I don't find the room cleansed, or the atmosphere charged, but the residual smell is more than acceptable.
This is a curious incense. Interesting, but I'm not sure how much I like it. Smouldering damp plants is mostly what I get, though on subsequent burns there is an element of dry resin and wood - tree bark perhaps.
Date: June 2025 Score: 25
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Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteIt is a very thoughtful review. It shows how an absolutist approach might sometimes fall short of delivering the kind of olfactory experience someone like you seeks. But I believe that wasn’t really the maker’s intent. It seems their focus is more on the spiritual energy and the ritualistic aspect of the incense.
Yes. And I get that, and my heart goes out to makers like Benyamin who are focused on the spiritual aspect of incense. In my journey of exploration though incense I have found that my personal inclination is toward the fragrance rather than the symbolism or even the health benefits of certain ingredients. I have not been attracted to Tibetan incense, though I am willing to keep exploring, and I've not been much attracted to purely spiritual incense, such as Underworld Apothecary Djinn Incense .
DeleteI did start a grouping of such incense,
Spiritual/Ritual Incense, but I did not complete it, and have largely abandoned it, as I wondered what point it was serving. Some of the incenses I grouped there I would no longer place in that category.
I'm cool with incense that has an awareness of spirituality and ritual, because many of us are drawn to incense as a way of fragrancing our homes because of the spiritual and ritual aspects of incense. I think it makes us feel closer to nature, to our past, to rituals, and to the spiritual, in whatever manner we feel that. But I guess I don't want the spiritual and ritual to be the be all and end all of the incense, especially at the cost of creating an attractive fragrance.
I feel that an understanding of both the spiritual and ritual, and the olfactory pleasure of incense, should go hand in hand. And the best incense handles that balance well.
Yes, I feel the same, Steve. In fact, certain fragrances truly do evoke a sense of the divine. In Indian traditions, many art forms—like classical dance, silk fabrics, music, and even the use of fragrances—were created as offerings to the divine or as a way to feel closer to that higher presence.
Delete