Since the dawn of time incense has been used for creating aromatic, fragrant space both indoors and out. Incense has always been deeply intertwined with religious ceremonies and the practice of medicine. The first reported healing practices, recorded in ancient Egypt, exposed patients to the smoke of incense for healing. You can strengthen your connection to nature by rediscovering the ancient art of making incense.

Non-combustible incense

Incense of the ancients, just the ingredients themselves, after grinding and mixing or 'incense pellets', where soft resins, balsams, or dried fruits and honey have been added to form pea sized 'pellets'. This incense is heated using charcoal and is the easiest method of mixing incense.

Mixing Ingredients
If your ingredients are not already powdered you must pulverize them using a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. Electric coffee grinders produce too much heat, resulting in loss of vital chemicals from our ingredients and therefore should not be used. Most resins will break the blades of electric coffee grinders. For loose incense the ingredients do not need to be an ultra fine powder; small granule size is good enough. Hand coffee grinders are very useful for some ingredients without the heat buildup of electric grinders.

Tips
Freeze your resins for about 15 minutes, they will be much easier to pulverize.
Woods are more difficult to pulverize with a mortar and pestle, a hand crank coffee grinder is the best choice.
If your new to making incense mixtures keep the number of ingredients down to three to begin with. One wood and two herbs, or one resin, one wood and one herb, etc. As you become more familar with making incense you can slowly expand the number of ingredients you use. This will allow you to learn the aroma of each ingredient.

Pulverize your ingredients by "class" by grinding woods first, then herbs and resins last. Resins can make a mess of your grinder or mortar, saving it for last will prevent your having to clean the grinder until you are completely finished. Measure each ingredient in the recipe before grinding, then keep one bowl for all the dry ingredients and another for all the resins.

Mix all your dry ingredients together first (herbs & woods), separately mix all your resins together then add your resins mixture to your dry mixture and mix together thoroughly with a stirring spoon, I prefer to use a wooden spoon. Place the completed mixture into the mortar and pestle again and grind it all together to blend the aroma of each ingredient into the others.
You can heat this mixture as it is over charcoal.
You have just created your own incense!!

Incense Pellets

Combine all other ingredients first, then add them to labdanum, or other pliable resin, and knead well. Dry these pellets in a ceramic jar with a lid for 2 - 3 weeks.

Dried fruit can also be used to make incense pellets.Organic Sultana Raisins, dried Prunes or dried Apricots. Honey is also used as a preservative for the dried fruit, and adds a warm fragrance to a mixture. Honey itself can be used to form pellets from any dry mixture without the use of any fruit or pliable resins.

1/2 - 3/4 of a cup of dried fruit for every 1 cup of loose incense mixture seems to work well. You may also soak dried fruit overnight in a heavy red wine then drain and add the fruit to the loose incense. Mix a small amount of fruit with a small amount of your mixture and mash it together with a mortar and pestle until all of your mixture has pulverized fruit in it. Transfer the entire mixture to a mixing bowl (I prefer to use a wooden bowl) and drizzle on about one teaspoon of pure honey for every 3/4 cup of dried fruit, knead together well. You may choose to crumble the mixture with your hands and spread it out on a cotton cloth, cardboard, wooden board, wax paper, etc. store it indoors, out of the sunlight, allowing it to dry. You can also form pea-sized balls with your hands and then spread them out to dry. Drying time can take 2-4 weeks depending on climate (temp and humidity). Turn the mixture daily for proper drying. You may even choose to place your pellets in a ceramic jar with a lid and allow them to age for up to a year. In Japan, the ceramic jar is often buried in the ground for up to a year. You can heat this mixture over charcoal.

Tragacanth Glue
(Gum tragacanth can be found at herb stores and some drug stores)

To make tragacanth glue, place a teaspoon of the ground herb in a glass of warm water. Mix thoroughly in a bowl and whisk or beat with an egg beater until all particles are dispersed. You can skim off the foam that rises or allowed to disperse. Let the tragacanth absorb the water until it becomes a thick bitter-smelling paste (an ounce will absorb up to one gallon of water in a week). For sticks (the most difficult kind to make) the mixture should be relatively thin. For blocks and cones a thicker mucilage should be made. This is where practice comes in handy after a session or two you will automatically know when the mucilage is at the correct consistency. If you can't find tragacanth, try using gum Arabic in its place. This, too, absorbs water. When you have made the trag glue, cover with a wet cloth and set aside. It will continueto thicken as it sits, so if it becomes to thick add a bit of water and stir thoroughly.

The following recipe will result in a basic, combustible incense mixture. Creates approximately 60-80 small cones.

6 Tbsp powdered wood (sandlewood, cedar, pine, juniper etc.)
2 Tbsp powdered benzoin (or other resin such as Frankincense, Myrrh, etc.)
1 Tbsp ground orris root (fixative)
A few drops essential oil (pick one used in the incense) or other liquid like wine, honey, etc.
3 to 5 Tbsp noncombustible incense mixture
Tragacanth Glue (above)

Try to match the wood base of this incense to the incense's recipe. If you can't, use sandalwood.

In a large bowl, mix the first 3 ingredients together until well blended. Add the oil or liquid and mix again. Finally add the incense mixture and blend until you have a evenly blended powder with a fine texture. Weigh the combined mixture with a kitchen scale.

Determine what ten percent of the total weight is, and add exactly that much saltpeter. (if the mixture weighs ten grams, use one gram of saltpeter.) This measurement must be exact so the incense can burn properly. (Too much and it burns too fast too little and it wont light.) Mix in the saltpeter thoroughly.

Add the Tragacanth Glue, one teaspoon at a time, the consistency should be dough-like, very similar to that of a pie crust (not too wet but moist enough that you can mold it with your hands).

When creating combustible incense, the ratio of powdered woods to resin should be 2 to 1. Your resin (benzoin, frankincense, myrrh, gums, saps, etc.) should never be more than one-third of the final mixture.

When your mixture is the desired consistency, you can mold it into shapes. Cones and blocks are the easiest to mold. Sticks are much more difficult, especially if you don't have a special press (sold in craft stores).

Cones: Roll the mixture into small, marble-sized balls with your hands, then shape them into one-inch long cones. Arrange them upright on a sheet of waxed paper and place them somewhere warm to dry. They'll take 3 to 7 days to dry. During this time, turn them regularly so they dry evenly and don't crack.

Blocks: Shape incense into long strips approximately one-third of an inch in height and width, and then cut the strips into one-inch long rectangles. Use the same drying process as you would for cones.

Sticks: Add more paste to the mixture until it's wet but still thick. If you don't have a special press (highly recommended), pat the dough out on waxed paper until it's very thin; then place one stick at a time onto the dough and roll a thin coat around the stick (leaving a few inches on one end uncoated) until the coating is twice the thickness of the stick (no thicker). Squeeze or press the dough onto the stick so it will stay put. Place the uncoated end into some clay, sand or another substance that will allow it to stand upright to dry.

To burn cones, blocks, or sticks, place them one at a time in an incense burner or bowl half-filled with sand or salt.

Each cone, block, or stick will burn for approximately ten to 25 minutes.

Incense Papers

Saltpeter (potassium nitrate, available in most drug stores if u dont see it ask at the pharmacy)
Blotter Paper (Construction paper will work in a pinch)
Various tinctures (for scent)

Cut the paper into strips about 1 inch by 6 inches. Dissolve 1 1/2 teaspoons of saltpeter (potassium nitrate) in 1/2 a cup of very warm water. Soak the strips in this until saturated. Hang them up to dry, or if you are in a hurry, you can drape them over the racks in your oven and turn it on a low heat until they are dry.

Once the strips are dry you have 2 options. You can leave them as they are and use them in place of charcoals or you can scent them. To use them as charcoals, just light the paper and sprinkle a thin layer of herbs or powdered incense blends over the paper. It will smolder them just like the charcoal does. If you dont use a THIN layer it will go out. Or to scent them yourself you will want to take tinctures and completly coat the paper with it on one side and then let it dry again. Soft scents may need to be coated again after it dries the first time. Heavy fragrences are better for this and Tinctures from gums and resins seem to produce the best results. Always store in labeled airtight containers.

The secret to keeping them lit is air circulation below the papers. Place the paper on some heat-proof object in the censer, or fill the censer with salt or sand and push one end of the paper into it so that it stands on end like a incense stick.

Single scents tend to work best but you can experement using various tenture combinations to see what you may like.

• Allspice - attract money, luck and provide extra physical energy.
• Arabic, gum - purification and protection of the home.
• Bay - purification, healing, protection and sharpening psychic powers.
• Benzoin - purification, prosperity and increasing mental powers.
• Cedar - purification, protection, to speed healing and promote spirituality. Also used for obtaining money.
• Cinnamon - sharpen psychic powers, draw money, confer protection and strengthen love.
• Clove - protection, exorcism, money, love and purification.
• Copal - protection, cleansing, purification, promote spirituality, and to purify quartz crystals and other stones before use in magick.
• Dragon's Blood - love, protection, exorcism and sexual potency.
• Frankincense - protection, exorcism, spirituality, love and consecration.
• Juniper - exorcism, protection, healing and love.
• Myrrh - healing, protection, exorcism, peace, consecration, meditation.
• Patchouli - money, fertility, lust.
• Pine - money, purification, healing and exorcism.
• Rosemary - protection, exorcism, purification, healing, to induce sleep, restore or maintain youth, to bring love and increase intellectual powers.
• Sage - promote healing and spirituality.
• Sandalwood - protection, healing, exorcism, spirituality
• Sweetgrass - calling good spirits, protection.
• Thyme - health, healing, purification