Many of the herbs already discussed are
suitable for incense, if you wish to make your
own. You should choose your correspondences
carefully, according to your spell or ritual, and
may like to make incense in tune with the cycles
of life and planetary correspondences. You will
soon find out through experimentation what
works for you. You can also use essential oils as
part of your incense-making, if you so wish.
The use of incense in magical workings can be
quite a personal act of worship; the various
blends can sometimes either appeal to your
senses or smell absolutely foul, often depending
on your mood. For this reason, a number of
blends from numerous sources are given here.
Experiment until you settle on your own
particular favourites and then work from there.
There does need to be some clarification of the
lists of ingredients, however. A ‘part’ indicates
one measure or a proportion, which may be a
teaspoon, a cup and so forth. Fractions indicate
portions of a part. Personal experience shows
that making small quantities is best as the
incense then stays fresher and is often more
cost-effective. If you plan on making quantities
of several types of incense, collect a number of
individual portion jars in which jams and
honeys are packed. Such an amount is ideal for
your immediate use.
Unless otherwise specified, use dried herbs,
flowers, roots and resins, since these are often
both easier to get hold of than fresh and are
packed in suitable quantities and compositions
for incense-making. The more unusual herbs,
oils and resins can usually be obtained from any
good herbalist or New Age shop, and there are
now also several suppliers who supply by mail
order and will often blend their own mixtures.
Although incense has been used since time
immemorial in religious rites and rituals, often
in the hope that changes of awareness can be
achieved, modern law is very specific in its
classification of mind-altering substances.
Therefore, do not intentionally use them for this
purpose, but rather as representatives of the Air
Element in your rituals. In true magic it is the
intent that is the important aspect, so the
extensive list given here is divided under broad
headings of appropriate purposes. The general
method of preparation remains the same.
Initial purchase of the various ingredients is
quite expensive, so if you work with other
people you may wish to share the cost in some
way. Start off with the first ingredient, grind it
small and then add each subsequent ingredient
in small quantities until it smells and feels right.
