Substitutes for incense in ritual
BfloPolska
visiting, I arrived at a decision to return to solo Craft practice,
where I realize I was most fulfilled a few years ago. In the
intervening time I'd done a few things like explore Eastern thought
and Liberal Quakerism and got married, and here hangs my dilemma. Once
upon a time I used to burn incense like it was going out of style and
the haze would hang in the air for a couple of days afterward. Now I
have a husband who is allergic to smoke of many kinds and a special-
needs cat with chronic sinusitis. (My husband's feelings about my
recidivism would get me in trouble for a long and convoluted post,
suffice it to say he is still wondering why a therapist would advise a
return to Craft worship for health reasons.)
I have never been freakish nor slavish about tool usage and placement,
but I've always been a fragrance nut. I've had to change to all-
organic perfumes and oils to keep Louie's allergies at bay, but
incense is pretty much a no-go. Besides, I also have six cats, three
of whom are hyperactive little juvenile delinquents who appreciate
opportunities to do mayhem, and the thought of what they can do with a
censer intimidates me. So what can work as a nice substitute for
incense, without having to pump Hubby full of Benadryl until he's too
stupid to converse with the average rock?
BB
Baha
Yowie
news:6b8f88d3-96c7-459d...@p19g2000vbq.googlegroups.com
As you know, its not the tools themselves that you use, but what you think
those tools do that counts. What did you use the incence for?
Would the vapour of essential oils serve the same purpose?
I like using essential oils in an oil heater ("burner" - but they don't
burn, just heat)... I add some water into the bowl too so it cannot ever get
past 100�C and it works just as well. You can get electric ones if the idea
of having an open flame around the kitties bothers you (it bothers me ever
since Suki's large feathery tail went *wumph* as she wrapped her tail around
a candle).
With people and furpeople with allergies, try single essential oils one at a
time, until you know which ones are safe and which ones cause problems. Once
you have a list of essential oils that are safe, then you can start blending
them (lots of fun). Do not use 'fragrant oils' or anything other than 100%
pure essential oils.
Don't know about the Eastern Thought part, but there are Pagan Quakers out
there - here's one:
http://quakerpagan.blogspot.com/
And if youwere wondering, soc.religion.quaker is *not* a good place to learn
about Quakerism, there's too many mentally ill folks posting there, a quirk
of the Quaker ethos that everyone has 'that of God' in them and has the
right to speak and be listened to because no matter the source, it *could*
be a message from the Divine. And thus, the kooks and hte crazies seem
attracted to SRQ like moths to a light because they are not immediatley
abused, plonked, or reported, combined wiht the fact that there is no longer
enough people discussing genuine Quakerish topics to make the signal to
noise ratio reasonable.
Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.
Wood Avens
wrote:
If he's allergic to smoke but not allergic to perfumes, you could
simpy use some organic perfume on a piece of cloth or tissue within a
censer, or even perfume in a spray or vaporiser. You can probably
find essential oils of things like frankincense, unless he's allergic
to those.
Smoke "works" because as well as smelling it we can see it moving, and
thus visualise air currents moving. But perfume moves, invisibly, on
the same air currents. It's just a matter of allowing yourself to be
content with just smelling the movement of the air, rather than also
seeing it.
--
Wood Avens
Good wine improves with age. The older I get, the more I like it.
spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @
JL
Are you familiar with 'aroma therapy' techniques?
THere are a number of ways of creating aromas in your environment
without actually burning anything.
Volatilization is a technique that gently heats a substance till its
essential oils 'volatilize' and release their aroma into the air.
Inexpensive, small holders with a small candle under them. THey are
made inexpensively for the aroma therapy trade.
With such an instrument one can use oil, herbs, spices, flowers or
just about anything else with an aroma one likes or needs for any
specific work.
Technically i only carbonize of 'burn' a substance if i am doing
something martial or where in "Mars" is a primary component.
I have found some incense in my area, locally made, that is so potent
i just leave sticks of it about and don't bother to burn it, it is so
saturated in such good oils they release their scent without burning
them.
Think of potpourri's, sachets and such.
even a drop of perfume or essential oil on a small light bulb will
release a powerful scent.
I have a couple of battery operated "candles" with light bulbs that
are supposed to resemble flames, very low power and they take a dab of
perfume or oil very nicely.
--
Mr. Joseph Littleshoes Esq.
Domine, dirige nos.
Let the games begin!
http://fredeeky.typepad.com/fredeeky/files/sf_anthem.mp3
Paul Hume
oils to disseminate their volatile fractions (the bits that smell)
into the air. While I myself think aromatherapy as such is mostly
nonsense, its popularity makes some useful tools easily available.
What it won't do:
- provide a material basis for evocation (which may not be your thing,
of course). Possibly thick steam with a drop or two of the oil or a
fluid condenser in the water would serve.
- turn a cheap scent into the real thing - ie. if you need, say
(picking one at random) cedar for a Jupiter working, don't use a
synthetic perfume that claims to be cedar. Use real cedar oil.
Feline arson is, of course, still something to watch for. Fortunately,
many of the available gizmos for this technique come with a nice
little enclosure for the tea light or votive you use to heat the dish
or receptacle for the oil. And you only need a few drops of oil, if
the stuff is pure, to generate the scent, so even if it gets knocked
over it won't be like cascades of boiling oil repelling a siege or
something. As with incense, if you need to refresh it during a ritual,
just toss some more in the container (oil dish, thurible, whatever).
BfloPolska
> As you know, its not the tools themselves that you use, but what you think
> those tools do that counts. What did you use the incence for?
> Would the vapour of essential oils serve the same purpose?
Incense, or scent, just would always put me into a different frame of
mind. I disagree with another poster here, who doesn't agree with
certian benefits of aromatherapy; while I don't think I can set a
broken bone with a few drops of oil, certain fragrances do uplift my
mind and emotional state. I do like the idea of a diffuser!
> With people and furpeople with allergies, try single essential oils one at a
> time, until you know which ones are safe and which ones cause problems. Once
> you have a list of essential oils that are safe, then you can start blending
> them (lots of fun). Do not use 'fragrant oils' or anything other than 100%
> pure essential oils.
No worries there! The fake ones smell like plastic to me.
>
> Don't know about the Eastern Thought part, but there are Pagan Quakers out
> there - here's one:http://quakerpagan.blogspot.com/
I do go to that site on occasion! As for Eastern thought, I was
referring to the Sikh faith. I have no quarrel with it, and don't find
its core teachings (reverence to Divinity, hard work, sharing of
resources) incompatible with any religion; the Gurus were good, wise
and inspired men. There was just *something* missing and it turned out
to be something I used to have that needed reclaiming. I'll continue
to go the the temple with my husband. there's more than one place to
talk to my Creator(s).
>
> And if youwere wondering, soc.religion.quaker is *not* a good place to learn
> about Quakerism,
Got that one really quick! Liberal Quakerism still has a big hold on
me, as it has since high school. But I can see what you mean about the
fruitcakes being out in force. To someone who doesn't know a lot about
the Quakers going in, it could lead to some big, bad
misrepresentation.
BB
Baha
Oy!