All About Incense and Resins
Resins are some of the oldest plant substances used in ancient medicine practices, and are found in the rituals and rites of nearly every spiritual and religious practice. They are potent medicines, chock-full of medicinal and aromatic constituents that can be worked with in countless ways.
“Burning resin is a sacred act involving mindfulness and the remembering of all living things as relatives.” - Maryam Hasnaa
Resins are a plant's essential defense mechanism. Resin is a honey-like thick liquid, from a plant's interior, that accumulates at the site of a damaged wood or bark. Resin contains anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and insecticidal properties that keep intruders from entering and harming the plant. Resins speed up a plant's healing process, among other functions. They also contain a wide range of chemical and aromatic constituents that aid many other biological processes.
So, resins are essentially the immunity of a tree. When a tree is wounded the resin is providing a protective scar tissue for the tree. Since resins are also antimicrobial and antibacterial, they contribute to the tree healing itself. When the healing is done or the tree has bled excess resin, it will harden and the excess may fall to the ground.
We should never pick it from the tree but if it falls and we ask for permission and are granted yes, we might follow the honorable harvest and laws of reciprocity that are:
Make an offering
Harvest only a portion of what is there
Leave some behind
Thank the tree through song, prayer, sacred smoke, etc.
What can it be used for?
“Purification with smoke connects us to the unseen.” - Maryam Hasnaa
Purification or smudging resins can be used to clear, purify, and open up the space to prepare for offering, prayer, channeling, or meditation. Connecting us to liminal spaces, unseen realms. Sacred smoke is a portal.
Ancients found that resins, in addition to healing trees, contained aromatic medicine that aided the psyche, emotions, and offered many benefits that enhanced spiritual ritual and ceremony.
Resins hold the power of nature and the natural world. The power of the sun, rain, earth, wind and moon are stored within them and just waiting to be released with the magic of the element of fire. They are a physical representation of the elements, air, earth, water and fire.
Aside from bringing us into a deeper connection to nature, burning of resins is also an olfactory delight!
Using resins often results in a joyful feeling or a shift in mood and one of the primary reasons for this is that it is the result of a purely biological process. Most of a human’s senses go through a processing experience to reach your brain (such as eyes or ears) but your nose is directly connected to your brain, without the delay or interference of these relays. As a result, scent is possibly the most powerful sense we have. We often don’t pay much attention to that sense, but it is able to keep us safe by warning us of danger. That danger could be smoke, food that is rotten, etc. Scent is also strongly tied to memory, possibly because of its direct connection to the brain. Smells can transport us to other places, spaces, memories and lifetimes.
In addition to the scent, the smoke from resins is also a powerful tool. The smoke has been used for purposes of cleansing, purifying and fumigation. Smoke can penetrate even the tiniest openings and displace the energies that reside within.
Using resins to cleanse and purify is intended to drive away undesired energies. The smoke has also been thought to communicate with and to carry prayers, incantations or wishes to the greater powers of the universe, or the gods.
The other side of this is simply pure pleasure. Each resin holds its own pleasurable scents, as well as their magical and therapeutic properties.
How to Burn Resins
Open up the space as you prepare for offering, prayer, channeling or meditation with purification or smudging resins. This is a sacred act that involves mindfulness and the remembering of plants, animals, the four directions, ancestors, elements and nature.
Ready your charcoal incense burner or fire safe container.
Fill the burner 3/4 with small rocks, sand, ash, salt or dirt to absorb the heat.
Light the charcoal tablet
Using tongs if you have them to hold the charcoal, apply flame to the edge of the charcoal disc with a lighter or candle for about 20 seconds.
You should notice the charcoal gently sparkle, crackle and pop as it self-ignites across its surface. Place the tablet into the burner, directly onto the rocks/sand/dirt.
Allow at least 3 minutes for the charcoal to heat up, as it warms a layer of gray ash will form around the tablet.
If your tablet fails to ignite, try again. If your charcoal is old or has been opened for a prolonged period of time it may have expired. Start with a fresh roll.
Now that the charcoal is heated, place a few pieces of resin onto the tablet and allow to burn.
The aromatic resin incense will be released into the smoke. Add more resin as needed.
The charcoal should stay heated for about 20 minutes.
Clean Up - Allow charcoal, ash and resin to completely cool before disposing. When in doubt, dowse with water.