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The Building Blocks of Incense Revealed

The Building Blocks of Incense Revealed

Disclaimer: All of the posts related to Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine are limited time offers and bonuses are likely not going to be relevant if you sign up at a much later date than this post was written. 

Incense is the Original Aromatic Medicine.. It's been around since before essential oils, even before perfumery.

It's the oldest aromatic practice for healing the emotions, psyche, physical body, and spirit.

Not to mention it's the most universal tool to accompany all things spiritual, and is present in nearly every sacred ritual on earth.

And of course, it's aromas are heavenly.. beautiful.. relaxing.. and the ultimate comfort. Incense is the universal modality for enriching and bringing about greater balance in life.

How would you like to harness the countless benefits of this timeless aromatic practice by learning to make your own incense at home?

Today my friend Evan, founder of The Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine, released his second complimentary training session in The Hand-Crafted Incense Workshop Series and he'd love to show you how you can make your own incense for healing, ritual, or fragrance.

Whether you're an at-home healer, aromatherapist, health practitioner, use incense in a spiritual practice, or you just love the heavenly fragrances of plants and resins...

...this complimentary series will help you learn all you need to know to make your own successful, effective, fully burning incense at home for yourself, your loved ones, or clients.

In his 2nd training session Evan will walk you through the Core Pillars of Incense Crafting one by one, explaining how they'll work together to strengthen an incense crafting practice. 

 

 

In this new session you'll learn:

  • What botanicals make the best foundation for a natural incense blend
  • How to properly use gums and binders to hold your incense cones and sticks together
  • What types of plant materials are most commonly used in incense and why
  • Why learning the art of incense is crucial for practicing aromatherapy holistically
  • How prayer, intentions, mantras, and sacred songs are traditionally infused into incense around the world 

After watching this next lesson you'll be well on your way to crafting amazing and effective incenses. 

You're gonna love this session! And don't forget to download the Building Block of Incense electronic workbook.
I'll see you in the workshop. 

xo
Ayala

P.s. In case you were wondering - in later videos I will be also presenting a mini-series of perfumery workshops in the Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine.

 

Make Your Own Incense for Healing, Ritual, & Pleasure

Make Your Own Incense for Healing, Ritual, & Pleasure

Disclaimer: All of the posts related to Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine are limited time offers and bonuses are likely not going to be relevant if you sign up at a much later date than this post was written. 

Incense is the oldest form of aromatic medicine. It's been used to treat the psyche, emotions, body, and heal the spirit for ages. Plus it’s the most ancient and universal tool for nearly all sacred rituals.

And of course, incense is a timeless aromatic treasure used to help us celebrate our sense of smell and have a bit of natural luxury and pleasure in our lives.

I’ve always loved incense. And am thrilled to share with you a new course that is offered online that will teach you how to make simple and fun incense, for any intention you have in mind, whether for a lovely fragrant gift for someone, or a medicine.

If you've ever desired the ability and skills to hand-craft your own beautiful, effective, and successful incense blends for yourself, your family, or others - you should check out this program! 

For almost a decade now my good friend Evan Sylliaasen, founder of The Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine, has been crafting aromatherapeutic and ritual blends for his company Higher Mind Incense, one of the top producers in the US. He’s definitely seen what works best, and what doesn't work when it comes to incense crafting.

That's why he’s put together a special gift for you, the Hand-Crafted Incense Workshop Series!

Join this complimentary Workshop and start watching the 1st Lesson now.

In this workshop series, Evan will show you step-by-step how to craft your own incense cones for healing, fragrant enjoyment, or spiritual purposes, plus give you the ultimate background on the many uses and virtues of incense.

This fun and informative series is available for a limited time so be sure to sign up today, at no charge!

Join Evan in the Hand-Crafted Incense Workshop Series, his gift to you. 

Enjoy and I’ll see you inside!

xo
Ayala

P.s. In case you were wondering - in later videos I will be also presenting a mini-series of perfumery workshops in the Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine.

New Incense

Ras El Hanout Incense, Three Ways
After close to twenty years in development and perfection, I'm excited to announce that my alchemical incense blends are finally available for sale! Check out the new section in my shop for Original Kyphi and Kyphi Galilee; Planetary incense pastilles, herbal incense cones and seasonal Nerikoh (traditional Japanese kneaded incense that is meant for warming on a mica plate Koh-Doh style; or more conveniently - on an aromatherapy lamp or incense electric heater).

More details about each incense type in the upcoming posts!

Four Copals Incense

Four Copals Incense Cones Drying
I'm getting deeper into the world of incense again, which is like coming a full circle (for those who don't know me, my perfume path began with incense). I enjoy the earthiness of this occupation, taking into consideration other aspects that are not relevant to the ethereal perfume making, such as shape, colour, texture of all the materials and how they need to be processed by hand. And also I'm a bit of a self-confessed incense addict when it comes to burning good incense. It's a great way to start the day with and clear all the cooking smells after breakfast. It helps me to concentrate when I want to practice Pilates or meditation. And it changes the atmosphere in the room within a few moments, sometimes also making people who are terribly chatty and obnoxious swoon and start to really listen to what's around them. This is especially pertinent to large groups that sometimes visit my studio.

It's much trickier than making perfume, so I am progressing very slowly. And find it a challenge on all fronts - first of all there is the challenge of designing the fragrance to smell good in all stages, including after the burn (aiming for that wonderful afterglow you find in a room long after an incense has been lit in). This is affected by many other factors besides the actual materials, including the shape of the incense. And this is where I'm still struggling majorly.
Four Copals Incense Making (Dough stage)
I've been trying to form incense sticks and almost every time I make a batch specifically for that shape it ends up impossible to make them properly (these fuzzy sticks in the pic below are not what I'm after!).
Untitled
So again, I resorted to making cones. These are lovely looking albeit labour intensive to shape by hand. What I like about them is that they stand on their own and don't scatter ashes all over the place. They can be placed on any heat-proof surface and will hold their shape after combustion. What I like less about them is how fast they burn and how much smoke they make. Because their circumference of ember keeps growing, they only intensify in smoke as they progress down the cone.
Four Copals Incense Testing
The result of these Four Copals incense cones is almost as perfect as I wished them to be. Their base is a combination of sandalwood and trailing arborvitae, the latter was added as a last resort because the mixture was far too soft and moist. I wish I added something more neutral - I have a feeling this creates extra smoke. But I was worried about making it sandalwood-dominant. It has a pinch of Palo Santo, and other than the sandalwood, it is very heavy on the copal: four types were used and ground by hand in a marble mortar and pestle: Mayan Copal, Gold Copal, Black Copal and White Copal. They are now available for purchase (very small amount was made, but I will happily make more if you like!).

Four Sages Incense Cones

Clary Sage & Incense Wands
An order that came in for my Four Sages incense cones prompted me to make more. I only had a few left which I made with my dedicated student cum friend Jenny Amber. She is the one who gifted me with much missed aromatics from BC (Sagebrush, Coastal Mugwort, Redcedar Leaf, and more). This incense blend feels very special to me as it combines sages of both the West Coast and the Western Galilee - the two regions that I call home.

I was a bit unwell when the order came in so had to wait till I felt better. And even then I felt like I needed a little energy boost - rolling incense cones is labour intense and sometimes it is much more enjoyable in good company. So I summoned my brother Yotam to the task. We sat on the eastern deck this morning, enjoyed the gentle yet warm, wintery morning sunrays, listened to his choice of Ceremonial music and rolled the cones you see in the picture below.
Four Sages Incense Cones & Smudge Bundle
These are potent cones, small yet pack a punch and seem to clear any negative energy within minutes.  They contain Coastal Mugworth, White Sage (Sagebrush), which are both types of artemisia, a pinch of wormwood and clary sage from my garden, and of course - three-lobed sage that is the iconic scent of the Galilee.
The cones are now available and in stock again and you can order however many you wish via the online boutique.
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