Incense Magick: Art & Ritual of Incense
Incense fanatic Carl Neal walks you through the joys, wonders, and science of making and using natural incense. From making your first basic cone to creation and use of elaborate incense rituals, Incense Magick is your guide to the sometimes secretive world of incense and incense making. Every article explores different facets of incense, incense making, ingredients, rituals, tools, or techniques.
Incense Molds
Since I made my first natural incense cone, I have quested for a decent incense mold. For many years, there was nothing at all on the market. In those early days, I made my own latex cone mold and taught others how to do it. Making molds isn’t something I want to devote a lot of time to, so I’ve continued checking and testing virtually every mold I can find anywhere in the world. My conclusion?
Every incense mold I’ve purchased over the years has been made by a craftsman. Some of them are handcrafted from wood. Others are cast acrylic or silicone. The one thing they all have in common? They were NOT made by someone who makes incense. The molds might be amazing works of engineering, but the incense they produce sucks. The cones made from the molds are almost universally over-sized. One cone from most of those molds takes as much incense as I use to make 4 (or more) standard-sized cones. Most of the molds also make poorly shaped cones. Cones need to be tall and thin, not short and squat, but many of the molds (and even much more expensive cone making machines) make cones that look more like a Hersey’s Kiss than an incense cone.
I decided a long time ago that I can roll better looking, better shaped incense by hand rolling versus a mold. That’s what I teach people in workshops and classes. Even so, there are folks out there who would really benefit from having a well-made, properly shaped incense mold. My “research team” continues to work to create something that will work well. If we ever find, or create, a worthy mold I will let you know!!
By the way, the pic used on this blog entry is an "incense" mold that makes suppository-shaped incense. Definitely not recommended in my shop!
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