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I love lavender.  It’s easy to grow, at least where I live, and it’s generally hardly.  Best of all, it’s excellent for incense making.  It powders easily, has a great scent, and is very fault-tolerant.  You can even make incense cones or sticks using nothing but lavender and a tiny bit of binder.

You, your god, and a stick of incense.

That's all that you need to get a daily observance in place.

And—believe me—if you don't have a daily observance going, you need to start one stat. Every good garden requires regular cultivation. What would you think of a friend who only comes to you when she needs something?

Stand before an image of your heart-god.

(I'm using the word “god” inclusively here.) This can be a statue, a picture, or an aniconic symbol.

Stand, don't sit. (Sitting is passive, and this needs to be an act of active engagement.) Think of it as standing to attention. Think of it as rising when someone important enters the room.

Light the incense.

"The offering," they say, "bears the prayer." Actually, coals and a grain or two of quality natural incense would be best, but you can't beat the ease of stick incense. Here, as always in pagan ritual, the offering is the go-between, the mediator.

Be in the presence of your god.

What you do next is up to you. If you pray, pray. If you know a hymn, sing it. If you'd rather stand silently in rapt contemplation, do that. If a state of no-mind better suits you, that's fine. (Silent time with a friend is sometimes the most intimate time of all.) Always, you should be listening for the voice of the god.

As an incense maker I get all sorts of questions from incense users and makers all around the world.  The question I’ve been asked the most over the last 2 years has been “how do you make backflow incense cones?”  The “backflow” or “down flow” incense cone is something reasonably new in the marketplace.  Unlike a traditional cone, a backflow cone not only sends a stream of smoke into the air but it also sends a stream of smoke downwards.  When used with a special burner the smoke flows downward like fog or water.  There are backflow burners that look like a pot pouring tea, a dragon breathing smoke, a castle wrapped in fog, and many others.  All of those very clever burners require the use of a special backflow incense cone.

Most people I meet who are interested in making or using incense want to make sticks and cones.  That’s understandable since these are the most familiar commercial forms.  Many of us have a variety of nifty incense burners for these types of incense and they are simple to use.  Probably the next largest group of incense makers/users I encounter are, by many measurements, the exact opposite.  They prefer to mix aromatics in a “raw” form and use incense charcoal to heat whatever blend they mix.  There is a wonderful style of incense that fits right in the middle of these two extremes.  It’s easy to make and many people have everything needed in their cupboards right now.

Pick up any Pagany book about incense (or virtually anything else) and you are bound to find a “chart of correspondences” to tell you which herb works for what type of magick.  Want to make incense to help bring prosperity?  Look up “prosperity” in the closest correspondence chart and use whatever the chart says!  Personally, I am generally opposed to using a correspondence chart created by someone else.  I understand pragmatism and the limited amount of time that people have…I get it.  My personal experience with such charts has often shown me that I find different magickal energies in some ingredients.  Sometimes I use things in the exact opposite way as I have seen it described by others.  Don’t misunderstand me.  This isn’t a huge criticism of such charts.  If you’ve read “Incense: Crafting & Use of Magickal Scents” then you know that I included a fairly large correspondence list for incense makers.  What I’m really saying is that nobody should take those charts as gospel nor believe that they can explore every type and variation of plant and tree the way that we can as individuals.

When I think about making incense cones and sticks, I usually see wood (a base material) as the simplest and most reliable ingredient in the blend.  After all, it’s the base material that provides the heat to evenly burn the other ingredients.  I generally use a simple formula when creating a pure wood incense: 2 tablespoons of wood powder, 1/8 teaspoon of gum binder, and about 1 tablespoon of water.  Simple right? 

When it comes to woods, Oak is a wood seen as sacred by multiple cultures.  It is fairly easy to powder and has wonderful burning properties.  Most of us are familiar with the pleasing smell of Oak burning in a campfire.  These facts make Oak seem like a natural base material to use for many different types of incense.  Occasionally, Nature likes to teach us humility by showing us that we aren’t nearly as smart as we think.  Oak has been chuckling at me for decades, but I think we have finally found our middle ground.

Beltane is right around the corner, so this is a great time to make some incense for your Beltane celebration.  Here’s a fun recipe that’s easy to roll and could be the perfect companion to your Beltane rites.  While Beltane is strongly associated with fertility, remember that fertility is about more than sexual reproduction.  It is also about bringing new ideas and plans to fruition.  It’s about moving from planning something to bringing that project to life.