Spiritual or not, you've probably burned an incense. Scent is a powerful way to set the mood in a room, whether it's through a stick or essential oils. Scent creates long-lasting memories and it captures the mood of a moment. Imagine a home-cooked meal or the lingering scent of perfume. The grass after it rains or your favorite blanket from childhood. All those things that have scents that transport you and transform you.
Now imagine you take this already sensory magic and magnify it with intention. The intention of love or money. Protection or happiness. These scents will create a channel within your spirit that opens up your potential for great, meaningful or just plain peaceful things. And when life gets tough, you can always go back to that scent to help take you back to your point of power.
This is why we love the mystical energy of resins and herbs. Not only are the scents transformative, but when you burn resin, burning it becomes a meditative ritual that supercharges your intention.
People always come into the House of Intuition stores and ask how to burn resins or herbs. First of all, there's two ways you can get the magical properties from the resins or herbs: throw some onto charcoal or dress a candle with it. If you go the candle dressing route, make sure you don't put too much in there or you will cover the wick and it won't burn. Just a little goes a long way.
Want to burn it on charcoal? Here's five tips for resin magic ritual:
1) Get a bowl or cauldron and fill it with ash, sand or salt. You can use a vessel specifically made for burning resin (we have tons at the stores!) or you can take an old bowl that you don't mind gets damaged or breaks. Make sure it has salt, sand or ash in it to absorb the heat of the charcoal. You can also use a grate, such as that pictured above.
2) Make sure to light the charcoal completely. Many people only light the edges of the charcoal and it fizzles out fast. You need to light the while entire thing. We like to take our charcoal with tongs and stick it straight into the kitchen fire until it starts to spark like it's the 4th of July. Exercise caution, of course! It's the incense you want to light on the charcoal--not you!
3) Put a small spoonful on the charcoal. Again, less is more. You don't need a ton of it. You just need enough to create a mood for the next 15 minutes, or to accomplish your magical goals.
4) Create a ceremony out of lighting your resin. Chant or speak mantras that are meaningful for you. Ask the universe or your higher power to help with your magic intentions. Make every movement a dance between you and your spirit.
5) Experiment with different resins for different reasons. Dragon's Blood is really great for hardcore cleansing and activation, whereas Frankincense and Myrrh won't be like a sandblaster of energy balancing. Just a gentle, peaceful punch of good vibes. At the store, we also have Magic Resins with beautiful properties like Fe Ocan, full of amber and rose petals, for love and Orun, with red sandalwood and angels resin, for psychic protection against those that wish you harm.
Do you love to burn incense on charcoals? What's your favorite and why? Let us know in the comments below!