Introduce me to some good incense

Anybody got a good incense source? All I've been able to find in my town is the garden variety commercial stuff, and one place had some Nag Champa. (i've been burning that mostly)

I'm pretty new to incense, anybody got a favorite brand or scent to recommend?

Thanks!

:D

It actually makes me feel better when I have an upset stomach. :)

Before I discovered that I would burn jasmine, sandalwood, or a special blend.

I would recommend going out to a local new age store or head shop to just see what scents you like the best. Some of the hand-dipped can be pretty strong, so just go with the scents you can tolerate in large doses.

I love my incense. :loveya:

:hi:

A friend of mine brought some stuff back from India that smelled fucking awesome, but sadly it's long gone.

Whatever you do, though, stay away from the "Lively Up Yourself" Bob Marley crap.

i got the nag champa instead on the recommendation of a guy at the store

I recommend a brand called Shoyeido. It's Japanese incense. It's light years better than the bamboo sticks dipped in chemical shit that passes as incense in most stores. Nearly everyone I know that can't stand incense or has bad reactions to it loves Shoyeido when I introduce them to it. As an incense crafter I can't recommend it highly enough. I only make loose blends but I hope to someday be that good. :)

One tip for buying incense: when you burn incense, the smoke should be as light as possible; this indicates a purer blend. If it's burning dark, or black, it's filled with chemical preservatives and is no good.

I started out burning the coal black Indian cones when I was a kid. Long before I started smoking pot. I'm still partial to them for nostalgia reasons. Sandalwood or Jasmine.

Every so often I light sage for purity's sake, but that doesn't really qualify as incense does it?

Funny thing about sage, I burn it in my office when I think the bad Karma is blocking our trading energy, all my partners think it's pot.

I was doing a room cleansing for a friend of mine in high school, and smudged the room with sage. Her dad came in and told us if we were toking that he wanted some too. :rofl:

Her dad was an atheist Jew and card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA, btw. :rofl:

seriously....

And gets the good mojo flowing again. There's lots of ways to do it. Some people use crystals, some people use sound and light. Smudging (burning sage and circulating the smoke with a feather) specifically is a Plains Indian practice that has gotten very popular. It works really well for me. :hi:

i just moved into a new house....that is mainly why i started burning incense. You know, some houses just have a smell to them?

I think I might have to do some room cleansings too. :D

Morning Star Incense/Sandalwood...usually found at Pier 1

I use it when I can't get my hands on Shoyeido, which I think is better. It's a little more readily available.

You have to go to Indian boutiques/bazarres/sweets and spice shops to get the good price, say $10.00 or less for the box full of the smaller boxes of 10 or so sticks. The blue box with the red; there are a few types and that's the kicker. I saw a few years ago that the box of 10 sticks, at the Hard Rock Cafe in Vegas, was going for $8.00 each, so prices do vary :crazy:

Some of the Hari Darshan are very sweet, such as the Rose.

There are some expensive import items that are wonderful, but difficult to find. Look for any local (or internet) Tibetan, Nepalese, or similar arts houses, or new age bookstores. There's a thick Tibetan/Chinese sandalwood blend stick that is wonderful; I don't remember its name. Anything that you can get directly from those who actually use it in practice...

eBay?

Here's where I got mine on-line...
http://www.nagchampa.com/incense/nagchampa.htm
...place that sells it locally charges an arm, leg, and left gonad for it.
On grams...figure about 1 gram=1 stick, more or less.

Frankinscense (the real resin, not stick or cone) is good if you REALLY want to cleanse, but make sure you turn off the smoke detectors, because that stuff does NOT mess around when it comes to fumigating. You'll have a thick, heavy, sweet-smelling SMOKE. We are talking San Francisco pea-souper fog grade smoke, OK?
Once the smoke blows away, it leaves a very pleasant odor.

Morning Star brand. My faves are the Green Tea, Pine, and Cederwood ones. Sold in small or large boxes, and comes with a little tile incense-holder.

I brought a linkie: http://www.incensewarehouse.com/Morning-Star_c_5-1.html


:)

i shall look into that

I usually don't like the smell of incense... too cloying.

But that's one of my favorite scents... hmmmm

:hi:

I had been searching for it all my life and couldn't believe that it turned out to be something I could actually buy.
I found it at a flea market a few years ago, and now order it online .....
I did try patchouli, but peace of mind is my favorite...
http://www.wild-berry.com/

peace~

was made in an Omani Bedoin village... Sandalwood infused with the essential oil crystals of myrhh

I'd be very interested in trying it out. :)

Have you ever tried any of the resins, like frankencense? I've never attempted that method of burning...

link to story about Oudh

http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=15508&t=1&c=36&cg=4

It takes about 200 years to be ready for harvest. Treasured across cultures and civilizations, and venerated by almost every faith for thousands of years, what is it about Oudh that makes a century or two worth the wait?

Rasasi, purveyors of the finest Oudh for connoisseurs and royalty for over half a century, shed light on the mystique of Oudh.

What is Oudh?
Contrary to popular belief, Oudh isn’t a wood at all. It is the product of the rare Aquilaria or Gyrinops tree, now found occasionally in the jungles of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. This rare tree is sometimes infected by an equally rare fungal parasite. In response, the tree’s immune system produces and aromatic resin to protect itself from the fungus.

The fungal attack and the tree’s defense process continue very, very slowly over time - typically stretching several decades – all the while generating a rich, dark resin, deep within the heart of the tree. It is this rare resin that is harvested and Oudh – the Earth’s most valuable ‘wood’ is produced from it. The longer nature is allowed to take its course, the more precious the Oudh.

Origins of Oudh

Oudh has been traded and highly appreciated for thousands of years. Resinous wood is used as incense, for medicinal purposes, and pure resin in distilled form is used as perfume and perfume component. The wood of the infected Agarwood tree (Aquilaria Thymelaeceae) produces this sweet, sensual and intoxicating fragrance – usually, a lightly infected tree will be used for oil whereas a tree that has died of the infection will produce the most sought after, high quality wood. Extinct in India and Bangladesh and now found only in some jungles of South East Asia, the demand for Agarwood is pushing the prices of Oudh ever higher. ...

Here is their incense page:

http://www.dharmashop.com/display.mgi?CAT=in&T=Incense


I like the Kalichakra Incense, but I have used about half of what they sell. The ones in the boxes may seem small when you get them, but they are the best I have used and they last quite a while. I also get other things from that site and they have always done well w/ me.

Thanks, too :)
I recently ordered some things from Dharma Crafts and they sent a sampler of the incenses they offer. Not a big selection, but so far they seem nice and don't aggravate my allergies...