Incense Magick (27 page)

A Spell of Parting/Joining

The time comes in everyone's life where they must part from someone or something that has been important to them. This could be from the end of a relationship, a death, or loss of a home or job. Any time a person needs to be separated from someone or something important, this is a great ritual to ease the transition.

Prepare your censer while you are preparing your altar for the ritual. Stir the ash in your censer and level it, packing it lightly. Draw an inverted capital “Y” with the single line facing away from you. Fill the trail with incense powder. If you wish to take the ritual to another level, you can make each of the legs with different scents. A single scent burns down the single line then two new scents begin after the line splits.

First complete any preliminary work you need to do (cleansing, casting of a circle, calling of deities, or any other preparation your tradition follows). When you are ready to begin the spell of parting, light the top, single leg of the trail and say:

Paths cross and separate again. Our time together has ended and now we must each return to the path to which we are drawn. I bid peace to you and yours, but from this time forth,
you have no control over me, nor I of you.

You can repeat this if you wish or simply contemplate the relationship or situation that is ending. Remember the good times and the bad. Remember why this person or thing came into your life and why it is leaving. Though the mechanics are the same, the ritual you would do for someone who has passed away would clearly be different from a ritual for the end of a romantic relationship. Always try and see things as they truly are. You had this person in your life for a reason and the person has left for a reason. Face that reason, whatever it may be, and consider it as the incense trail breaks off into two different paths.

As the two new paths burn, think about your future and how you want it to look now that this change has taken place. Where are you going and what do you hope to find? You can enhance this ritual even further with the use of a hidden trail. You can cover the entire trail before lighting it or, if you prefer, you can cover just two or even one of the branches. Covering the trail can represent the unknown, which is what we all face at the end of a relationship or situation.

You can also reverse this spell and use it for a joining instead. What a wonderful thing to have in your censer at a handfasting or other event of unification! Simply turn the form over into a right-side-up capital “Y.” Light each of the two top arms at the same time. As they burn down to the single trail toward you, the two paths become one.

A Magickal Surprise

This is one of my very favorite uses for hidden trails. It's a lot of fun and a way to share your incense creativity with your friends. Create a hidden incense trail and then present the censer to someone else. Mark the place where the trail should be lighted and then allow the other person to enjoy your surprise message. Likewise, a hidden trail could be prepared by a host for a gathering. The censer could be displayed and the guests could enjoy the surprises that are hidden beneath the ash.

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12

Chaining
Combustible Incense

W
hen using an ash base in a censer, you have some amazing options for incense burning. One of the most versatile and useful techniques is “chaining” incense. Just as a chain of dominoes can be knocked down by tipping a single tile, multiple pieces of incense can be burned by lighting a single piece. This ability has many obvious applications for both fun and, more importantly, magickal purposes.

There are a few techniques that can be performed without using an ash base, but most chaining techniques will require an ash bed to work properly. Chaining uses one burning piece of incense that, properly positioned, can be used to light many others with ease. An ash bed ensures the incense will burn completely and will properly light any incense touching it. Since incense will burn underneath a properly prepared bed of ash, some incense may even be burned below the surface.

Naturally, the first step for most chain burning is to prepare the ash bed. This can be done just as you would prepare ash for charcoal. The simplest approach is to stir the ash to fluff it and then lightly tap the censer a few times to level and slightly compact it. The ash needs to remain fairly loose but compacted slightly so incense placed on the surface won't sink too deeply.

Joss Stick to Joss Stick

Any form of self-burning incense can be chained, but the easiest is the joss stick. Most commercial (and even homemade) joss sticks work great for this technique. Keep in mind that all incense used in chaining must be small enough to fit inside your censer. For instance, if you plan to chain three joss sticks, all three must be able to fit in your censer simultaneously. The only exception would be incense used to light the chain, which could stick up above or out of the censer.

Admittedly, some joss sticks will work better than others. I've found that most commercial joss sticks can chain easily, but occasionally I'll find a scent that isn't completely reliable. Homemade incense is more likely to have problems, although most of what I've tested has worked. To test a joss stick's suitability, make a simple chain with it.

Begin by breaking the stick into two pieces small enough to lay comfortably together in your censer. Lay one piece of the stick on the surface of the ash. (Don't forget to lightly pack the ash first or the stick might immediately sink below the surface.) Place the second piece at a 90-degree angle to the first so that
only the tip
of it overlaps the first piece. Don't allow the second piece to hang over the edge of the first—only its tip should be on top of the first piece. You can place the second piece anywhere along the length of the first piece, but for best testing results, overlap the second stick at least 1 inch away from the end you light.

With the two pieces overlapped, you are ready for testing. I'll talk more about lighting chains later, but for now just use a butane lighter to ignite the end of the first stick. You can simply apply the flame directly to the end of the joss stick as it lay on the ash bed. Remember, the first stick is the bottom one, below the overlapping second one. You may have to keep the flame in contact with the end of the stick for several seconds longer than normal since it is lying flat. Usually a piece lit this way won't flame, but simply start to glow. If yours does flame, remember
not
to blow it out. After all, it is atop a bed of ash that can be easily blown. If the stick flames for more than a few seconds, fan it lightly with a card or small paper to gently blow out the flame. Better yet, you might briefly cover the censer to extinguish the flame. The censer's lid is the best choice for this, although any flat, non-flammable item (like a ceramic tile) will also work. For obvious reasons, avoid placing paper or cardboard over the censer to extinguish flaming incense, and definitely don't use your hand.

When you light incense in this way, you may notice that where the flame touches it, the ash might change colors. This is especially true with older, heavily used ash. That's to be expected and is actually a cleaning technique for soiled ash (see the Ash section of chapter
5
). It is also normal for ash to change colors where burning incense touches it. Oils deposited from the incense smoke often cause this. The heat may also change the color of used ash, as can incense with a large amount of resins since some tiny particles may not burn completely.

Overlapping joss sticks to create a chain
(the overlapping is exaggerated for illustration).

Once the first stick is burning, watch as it burns down to the point where the second stick overlaps it. At first glance, the incense may appear to go out, but don't fear. Even if the second stick fails to ignite, the first will nearly always continue to burn, although the second stick might obscure the glowing point for a minute or two. In most cases, just as the glowing point emerges from beneath the second stick, both sticks begin to glow and burn normally. As long as that happens, the incense is well-suited to chain burning. If the second stick fails to light, you might try the experiment a second time to be certain. The vast majority of incense I've tested this way (including samples from every major Japanese manufacturer) works just fine. Once you've confirmed that your joss sticks will burn in a chain, you can begin to experiment and have fun. Just remember that the burning stick should always rest
below
the stick you wish to chain.

Masala to Masala

You can use the same technique for sticks with a wooden rod in the cen
ter. Naturally, it's a good idea to test any particular brand or scent first to make certain it will burn while lying flat. If it will, then it stands a good chance of chaining also. In many cases, masala sticks can use the same techniques as joss sticks. It may be necessary to break off the part of the wooden rod that extends beyond the incense material.

You can also take advantage of the wooden rod in masala sticks to create “crossed sword” chain burning. While you can do this with joss sticks, it usually results in part of the incense left unburned, so I prefer the technique only for masala-style sticks. This technique will also work using many kinds of censers, so an ash-filled censer is not mandatory for “crossed sword” burning. Begin with one stick set in a censer at an angle. A normal incense boat can be used for this, but a censer filled with ash, sand, or other materials will also work very well.

“Crossed swords” incense chain.

Place a second incense stick so that it crosses the first stick much like two crossed swords. It is usually best to have the second stick have the least amount of overlap as possible, so you may want the second tip set very close to the first stick rather than overlapping in the middle, as crossed swords are normally seen. The reason is that when the first stick burns down to the point of overlap, the second stick will ignite and burn in both directions. If you overlap the two sticks in the middle, the second stick will ignite, burn into two pieces, and the top part of the stick will fall, posing a fire hazard.

Cone to Cone

This is a more difficult process, but it can still be done with a proper ash bed. There are several different configurations that will work for cone to cone burning. The easiest method is to lay both cones on their sides. Place the second cone so that its narrow tip is in direct contact with the bottom of the first cone. Light the first cone at the narrow tip and once it burns down to the wide base, it will ignite the narrow end of the second cone fairly easily.

Alternately, the cones can be placed on their sides so that the wide bases are touching as completely as possible. This may pose a bit more of a challenge since the wide base of the second cone will be more difficult to ignite; if the second cone has extremely good burning properties, it should work for you. This method will also produce a bell curve of smoke. It will begin with a thin stream of smoke that builds into a larger and larger stream. When the second cone is ignited there will be a considerable amount of smoke coming from the pair. As the first cone burns out and the second cone burns toward its narrow end, the amount of smoke will continue to decrease. This technique can be effective for chanting or other ritual work that begins slowly, builds to a crescendo, and then reduces slowly to a low volume or speed.

Another technique for chaining one cone to another is to place the second cone on the ash lying on its side. Place the first cone upright with the wide base on top of the narrow end of the second cone. This will cause the second cone to be pressed into the ash a bit, but that should not be a problem. Light the narrow end of the first cone. As it burns down to the wide base the second cone's tip will ignite. The second cone will then burn on its side. This second cone can also then be chained using one of the other cone-to-cone techniques, creating a chain of three, four, or more cones to suit longer rituals.

Combinations

The most fun and exciting form of chain burning is combining these various techniques. The basic concept is simple: one piece of burning incense can ignite another. Once you have experimented a little with that simple idea, your only limit is your own imagination. I hope by this point in reading you already have many applications for these techniques in your own incense burning practices and rituals. What follows is merely a few suggestions on how you can combine these techniques. I have been using these methods for years, so most of these ideas are based on my own experimentation.

When combining various techniques, keep a few basic principles in mind. First, it is easiest to use a large burning area to ignite a small one. For example, it is much easier to ignite a joss stick from the base of a cone than to ignite a wide cone from a joss stick. Both can be done, but the large surface area of the burning base of a cone makes igniting other incense fairly simple.

Next, keep in mind that it is easier to light incense at the end rather than in the center. Thin incense (be it joss stick, masala stick, or even an incense trail) can be lit at any point on its length, but large incense cylinders, dhoops, and cones are far less likely to ignite in the middle. The reason is that heat has to penetrate the entire thickness of the incense in order to light. When you light incense at its end, the heat can easily reach the entire thickness of the incense, but lighting it along its length means all of the heat must penetrate from one side.

Not all incense burns at the same temperature. Different incense ingredients burn at different temperatures. Incense that contains clove or saltpeter, for example, will burn hotter (and therefore faster) than incense without those ingredients. Thus it is easier to ignite other incense from hot-burning types than from cooler-burning types. If you are using incense that burns very slowly, it may not be a good choice to ignite other incense. You might want to put it at the end of your chain rather than at the start or the middle.

Incense will usually burn when buried under ash, but it is harder to smell. The deeper the incense is buried, the less the scent will reach the air. Sometimes this is advantageous since you might use a small piece of joss stick buried deep under ash to connect two sections of an incense chain. The incense will burn, but it will not give off scent or discolor the ash above it if placed deep enough in the ash. That can be used to great effect, as your chain will appear to be finished burning only to then, seemingly without any intervention, ignite a new chain or a new section of the first chain. This can be a wonderful sleight of hand.