In this Herbal Craft snippet, I have decided to offer some suggestions for a homemade incense for House Cleansing, share my favorite recipe for the spring & summer months, and give you some helpful quick tips for making your own herbal incense blends.
 Wild-crafted White Sagebrush, homemade smudge bundles & loose. Spring cleaning? Clearing out after quarantine? New or redesigned space? There are many reasons why we could throw open the windows, let out the stuffy air, pull out the cleaning rags, let the sunlight shine in, and get down to deep-cleaning business. For some of us, throwing in a bit of homemade craft just makes it fun. And, for some of us, the energetic boost of using natural materials in certain ways, lifts our spirits and raises the good vibes in our space. In this Herbal Craft snippet, I have decided to offer some suggestions for a homemade incense for House Cleansing, and share my favorite recipe for the spring & summer months. First, to select herbs consider things like season & circumstance. For example, I am writing this from the Northern Hemisphere, albeit close to the equator, and we're rushing up on summertime. Plus, like much of the world, we're coming out of quarantined stay-at-home orders and many of us have different levels of stress feelings associated with home right now - whether we can't wait to just GO someplace or we're still nervous about spending too much time in public. In this case, I'd select herbs with light, pleasant & refreshing vibes or aromas. Depending on knowledge or preferences, you should choose what makes you feel good, healthy, and refreshed. Light florals, like rose, lemongrass, lavender, or marigold are good at this time of year and have vibrations of comfort, healing, rejuvenation, and energy. Bay leaves, basil, and sage also have energizing and cleansing properties. And, more musky aromas like copal resin, gum arabic, sandalwood or cedar have powerful cleansing, healing, and energizing properties. There are many others, and even a simple classic sage smudge, or a bundle of sage, lavender, & cedar, can clear a home or sick room to great advantage. If you like blending dried herbs and have a fire/heat-proof container or incense burner & some charcoal, give the following blend a try. |
 First Lavender flower from a young plant. House Cleansing Incense Blend: Gold or White Copal 5 parts (base) Lavender 4 parts Marigold 4 parts Mugwort 4 parts Yarrow 4 parts Sage 3 parts | Quick Tips: If you can, get the Copal resin in powder form; however, it doesn't take too much to powder the bits yourself with a mortar & pestle if you have one. The other flowers, leaves, and herbs should be dried. If you cultivate or wildcraft your own, allow for some drying. Fresh herbs don't burn or smolder well in an incense. |
First, measure the resin powder into a bowl. The parts can be grams, teaspoons, or tablespoons depending on how much you want to make and what tools you have at your disposal. Into that, add the other herbs you've chosen according to the part proportions listed.
Yes, big marigold blossoms may be hard to catch with a teaspoon. But, eye-it-out with a confident guesstimate, or grind the herbs & flowers in a spice-grinder individually and measure the powder. Or, work it to smaller bits in the mortar & pestle until you feel like you can make proportional measurements.
When you have it all proportioned, stir everything together in your bowl or give it a mix-together in the mortar & pestle. Make sure you have a heat/fire-proof vessel to burn it in - such as a small cast iron caldron not used for food, or some stone-carved or brass incense burners.
Some people just put a pile of the herbs into their burner, hold a lighter to it until it catches, and very gently blow over it until it gets a good smoldering & smoking burn. Alternatively, you can get your hands on some charcoal discs used for smoldering incense. Light the disc, put it in the burning vessel, and sprinkle your House Cleansing incense on top a bit at a time. It may eventually stop or slow down smoking - as it does, add some more incense or poke it about with a metal tong to burn anything not touching the charcoal. Every now and then, gently blowing over the charcoal will get some burn on a diminishing glow.
Once you've got it smoking, you can carry it around the house like a smudge, clearing the air and energy of each room & space. Or, you can leave it centered safely in the main room or space of your home. Remember to throw open those windows for some fresh air circulation if it gets too smokey. And, if you have a central air vent, you might safely place your Cleansing Blend on the side of the room near a return-vent. It will circulate the cleansing energy through the whole house. This is also especially good when using a sage smudge as well.
Happy healing & blessed House Cleansing to all of you!
Yes, big marigold blossoms may be hard to catch with a teaspoon. But, eye-it-out with a confident guesstimate, or grind the herbs & flowers in a spice-grinder individually and measure the powder. Or, work it to smaller bits in the mortar & pestle until you feel like you can make proportional measurements.
When you have it all proportioned, stir everything together in your bowl or give it a mix-together in the mortar & pestle. Make sure you have a heat/fire-proof vessel to burn it in - such as a small cast iron caldron not used for food, or some stone-carved or brass incense burners.
Some people just put a pile of the herbs into their burner, hold a lighter to it until it catches, and very gently blow over it until it gets a good smoldering & smoking burn. Alternatively, you can get your hands on some charcoal discs used for smoldering incense. Light the disc, put it in the burning vessel, and sprinkle your House Cleansing incense on top a bit at a time. It may eventually stop or slow down smoking - as it does, add some more incense or poke it about with a metal tong to burn anything not touching the charcoal. Every now and then, gently blowing over the charcoal will get some burn on a diminishing glow.
Once you've got it smoking, you can carry it around the house like a smudge, clearing the air and energy of each room & space. Or, you can leave it centered safely in the main room or space of your home. Remember to throw open those windows for some fresh air circulation if it gets too smokey. And, if you have a central air vent, you might safely place your Cleansing Blend on the side of the room near a return-vent. It will circulate the cleansing energy through the whole house. This is also especially good when using a sage smudge as well.
Happy healing & blessed House Cleansing to all of you!
Resources & Related Stuff:
Crafting Homemade Incense Cones
Leaves & Roots - herbs & supplies
Spice of Life Herbs and Holistic Center - herbs & supplies
Crafting Homemade Incense Cones
Leaves & Roots - herbs & supplies
Spice of Life Herbs and Holistic Center - herbs & supplies
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