Samhain incense

Samhain is the pagan Sabbat otherwise known as Halloween, All Saints Day, Dia de Los Muertos, celebrated on October 31st to November 11th, depending on the tradition. This incense is to honor the dearly departed as well as to protect the incarnate living from any bogies or phookas may have made it across while the Veil Between the Worlds is thin. Many people also use this incense as a funeral incense. It is sweet, sultry, and mysterious. Samhain incense is attractive to spirits; discarnate and noncarnate forms of beings, but its nature is to feed and propitiate these entities, thus preserving a bond and a boundary between the worlds. Samhain incense is powerfully activating to the Third eye, so it can be used to make us more sensitive to messages and communications from the Beyond. Most people find its smell to be comforting and fascinating, as Death is Itself. For this reason, Samhain incense is helpful to resolve and honor the grief process, no matter what time of year it may come to visit. Natural Magick incenses are composed of high quality resins, herbs, and sometimes essential oils. They are ritually hand ground on appropriate days of the week for Planetary influences and on the best day of the Moon's cycle for Lunar powers. Unlike most powder incenses, I use no "base" or filler to alter or dilute the powers of the active ingredients. These magick incenses are made to be burned on incense charcoals. Light the charcoal with match or lighter, set it in a flameproof incense burner or on a brick, rock or bowl of sand, pebbles, or salt. Allow the charcoal to light completely and then sprinkle on a pinch the incense. Add more pinches as desired. See below for more detailed instructions. How to burn incense & resins: Natural Magick Shop incenses are ground in a mortar from resins, woods, herbs and spices. They have nothing in them which burns on its own, hence the need for a self-burning charcoal. First you need something safe to burn your incense in. The charcoals used to burn resins get very hot. Use a burner made for resin incense, with a metal screen, a cast iron cauldron, or you can use a glass or ceramic bowl IF you put a layer of sand, marbles, aquarium pebbles or rocks to insulate glass or ceramic from the heat of the charcoal. I often break the charcoals in half because they burn for nearly an hour. Light the charcoal with a lighter or match, and when it starts to spark, put it in the burner. It is best to let the whole charcoal begin to glow before adding any incense. Then sprinkle on the incense as desired, a little bit at a time. If you add too much or cover the charcoal completely, you might put out the charcoal. Also, most natural resin incenses smell better when burned in small amounts at a time. Keep away from kids and pets. Let the charcoal burn down completely, and make sure it's all ash before throwing out because it could set trash on fire. Advice from experience! I don't clean the burner after every use. When there is a collection of ash in the burner, pour contents into strainer over the sink and rinse with water. Let dry, and put rocks back in burner. (If you use sand you'll just have to dump the whole mess and use fresh sand). Store unused charcoal in a zip-lock bag or in a jar, because they won't burn well if they collect humidity from the air. Enjoy!