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Herbal Incense & Incense Resins
Here at Indigo Herbs, we stock a wide range of herbal incense, each known for their individual fine and powerful scents and also perfect for making incense blends. On our herbal Incense pages you will find many ingredients for incense making and burning as well as burners, charcoal and our own range of incense blends.
All our incense is 100% natural, loose, non combustible materials which can be burnt on charcoal disks. The aromas are sensual powerful and evocative. You can blend different types of incense together or burn them alone. We have a wide selection of resins, gums, herbs, spice powders, flowers, fruit peels, woods and crystals. All the incense we sell is 100% pure and of a botanical origin. They are also all free from synthetic fragrances, binders or burning agents.
Burning incense is an ancient natural art that has benefits that are medicinal and atmospheric. Incense has been burnt in ceremonies for thousands of years and some believe that the vibration of the various plants themselves are responsible for creating a specific atmosphere or mood when burnt.
Smells certainly have a huge, if often subconscious effect on the psyche and natural incense smoke is no exception to this. It has been used at some point in almost every spiritual practice from the biggest world-wide religions, to the most secret cults, the free-est hippies to individual hedge-witches.
Natural incense smoke is often powerful and quite thick, so get in the mood for some aromatic drama, sit back and enjoy. Because of their potency, caution is recommended if burning natural incense in the presence of babies or very small children.
Choosing & blending natural incense
To help you choose incense ingredients either to burn individually or to make your own blends, we have created a choosing and blending wheel which defines the action, aroma and note of each of these ingredients. Incense blending is the first form of perfumery so go ahead explore your senses and conjure up some incense blends to create and enhance the mood.
We have also blended some fantastic Indigo Herbal Incense house blends to inspire you, why not give one a try? |
Using Herbal Incense & Incense Resins
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Incense Blending
Incense blending is a deep, personal, evocative, playful and sensual ritual. It’s all about drinking in flavours with your nose and feeling the aromas with your whole self.
What does a scent make you feel or think? Does it bring memories; does it inspire your imagination and your creative dreamer? What aromas do you like, which aromas bring you to earth, heaven, to rest or play? Where do the scents take you? Blending incense is a like painting a picture, writing a piece of music, or making a meal. It’s also like fixing an engine or decoding a riddle. What ingredients work together, in what quantities? It’s an opportunity to be a creator or creatrix. Then later when you sit back and enjoy your endeavours it’s like eating the meal, wearing the dress, riding the bike, listening to the song. What do you want your incense blend to say? Thank you, welcome, new beginnings, goodbye, I love you, journey to forgotten places.
Peoples of the earth have been mixing aromas for thousands of years, so it is human nature to work with the evocative power of nature’s sensual smells. By working with this power we can harness the energy of the herbs, woods, resins, gums, flowers and seeds. In this way the plant medicines bring their subtle beneficial gifts and natural healing qualities. |
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Benzoin Resin
Styrax benzoin
Origin: Resin from Sumatra
Scent: Warming, vanilla like, balsamic and sweet.
Benzoin resin is an incense that is good for clearing spaces, it can relieve nervous tension and headaches. It can clear stuffy enviroments and create an enviroment for thinking clearly, feeling positive or invoking in ceremony.
Benzoin has a long history of use as a medicine, and can act as an expectorant, therfore it can aid deep breathing and clear the respiratory pathways. |
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Black Storax
Liquidambar orientalis.
Origin: Turkey
Scent: Sweet, Balsamic & Bitter, fresh and also Caramel like !
Black Storax was known in ancient Egypt as 'Miniaki' which translates as "festive fragrance".
Since ancient times Black Storax has been used to create an enviroment of calm and relaxation, it is also said to be an aid for insomniacs. It is burnt to protect against negativity in many magical traditions. It also has sensual, loving and inspiring qualities.
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Copal Resin
Copaifera officinalis
Origin: Resin from Peru
Scent: Sweet, balsamic, warm, woody, light, lemony and bitter.
Copal is indiginous to South America and has been used traditionally in medicine ceremonies for many years.
It is used to give thanks to Great Spirit and the ancestors. It is light, sweet, uplifting and powerful and creates an enviroment suitable for meditation, prayer, celebration and thanks.
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Dammar Resin
Shorea
Origin: Resin from Sumatra
Scent: Fresh, sweet, and balsamic
Dammar incense is known to lift sadness and melancholy. Its aroma is light and uplifting, it lifts the user up and brings a feeling of safety, clarity, serenity and peace. |
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Dragon's Blood powder
Daemomorops draco
Origin: Sumatra
Scent: Medicinal, germolene like, bitter, pungent.
Dragons Blood is used as an incense to clear a space of negative energies or entities. Traditionally it has a history of being used ceremonially. It is thought to potentize spells and focus intent. It is very grounding and creates an atmosphere of "call to action"
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Elemi Gum
Canarium luzonicum
Origin: Phillipines
Scent: Minty, lemony, sweet, herby, balsamic, uplifting and clearing
Elemi when burnt as charcoal has a beautiful aroma similar to Frankinsence.
It is an expectorant, so it is useful to burn for respiratory complaints. As Elemi opens the chest up and makes breathing easier, it also opens the spirit up, and it is uplifting and clearing.
Elemi is a gum so it is sticky and soft to handle. If it is being worked into a blend it can be helpful to freeze it and chop it finely then blend it with other incense ingredients.
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Frankinsence Resin
Boswellia serrata
Origin: Resin from Eritrea
Scent: Sweet, uplifting, and balsamic
Frankinsence was traditionally used in many ancient cultures for ceremony, prayer, healing and ritual. Most famously frankinsence is known to be one of the gifts brought by the Magi.
Frankinsence is said to help open the higher energy centres and facilitate the user in meditation, prayer and connection. Pure Frankincense Resin is a natural and pure aromatic, it can be used to create a special high energy sacred space and is known to be uplifting and peace-bringing. |
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Greek Jasmine Incense
Made by
Greek Orthodox Monks
Origin: Mount Athos
Scent: Sweet, musky, flowery, sensual, evocative.
This secret recipe Jasmine blend made by Greek Orthodox monks is a truly beautiful and uplifting incense.
Jasmine is good for calming the emotions, lifting depression and bringing an atmosphere of confidence and optimism to the user.
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Menthyl crystals
Mentha Arvensis
Origin: China
Scent; Powerful minty, pentrating, herby and clearing.
Menthyl crystals are an organic compound that have been synthetically extracted from Peppermint oil. When the crystals are burnt as incense they release an extremely powerful minty aroma. It is useful to inhale during a cough or cold, as it can unblock nasal passageways, sinuses and a heavy head.
Other uses: Menthyl crystals are used in many preparations such as tigers balm, and cough cold expectorant balms for the chest
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Myrrh Resin
Comiphora molmol
Origin: Kenya
Scent: Balsamic, sweet, yet slightly bitter, musky.
Myrrh can also be used in mixtures of incense, to provide an earthy element to the overall smell. It is a powerful anti-microbial agent so its smoke is cleansing. It is also traditionally a sacred smoke, so its qualities are uplifting and energising. Myrrh was once worth its weight in gold. The ancient Egyptians used it for embalming the dead. Famously it is also known to be one of the sacred gifts brought to the baby Christ by the Magi.
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Opopanax
Sweet Myrrh
Commiphora holtziana
Origin: Resin from Somalia
Scent: Spicy, cardamon like, musky, balsamic, sweet, heavy, heady and rich.
Opopanax is often burnt as an incense to evoke, stimulate and awaken sensory perception and sensory awareness. It is thought to be purifying and cleansing, and to heighten intuitive awareness. Opopanax has a rich, spicey, fruity, earthy smell which brings the attention of the user in touch with the body. It is an evokative aroma to explore blended and perfume making .
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Palo Santo
Bursera graveolens.
Origin: South America
Scent: Sweet, balsamic and woody
Used for thousands of years by the Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon for its medicinal properties and fragrance, Palo Santo truly deserves its name as the "Holy Wood". Palo Santo incense is often used for purification and meditation. It is known to ward off bad energy, unwanted spirit presence and misfortune.. Mixes wonderfully with copal and benzoin resins.
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Pine Needles
Pinus Sylvestris
Origin: Finland
Smell: Clean, fresh, woody, herby and green.
Pine needles can be burnt as incense and create a wonderful wintery uplifting aroma. The pine is an anti-bacterial, so it is medicinally cleansing to the atmosphere and it is an expectorant and good for clearing the head and sinuses. The Pine needle aroma is evocative of a winter afternoon spent by the fire hearth.
The Celts saw it as a tree of protection and strength and burnt the needles to disperse negative energy or sickness. Pine needles make an excellent ingredient for an incense blend.
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Greek Rose Incense
Made by
Greek Orthodox Monks
Origin: Mount Athos
Scent: Flowery, sweet.
Rose incense is a good remedy for grief, for letting go, death and loss. It is uplifting and healing to the heart. In this way it is also used for romance and love, to create an atmosphere of true love, it can be used for a ceremony such as marriage or handfasting. Rose is also used for devotion in religious ceremonies, for Catholics it symbolizes the love of the Mother Mary, and it is certainly appreciated widely as a feminine scent, invoking healing of the heart.
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Rosemary
Rosmarinus officinalis
Origin: Southern Europe
Scent: Fresh, herby, green and penetrating.
Rosemary when burnt as an incense offers the qualities of protection, loyalty, cleansing, clearing and focusing of the mind. Rosemary brings mental clarity, and can ward away negative energies. It is physically stimulating and arousing.
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Yellow Sandalwood powder
Santalum Album
Origin: A scented wood from Australia
Scent: Sweat, clean, marzipan like, woody and fresh.
Sandalwood's aroma when burnt as an incense aids peaceful sleep, states of higher consciousness, feelings of love and a sense of peacefulness. It has been associated with meditation, sacred spaces and the peaceful temple environment for many years.The yellow powdered wood releases a beautiful aroma considered to have emotional and spiritual benefits.
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Sandarac Resin
Tetraclinis articulata
Origin: Resin from Greece
Scent: Sweet, light, balsamic and Frankincense like.
Sandarac incense relaxes, calms and uplifts the user, as its sophoric aroma induces peaceful states and encourages a good nights sleep. Sandarac is a traditional North Africa folk medicine. It is used to bring an atmosphere of calm and burnt as an expectorant to soothe the chest and throat. It is uplifting for the spirit and used as an aid to meditation.
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Spices for Incense
Spices have been used traditionally in incense blending for many years. Although the spices can release unusual aromas when burnt they are included in blends to bring energy, power, strength, passion and focus.
Cinnamon: Spicey & sweet
Cinnamomum zeylanicum
Clove: Pepery, spicey & sweet
Syzygium aromaticum
Cardamon: Vanillery, spicey & sweet.
Elattaria cardamomum
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Thyme for incense
Thymus vulgaris
Origin: Southern Europe
Scent: Herby and green.
Thyme leaf when burnt as an incense is known to clear the mind, and sharpen the thinking.
It can bring strength and clear the air of illnesses and disease. It can also clear the psychic space of heavy energy and welcome in a clearer space of new possibilitys.
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White Sage
Salvia Alpine
Origin: California
Scent: Herby, green, woody and firehearth.
Sage is a traditional medicine plant of the Native American peoples, used for healing and ceremony. It is used for cleansing and purification, and to open people up to a greater connection with the sacred. It is thought to banish negative energy, not only on the physical level, but also emotionally, mentally and spiritually. It has a very aromatic, sharp and stimulating smell, and its action works on all the senses. However it is honoured in Native American tradition to be sacred herb used for sending prayer and working with the power of spirit.
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using the herbs
BURNING INCENSE
Simply light a charcoal by holding the charcoal in one hand over a flame until it starts to sizzle red and sometimes crackle, then set it down on a heat resistant charcoal burner and leave it until it heats up and turns grey(5 minutes max). Next take a very small amount of resin and crumble it onto the charcoal then cover with lid of burner, now sit back and enjoy the heady smells of real resin burning.
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