I get this question a lot in terms of scent-sensitive scenarios — you can check those out in my answered questions page. :) But to answer your question, any loose incense is going to smell a little smoky, yes. However, they don’t all smell like marijuana. In fact, the only thing that smells remotely close is sage, and even then, your family should be able to smell the vast difference.

If you want to avoid this smoky, sometimes overpowering scent, I would see if you’re maybe letting the incense burn for too long in open flame. Remember that it has to smoulder — the more that you light on fire, the more smoke you get.

You can also try switching over to Joss sticks (those long dried incense sticks most commonly sold in stores.

I hope this helps!

Blessed Be
)O(

** EDIT: 02/23/12: One more day until the contest officially closes! **

Surprise!

A lot of people ask me things like “Where can I get an altar cloth?” or “Where can I buy/how can I make my own incense?” Right now you have an opportunity to get both! I am giving away 10 gift packages!

Each package contains:

• 1 altar cloth (of varying colours and styles), measuring 2 feet by 2 feet
• 1 bag of homemade incense
• 1 special surprise gift to put on your new altar! (should you so choose to)
• a handwritten note from me explaining the significance of the ingredients, colours, and gifts used. :)

Each gift package is different - each altar cloth is different, and each bag of incense is unique, and homemade by me, TheLivingWiccan. The incense is handmade using a mortar and pestle, and ingredients I either harvested from my personal gardens, around the world (such as the Italian wild roses some of you might be getting!), or harvested directly from personal rituals of mine (such as Sumach from Samhain or Balsam Fir from Yule).

The Rules:

1. You must reblog to enter. Likes will not count.
2. You can reblog as many times as you’d like, but it won’t change your chances of winning.
3. You must be a follower of TheLivingWiccan to enter.
4. You must be a resident of North America. (sorry, but postage is hard to determine and expensive. I will be doing other giveaways in the future, and I will definitely open it up then)

Other Notes:

Winners will be selected through random.org to ensure maximum fairness. I will post the names of the winners, but also private message you if you win should you miss the post. I will take any allergies into account when selecting which incenses to give for the winners.

****The Giveaway will be open until February 24th at 11:59 EST — exactly one month from the original post****

Blessed Be, and Best of Luck!

)O(

TheLivingWiccan
 

** EDIT: 02/23/12: One more day until the contest officially closes! **

Surprise!

A lot of people ask me things like “Where can I get an altar cloth?” or “Where can I buy/how can I make my own incense?” Right now you have an opportunity to get both! I am giving away 10 gift packages!

Each package contains:

• 1 altar cloth (of varying colours and styles), measuring 2 feet by 2 feet
• 1 bag of homemade incense
• 1 special surprise gift to put on your new altar! (should you so choose to)
• a handwritten note from me explaining the significance of the ingredients, colours, and gifts used. :)

Each gift package is different - each altar cloth is different, and each bag of incense is unique, and homemade by me, TheLivingWiccan. The incense is handmade using a mortar and pestle, and ingredients I either harvested from my personal gardens, around the world (such as the Italian wild roses some of you might be getting!), or harvested directly from personal rituals of mine (such as Sumach from Samhain or Balsam Fir from Yule).

The Rules:

1. You must reblog to enter. Likes will not count.
2. You can reblog as many times as you’d like, but it won’t change your chances of winning.
3. You must be a follower of TheLivingWiccan to enter.
4. You must be a resident of North America. (sorry, but postage is hard to determine and expensive. I will be doing other giveaways in the future, and I will definitely open it up then)

Other Notes:

Winners will be selected through random.org to ensure maximum fairness. I will post the names of the winners, but also private message you if you win should you miss the post. I will take any allergies into account when selecting which incenses to give for the winners.

****The Giveaway will be open until February 24th at 11:59 EST — exactly one month from this post****

Blessed Be, and Best of Luck!

)O(

TheLivingWiccan

Surprise!

A lot of people  ask me things like “Where can I get an altar cloth?” or “Where can I buy/how can I make my own incense?” Right now you have an opportunity to get both! I am giving away 10 gift packages!

Each package contains:

• 1 altar cloth (of varying colours and styles), measuring 2 feet by 2 feet
• 1 bag of homemade incense
• 1 special surprise gift to put on your new altar! (should you so choose to)
• a handwritten note from me explaining the significance of the ingredients, colours, and gifts used. :)

Each gift package is different - each altar cloth is different, and each bag of incense is unique, and homemade by me, TheLivingWiccan. The incense is handmade using a mortar and pestle, and ingredients I either harvested from my personal gardens, around the world (such as the Italian wild roses some of you might be getting!), or harvested directly from personal rituals of mine (such as Sumach from Samhain or Balsam Fir from Yule).

The Rules:

1. You must reblog to enter. Likes will not count.
2. You can reblog as many times as you’d like, but it won’t change your chances of winning.
3. You must be a follower of TheLivingWiccan to enter.
4. You must be a resident of North America. (sorry, but postage is hard to determine and expensive. I will be doing other giveaways in the future, and I will definitely open it up then)

Other Notes:

Winners will be selected through random.org to ensure maximum fairness. I will post the names of the winners, but also private message you if you win should you miss the post. I will take any allergies into account when selecting which incenses to give for the winners.

****The Giveaway will be open until February 24th at 11:59 EST — exactly one month from this post****

Blessed Be, and Best of Luck!

)O(

TheLivingWiccan

eirecrescent:

Part of my altar in the daylight!! :D 

Wow. You see, this is why I love when questions like this come around. It makes me question my own personal practices — and not in a bad way!

I have actually never thought of that before, believe it or not. There are many ways to hold incense, obviously. Rocks, bundles, bowls, a hole in the ground, censers…. Shells have been used for burning containers for years, specifically abalone. I don’t know exactly how “disrespectful” it would be, for the shell. Never would I presume to know the Earth’s will…. But perhaps why this came about was specifically because shells are associated with water, to contain the fire? Just a thought.

I know many people, myself included, who use shells to burn incense specifically when praying to a Deity of water. Perhaps that should be all they are used for, or perhaps they hold a place more outwardly in practice….

I’m off to ponder this some more, maybe write about it in my journal.

Thank you for your kind opinion of me, and for your question! Questions like these help many — myself definitely included — expand their experience and knowledge in the Craft and in life. And I hope this answered it enough. :)

Blessed Be
)O(

Feathers and wands (and swords, in some traditions) are pretty much the universally accepted symbols for air next to incense. :)

All wands are different, but here’s a really nice link for a how-to make one.

)O(

Well, good for you for keeping your priorities in order. :) Plus, it’s always nice knowing how to make your own candles and salts! As for not spending enough time with your boyfriend, you can still do that — have him join in on some of these really fun projects. :)

First off I’m going to start with candles. Making your own candles is cheap, and easy. It allows you to do things with your candles you wouldn’t be able to otherwise — you can shape them into molds, you can make blue cinnamon scented candles if you need specifically that (something you’ll never find in a store, trust me), and you can even melt things into them or use them for extreme poppet magic. You can put things in a candle like photographs, charms, or hair if you’re feeling especially archaic. ;)

The first few times, of course, it’s a little tricky. Here’s a pretty easy tutorial I’ve found online for you, but there are plenty of others.

As for bath salts: these are way easier to make — and most times, way cheaper — than candles. One of the best things about making bath salts is that you don’t have to use them for the bath — they can make fantastic salts for cleansing a space, if you charge them with a specific purpose while making them. You can say a chant while mixing them to make specific salts for lust, love, protection, etc, to sprinkle around a room.

Now I know you didn’t ask about incense, because incense is pretty cheap to begin with. But here’s a tutorial I did on how to make your own, and cheap, if you’d like it. The same benefits apply here: you can make whatever you’d like, things you couldn’t find in a store.

There’s one main theme running through here: Experiment! It’s the best part about making your own materials for the Craft. Best of luck, and have fun!

I hope this helps!
Blessed Be
)O(

First off, good for you for sticking to your gut all these years! And it’s so great that you had such an easy family experience, especially in the Bible Belt area you live in (assuming you lived there in highschool).

Now. As for doing rituals in the presence of your allergy-prone mother-in-law:

I’m assuming that you would like to use candles and incense either for

• A) their wonderful smell, or
• B) their ability to cleanse and consecrate an area for ritual.

If it’s A, I’m afraid I can’t help you there, if your mother-in-law is allergic to everything.

B, I can help you with. There are many other ways to cleanse an area for ritual. I can name a few here, if you’d like.

• Salt. Sprinkle little bits of salt around the corners of the area you will be working in.
• Water. Bless the water, and do the same as if it were salt. Or, you could even add the two together.
• Meditation and Raising Energy. This usually should be done anyway, but just the visualization of getting rid of those negative energies can be enough.
• Broom! Wooo, the broom! Not only is it fun to feel a little extra “witchy”, but the brrom really does cleanse the area, both emotionally and physically! Start in the East corner of the room, and move counter-clockwise, or “widdershins”, if you prefer.

You may also be wanting to use the incenses because they relate to your cause (mistletoe for blessing, rose for love, etc). Keep in mind: you don’t always have to burn incense. Why not try actually having the physical plant with you? Bring a few rose petals into ritual with you. They don’t have to be burned!

But if you don’t like any of those suggestions: Why not just wait till you move to do ritual? It’s sad, but you may just have to wait a few more months until you can properly smell up your house with delicious odors!

Now on to Part 2: Living in the Bible Belt

I once lived in a small town with small-town ideals. I never had any huge problems myself, but I know exactly what could happen.

Here’s what you can do to find some tools for ritual in a Christian-based area.

1) Candles

• Candles are so easy to find anywhere. And if you don’t feel comfortable buying even incense for your spellwork, you can find scented, coloured, and even shaped candles to fit your needs.

2) Incense

• Not only is incense easy to find (though a little harder to find than candles), it’s also easy to make. If you don’t feel comfortable having much incense in your house, especially if you have guests over, you can definitely feel comfortable with having plants and herbs.
• A lot of people forget that you can make your own incense. It seems strange to me, but it’s hard to find a person with a well-stocked herb cupboard just for making incense. It’s a practical, inexpensive way to make your own incenses! I would recommend just buying basil, parsley, garlic, rosemary (especially rosemary - it can be a substitute for any incense, sort of like the sandalwood of plants), and perhaps roses, aloe vera, violets….. Whatever you feel like.
• Basically you can find all the plants you need to make incenses out of and work magic with, and they’re not really all that unusual! No one will suspect someone with cumin, allspice, garlic powder, nutmeg, or chili powder in their pantry - you’ll just seem like you love to cook. 
• In short: Garden centres are your best friend.

I may put up a list later of the most useful herbs to have in your pantry - so check back for that later!

Now, as for tools - none of which are “mandatory” anyway.

3) Athame, Sword, Wand, etc….

• You can easily use a stick! Or even your finger! You could go out and find a nice long stick and carve one yourself - not only would you then have a wand, you’d also have a one-of-a-kind magical object that you have a personal connection with.

4) Cauldron

• Seriously, just use a pot if you have to. :)

5) Bell

• Bells are actually quite commonplace in the Christian faith anyway!

6) The Altar and its Decorations

• This is where it gets tricky. A lot of people really do want the altar in their house. I would suggest putting it in a room no one else will go in - like your bedroom.
• As for decorations, I would really go subtle with them. My altar has antlers and feathers and talismans: maybe those just aren’t practical in your case. By all means, put them up if you want them, but if you do, make sure no one who won’t understand will see them - again, like your bedroom.
• Crystals: even in the Bible Belt, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a place that sells rocks. Maybe even at a place like Home Depot or Rona - I’m not sure where you live, but those are hardware stores in Canada. They sell crystals for garden decoration and mosiacs. Why not try someplace like that?

I hope I covered everything you needed answering. If I didn’t, feel free to come back with a question more specific to what I missed. :) Best of luck on moving!

Blessed Be

)O(

Since quite a few of you seemed to make my incense making post, I figured I’d give a littld how-to for those wondering.

1) As with anything you do in the craft, you should figure out what correspondences best relate to your goal. Tonight I wanted to make a calming incense to clear and cleanse my head if negativity. So I picked:

i) Sage, for cleansing

ii) blue dragonsnaps I gathered from Italy earlier this year, blue being a colour of calm

iii) Lavender for a little bit of protection from that negativity (and I love the smell)

iv) Roses from both Canada and Italy, for a nice smell and also some power.

Always choose your contents accordingly!

2) Mix. This could be via mortar and pestle, or maybe something more modern like a food processor. Anything will do, so long as it gets crushed fine (though I personally prefer the old method).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, here’s where it gets different. If you want to keep your incense as a powder, as I do, you can simply sprinkle it on top of lit charcoal disks or pieces (be careful though, those get really hot.)

Or, you can go to steps….

3) Add a resin. Some people even use honey or fats, but these smells overpower your incenses ehen burning and sometimes smell bad. It would be best to just go out and buy a resin. Either way you decide to go, mix the resin into the powder until you have a paste.

4) Shape. Make little tiny balls out of this paste, stick it on a cookie sheet, and leave to dry for at LEAST 3 DAYS before using. Make sure they become dry before deciding to light one (the longer they dry, the better they smell. This could last years!)

And always remember, if you want to store them, put little barriers between them, otherwise they will stick together.

Here’s a great video with a more in-depth method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oFXrDIatc8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Happy incense making!! )O(