I’m so excited! Yesterday I got my package from Mountain Rose Herbs, and it got here a day faster than I’d expected it to. (Thank you UPS!) Inside the box were all sorts of lovely-smelling items for me to play and experiment with – I didn’t mention I went on an incense binge, did I? Well, I did.

First of all, I went ahead and bought two packs of botanical-based pre-made incense. It’s been forever and a day since I’ve bought any, because I’ve developed a chemical sensitivity over the years to the synthetic oils that many incense companies use.

The company is Surya Incense Company. I made sure to do a lot of research on them before I bought any, because I am so sensitive. Fortunately I found an environmentally kind, socially responsible company using natural ingredients. And boy, are these babies potent! I’ve not even opened up the sampler packages I bought, and my home office is filled to the brim with wonderful exotic scents. I’m very fortunate that my boyfriend likes the scent; otherwise I’d be in trouble for introducing this into our humble little apartment.

However, because of my sensitivities to certain fragrances and synthetics, I’ve spent a bit of time learning how to burn resins and herbs. I find working directly with these items packs more of an energy-related punch as you’re going directly to the source.

I bought a giant bag of Ceremonial White Sage. Instead of buying the smudge bundles, I went ahead and bought the loose leaves on stems. I find this works best for inside. You don’t have to worry about smoking up your whole apartment to the point of setting off the smoke alarms if you burn just one leaf.

Then comes the copal. I’ve never burned copal before, but here I am with a decent-sized bag of the stuff. I’m really drawn to the botanical lives of the Americas, and I’ve read all sorts of beautiful stories about traditional healers working with copal. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do with it, but I figure the muse will hit me eventually and I’ll be ready for it.

Also (excitement of excitement!) I bought an actual book on how to make incense! Amazing! I’ve talked about wanting to learn how to do this for quite some time now, and I’m finally working up the gumption to do so. My mind is filled with the possibilities. I will have to do a blog post on it when I finally get around to doing it, but know that it’s coming!