Do you make/use incense?

[Berserk]

Exactly what the title says. Do any of you guys use or make incense? I've used some of that stick incense that's so cheap and ubiquitous, but that's it.

After searching for native plants with intriguing flavors/aromas, I've become interested in possibly using them for incense among other things, but I have 0 experience in this arena.

 

[PureElegance]

NO, I hate how they smell!

I hate it in people's houses and I can barely take the incense at church (here they use it SO much that sometimes the Fire Department comes ), so I'd rather not have it at my house.


I've just always hated incense Even being around the sticks in stores bothers me XD

 

[flowersofnight]

I voted NO
I don't like burning stuff and I don't like my places to smell like anything. Jars on the ol' nerve endings.

 

[voixdinferno]

I vote yeah! in my M.t.M altar I use it

 

[Koji]

No, but my bf is really obsessed with incense. He uses it several times a day. Personally I like some of the smells, but I find others quite asphyxiating and have to tell him to put it out :S

 

[Wandering_Fox]

I tend to stay away from it ^^; I don't like strong smelling things and I had a bad experience in boy scouts when someone lit about 20 various incense sticks at once in a tent and the combination of all the scents was like walking into Yankee Doodle Candles...

 

[faith]

They give me headaches, especially anything with pine in it. So...no...

 

[MissUMana]

The smell of all those incense sticks always sickened me. I hate them.

And I don't like my place to smell of anything either.

 

[Iskanderia]

No. I am not a dirty hippie.

 

[Cerceaux]

Funny story: I bought some false eyelashes in Little Tokyo last week and was given free incense as a bonus gift.
Usually lashes come with, you know, glue or something but whatever.
I tried burning some, and it smelled okay but I prefer candles.

 

[eMiNaTiC]

No. I am not a dirty hippie.

 

[Iskanderia]

Obviously that was a joke (no, I don't think you're a dirty hippie, Berserk), but I do associate incense with stoners because pretty much the only time I've used it or seen someone else use it outside of church was to cover up the smell of pot smoke. Headshops always have a sizeable collection of incense for sale.

Edit: I used to burn cloves as incense when I was in highschool. I had to buy a jar of them a couple weeks ago for a recipe and I was shocked at how expensive they were and I felt bad for having been such a little shit and wasting all those cloves my dad had bought back then.

 

[Berserk]

I do associate incense with stoners because pretty much the only time I've used it or seen someone else use it outside of church was to cover up the smell of pot smoke

Yeah, one of my roommates this past year burned incense after smoking whenever he had it. When he didn't, he saturated all the air with shitty febreeze. Funny how that actually makes it more conspicuous than if you just open the window and let it be. Not that pot should be illegal anyway, but our campus police are real hard asses about it.

I've done some Googling and it seems like the other half of people who use incense are into it for "magickal" reasons

Apparently those of us who just want a little aromatherapy in our lives are the minority.

EDIT: Speaking of incense in church, it turns out that the plant which produces frankincense (Boswellia sacra) is being overexploited. They're finding that the trees are hardly producing any more viable seed because they've been tapped too much. No one's really sure about the status of myrrh because it hasn't been evaluated recently. I wonder if the church would ever consider reducing the use of that incense to conserve it or if the tradition runs too deep for them to do that.

 

[eMiNaTiC]

I wonder if the church would ever consider reducing the use of that incense to conserve it or if the tradition runs too deep for them to do that.

LOLOLOLOL

the church clings desperately to tradition no matter what. that's the definition of church

 

[MissUMana]

the church clings desperately to tradition no matter what. that's the definition of church [/color]

And when the Church turns its back on tradition, which is pretty much what happened to Roman Catholicism after Vatican II, the churches slowly empty. Rites are at the heart of any faith or belief. It's not only the Church that "clings desperately to tradition", it's people, because as far back as you go into the history of mankind, you'll find humans have always needed rites to try and make sense of life.

 

[PureElegance]

I've done some Googling and it seems like the other half of people who use incense are into it for "magickal" reasons

Don't deny you're one of them~
(I do think you're in the minority though, I've never heard anyone using incense for aromatherapy reasons. More like for TORTURE reasons. Gawd.)

EDIT: Speaking of incense in church, it turns out that the plant which produces frankincense (Boswellia sacra) is being overexploited. They're finding that the trees are hardly producing any more viable seed because they've been tapped too much. No one's really sure about the status of myrrh because it hasn't been evaluated recently. I wonder if the church would ever consider reducing the use of that incense to conserve it or if the tradition runs too deep for them to do that.

You're such a nerd!!!

I mean, I guess what Missumana is saying is true about people, but... Come on, you don't really need THAT much incense! At my old church in Miami it wasn't a big deal and they barely used it, but here it's like they're purposely using as much incense as they can. This really bothers me I never thought of it as some great and important tradition (to use it all the time during mass), but what do I know about incense XD

 

[eMiNaTiC]

all incense smells the same to me. i was cleaning my room just now and found a bottle of apple cinnamon incense cones. i decided to light one to see if i could detect any hint of apples. now my whole room smells like fire D:

 

[Berserk]

@PE: Yeah, I didn't think incense was that common in American churches because I don't really remember them ever using it at my school's church. I don't remember that church ever sprinkling us with holy water either though, which they did at a different Catholic church I went to... So I guess every church/diocese does things differently. I think European and Orthodox churches probably use incense more.

And yeah, I'm a huge plant nerd now. What can I say? XD

@eMiNaTiC: Yeah, most incense out there is probably cheap crap Made In China. Sorry to hear your room stinks now

 

[MissUMana]

The use of incense during mass has become rare in French churches now. Perhaps if you attend Sunday mass in a cathedral, and even then, it's not all that frequent.

 

[Wandering_Fox]

now my whole room smells like fire D:

This would be awesome! "Don't mind my room, the new incense just smells likee a campire. That and the heavy use of Pine-Sol give you the illusion of camping in the woods in the comfort of your own home!"