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Article author: Eleni Contzonis
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Article tag: candle therapy
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How to energetically clear your space with different types of incense and rituals
There are so many reasons on why the practice of incense burning is so rewarding. I would love to share with you my thoughts, knowledge, and experiences with different types of incense and rituals.
Below I will share with you the 5 important reasons and their benefits to why we should be using incense. And, yes, for those beautiful souls who love the idea of and benefits for using incense but don’t like the smoke, don’t worry; we have you covered with our smokeless Mist. In my book, ‘Light My Candle, The Flame Within’, I share my beliefs on the importance of scent, and why I use it as a tool with my candles and incense rituals to create breakthroughs and positive outcomes with my clients. The sense of smell is a tool that can trigger powerful mental, and emotional responses.
Incense & essential oils are used in many wonderful ways and are becoming increasingly popular around the world, including their use not only in alternative medicine, but also in common medicine practices. There is no turning a blind eye to the incredible properties displayed by both incense & essential oils. Some incense/ essential oils induce uplifting or invigorating effects, while others are more calming.
Incense/ essential oils are absorbed via the smell receptors, which have a direct link to the limbic system. This system is part of the brain that supports a variety of functions, including smell, emotions, behaviour, and memory. For this reason, incense and/ or essential oils have a powerful effect when used through topical and aromatic application.
Below, we explore these attributes and uses for Incense, highlight various benefits and suggest different incense/ essential oils for occasions and purposes. I use many different types of incense. But, I do have my favourite that I go to for different reasons. My personal go to for incense are:
Frankincense
Palo Santo
Sage
Three Wise Men Blend (our bled is of three types of resins Frankincense, Myrrh, Benzoin and combined with herbs and flowers)
Dragons Blood
All five of the above incenses cover the below positive benefits. They all help you with your journey and outcome; whether it be spiritually, prayer, to aid in ritual, reduce stress and anxiety, medicinal purposes, clearing, air purification, meditation, yoga, and much more! But, I will break it down with recommending different incense. Keep in mind, you must take into consideration that this is personal to your own journey and experience. So, I recommend you use your own discernment with what feels right for you. Some days, I wake up and I’m drawn to Palo Santo for my meditation and room clearing. Other days, I gravitate towards sage. And yes, there are days and weeks that I use frankincense for all my spiritual and cleansing needs. There is no right or wrong; stay present and allow yourself to feel what is right for you in that moment! All you need to know is that they are all amazing and they all work.
1. Spirituality – Prayer – Aids Ritual The burning of incense can act as a doorway to spirituality; formal or informal, recognised religion or secular. Incense is, and has been used daily use, for thousands of years in many religions around the world; Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity. The purpose of incensing and the symbolic value of the smoke is that of purification and sanctification. For example, in the Eastern Rites at the beginning of Mass, the altar and sanctuary area are incensed while Psalm 50, the “Miserere”, was chanted, invoking the mercy of God. The smoke symbolises the prayers of the faithful drifting up to heaven. The Psalmist prays, “Let my prayer come like incense before you; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141).
Incense also creates the ambiance of heaven. The Book of Revelation describes the heavenly worship as follows:
“Another angel came in holding a censer of gold. He took his place at the altar of incense and was given large amounts of incense to deposit on the altar of gold in front of the throne, together with the prayers of all God’s holy ones. From the angel’s hand, the smoke of the incense went up before God, and with it the prayers of God’s people” (Revelation 8:3-4).
For me personally, when I wish to pray, meditate, or to help aid any healing rituals, my go-to incense is pure Frankincense Resin, and our Three Wise Men Blend. This is how you can use this incense in your sacred space:
What you will need to burn Frankincense Resin and the Three Wise Men blend:
Frankincense / three wise men blend
Charcoal tablet (also known as a charcoal disc)
Incense burner
Method:
Hold the charcoal disc with the tongs and light by holding a flame to one side of the disc, until it glows and sparks.
Place the disc in the burner or on a heat proof dish and wait for it to stop smoking. I use smokeless tablets. But, if yours smokes up during start up, I recommend you light them outside.
The disc will slowly turn grey – if you blow on it, this will happen more quickly and across a wider surface of the disc. Be careful, as this can cause the disc to spark. So, do not hold it too close to your face when you blow on it! Please act with caution.
Select a piece of frankincense resin or a pinch of your Three Wise Men Blend. Top tip: if you’re burning it in a relatively small space, choose a smaller piece, as this will make it less smoky, and it won’t burn for as long.
Place the piece of frankincense on top of the charcoal disc, and let it burn. If it stops smoking, you can turn the piece of frankincense over, so it burns on the other side.
I start at my front door and move room to room, therefore cleansing each room. I finish the cleanse at the back of the home. I then take the incense to my sacred space, where I leave the incense to burn, while I either meditate or pray.
We have created our Livani Crystalline Candle because we understand many souls do not like to light charcoal, but they love the benefits of frankincense. Our Crystalline Livani Candle© is not just a miraculous & holy scent that awakens your soul. There are many layers to our Livani Candle. Firstly, the intention is set to protect you, your family & home, to cleanse and clear any low vibrational energy + raise your frequency in the home, or work environment. Our candles are all 100% soy wax, including the Livani Candles, made from pure frankincense essential oil, not fragrance, and then we add liquid crystal, and pure frankincense, brought in from the monasteries in Greece. When the candle is burning, it purifies in the process, bringing forth a devotional atmosphere, promoting a sense of peace, relaxation, grounding & connectedness, raising your spiritual state.
2. Reduces stress and anxiety
A step up from relaxing, burning incense positively helps to reduce bodily activities, like heart rate and breathing. Also, it encourages your mind to stop worrying and racing from one thing to another. Many forms of incense, like Frankincense, Palo Santo, Sage, Dragons Blood as well as Sandalwoods are amazing types of incense to calm the mind. And, let us not forget about herb sand essential oils like Rosemary and Lavender; they are great choices to accompany your incense with too. I will use Rosemary and Lavender many times while burning Frankincense Resin. How do I do this? Well, over the charcoal, I add some Rosemary or Lavender from my garden on top of my choice of incense. Thus, I find that if my family has had a rough day, it completely calms them down.
3. Medicinal / Clearing
The effect of good aromas, generated from incense wands, resin or incense sticks like The Holy Wood, Palo Santo, has been shown to raise serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is considered a natural mood stabilizer and helps with sleeping, eating, and digestion. Serotonin also helps reduce depression, regulate anxiety, and reduce headaches.
Palo Santo means ‘Holy Wood of the Saints’. Burning Palo Santo wood is a sacred practice used by the Incas, and Indigenous people of the Andes. The Andean shamans use it in religious ceremonies to ward off negativity, therefore purifying, and cleansing evil spirits and misfortune. Palo Santo protects your etheric field from any low lingering frequencies. Palo Santo is believed to help provide medicinal and therapeutic healing energies. The mystic of this sacred wood can be felt at first light, leaving you feeling calm, peaceful, grounded and emotionally clear.
HOW TO USE:
Hold the Palo Santo wood at a 45-degrees angle, facing downward, and light the Palo Santo wood. Allow it to burn for 40 - 60 seconds. Blow out the flame and allow it to smoulder. Work your way around the room in a clockwise direction from the ground upwards, and do not forget to cleanse your etheric body, and anyone else in your presence. To cleanse yourself, start at the heart centre, and fan the smoke up, towards your throat. Then, up and over your head and then down towards the ground.
Re-light your Palo Santo stick if needed. Then, extinguish in sand, or leave in a heat proof bowl. Palo Santo can be reused.
If you prefer a smokeless cleanse, here is our alternative:
Our "Palo Santo Mist” is my favourite alternative when I am in a no-smoke zone. It is easy to travel with, and it is a fantastic alternative, as you just spray to cleanse your energy and protect your etheric field, especially if you are visiting hotels, on the road for work, or in a space that you just cannot use smoke. Also, let’s not forgot the beautiful beings that just prefer smokeless cleansing instead.
So, go check out our Palo Santo Mist!
Our Palo Santo is a product of Peru and has been wildly harvested without harming the Palo Santo tree. The mystical spirit of this wood must be respected.
4. Air Purification / Space Purification
Burning Sage, Frankincense, and Dragons Blood Incense is thought to release negative ions. This is said to help neutralize positive ions.
Common positive ions are allergens like:
Pet dander / Oder
Pollution
Dust
Mould
Burning white Californian sage is amazing as it not only improves air quality; it also improves overall health and reduces stress and anxiety. White sage is used for emotional, psychic, and spiritual purification.
Sage (also known as “salvia”) has a long history of use in Egyptian, Roman and Greek medicines, as well as in Native American healing traditions. Sage burning practices are done to heal, protect, increase wisdom, as well as boost and defend against disease. It is also used for emotional, psychic, and spiritual purification. Burning sage is known as smudging. The smoke purifies the air in your home and workspace.
The smoke of the sage attaches itself to negative energy, and as the smoke clears, it takes the negative energy with it, releasing it into another space where it will be regenerated into positive energy.
How to use the smudge stick:
I begin with prepping my area. So, I open all windows and doors to the things that will serve my highest good. The reasoning behind this is for when I start cleansing and clearing the low energies. When the smoke clears and exits my healing space, any negativity will leave with the smoke. I let my sage stick catch on fire. Then, I use my abalone bowl to extinguish the fire, leaving us with the smoke only. I never use my breath to blow out the smudge stick. Once the tips of the sage smoulder slowly, releasing smoke, I allow the smoke to linger around my body, cleansing and removing all energies. Once I have done that, I begin to clean my home. I walk around all parts of my home. I smudge all corners of the rooms, working my way to the centre of the room. Then, I move on to the next room. I also do this ritual moving in a clockwise direction, ending right back to where I started. While I am doing this smudging cleanse, I make sure that I am completely in the present moment and very aware of what I am wanting to release. I also say a smudging prayer. I finish off by cleansing myself again. I remain grateful that I am now cleansed from all negativity, and low vibrational energies. I then use my fireproof abalone bowl to extinguish the sage stick by pressing firmly into it, or I rub it into the dirt. Remember, please do not get it wet. When you are done, place the smudge stick in a fireproof vessel, until you are ready to use it again.
Once again, if you don’t like the smoke and smoulder, go check out our smokeless Palo Santo Mist.
5. Relax – unwind – Meditation - Yoga Light some Incense, relax on the sofa – or a comfy space – with a cup of tea, a book, and some chilled-out music. Alternatively, run a bath, and light our Crystal Infused Healing Candles, or light an Incense Stick or two. Soft scents will further enhance this time, allowing you to give yourself time and space away from the hassles of everyday living.
Frankincense, Dragons Blood and our Three Wise Men Incense all work very well when the need to unwind is calling. It is for this reason that we created the candle ‘I Can See Clearly Now’. This candle has been created with a lot of love and it is dedicated to a very important soul, that I have had the pleasure of spending time with, and learning from his teachings. Dr. Wayne Dyer, thank you for being an embodiment of love. The intention that has gone into this candle is so that you can step into your power and see clearly, fulfilling your life's purpose.
It is part of the Liquid Crystalline Range. The liquid crystal used is Selenite & Smokey Quarts. The incense used on the top of the candle is my Three Wise Men blend: Frankincense, Myrrh, and Benzoin (representing Gold and Herbs). Its Frequency is very high; perfect to light up and chill, as it will give you a feeling of comfort, allowing you to relax and stay present.
I trust that the above information has given you a clearer understanding on the importance of incense cleansing, and why many beings use incense within their home and lives. Please keep in mind that many of the above types of incense and rituals listed are sacred in many religions, cultures, and practices. For this reason, please respect any ritual or incense that you may try.
Sending you light and love, Eleni
From Bespoke & Co. Candles
xoxo
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