The Smart Witch

7 hrs · 

Incense in Magic

Incense is a powerful and versatile tool in magic. It helps us - and the area in which it is burned - to align with a desired mood and energy.

Use incense:
★ Prior to and during ritual and spell work to adjust the energy of the area.
★ In spell work and ritual to help you to raise energy.
★ During meditation to help you with achieving calm, clarity and focus.
★ In cleansings to purify or sanctify an area - your home, your altar, any space.
★ To help you to connect with the concepts and energies with which it is associated.
★ To attract certain types of entities - or, conversely, to repel certain types.
★ To demonstrate respect for and attain a greater connection with specific deities.

Some useful incenses - which are readily available - include:
★ Amber - good for divination, past life regressions and meditating when you are seeking to discover some bit of information.
★ Cinnamon - associated with desire and passion, and great for raising energy for powerful spells and ritual.
★ Frankincense - promotes peace and calm, and is useful in ending conflicts and bringing about resolution.
★ Jasmine - associated with friendship, love and beauty, particularly an inner beauty, that of character.
★ Lotus - ideal for meditation as it is associated with heightened intelligence, increased focus and mental clarity.
★ Myrrh - an incense of purification that traditionally has been used to elevate the intention of spells and rituals to the heavens (assuming that intent is in accord with the desires of the gods) and curry favor with the gods.
★ Nag Champa - a sacred blend that includes sandalwood, and is used to purify and sanctify an area for spiritual purposes, and when seeking spiritual enlightenment through meditation.
★ Sandalwood - a divine wood and incense that is used to purify and sanctify an area, and which will find favor with any deity.
★ Vanilla - associated with intelligence and thought, and a good choice to burn for the favor of deities like Hermes and Thoth who are concerned with intelligence.

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[Image: L'encens (The Incense)(1898) oil on canvas by Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921). Here, as he often did, Khnopff used his sister Marguerite as his model. The painting is close framed, with Marguerite set in the center of his composition. Yet only her face, with its mysterious smile, and her gloved hands, are visible. The rest of her body is hidden beneath sumptuous clothing – the lower part of the picture is completely taken over by the folds of a heavy cope of precious brocade. Thus, the fabric, and all that it conceals, becomes the principal subject of this painting. In previous paintings, Khnopff had never covered his sister's body to this extent. The embroidered silk, with its stylized thistle motif, extends to almost half of the painted surface of the picture. Was the painter trying to protect his model by covering her like this, in the same way as the thistles are protecting her? Whatever the case, he manages to imbue his work with a further enigma. His limited colors, shades of brown, also reinforce the strangeness of work, as do the contrasts between the rich details in the foreground, and the indistinct shapes in a background bathed in light. The painting is still in its original wooden frame, designed by the artist. On the top section, the inscription "DEO DEI" echoes other references to Christ in the painting, like the halo behind Marguerite. In Incense, Khnopff has added an esoteric dimension, making it one of the great masterpieces of European symbolism. Today seen in the RMN-Grand Palais (Musée) d'Orsay).]

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