Incense
he most common use of incense has been its incorporation in ceremonies with prayer, worshiping of beings of considerable importance. Religious practices included its use to change environments and to help improve states of being, emotional, mental,and physical.
Evidence of incense was found at archaeological sites of ancient civilizations-Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Arabia, Egypt, India, Greece and Rome.
Thought detail 9 by Allison L. Williams Hill
From the Asian Art Mall incense article: "We know that incense was first brought to China by a monk around 200 CE and that by the Tang dynasty (618 - 607), incense was in common use and no longer restricted to religious or medical practice. Stick incense was developed in China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Around this time, the art of making incense became highly developed in Japan where it became so popular that entire schools were devoted to the art, or Koh-Do, 'the way of incense'. Among their other incense accomplishments, the Japanese invented the cone form of incense popular today and introduced this form at the World's Fair in Chicago in the late 1800s.
"The principle of making incense combines aromatic ingredients and a flame or heat source. Typically, the ingredients are ground into a powder and then ignited to release the aroma. Some herbal incense is not powder fine, and more closely resembles loose-leaf tea. Powdered ingredients may be bound together by a neutral material in order to form sticks or other shapes. In addition to making the incense easier to handle, the binding agent allows the incense to burn more slowly and evenly."
Several threads of origin are associated with incense. It may have originated in Egypt where the gums and resins of aromatic trees were imported from the Arabian and Somali coasts. As it was an import, it's fair to say that its use may have been restricted to religious ceremonies. Pharaohs used it to counteract unpleasant odors, drive away demons, and gratify the presence of gods.
Evidence showed that the Babylonians used incense extensively during rituals when offering prayers or divining oracles. Israel acquired incense in the 5th century BC and, again, used it in religious offerings. From Israel, incense was brought to Greece, then Rome and India. Hindus as well as Buddhists, to the present, burn it in their respective rituals and festivals. It is well known that incense was presented to the infant Jesus, according to a book of the Bible.
Quan Yin
It is known that incense was first brought to China by a monk, around 200 CE and that by the Tang dynasty (618 - 607),preceding Babylonia, incense was in common use and no longer restricted to religious or medical practice. Stick incense was developed in China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Buddhist monks brought incense to Japan in the sixth century. When stick incense was being developed by the Chinese, the art of making incense became highly developed in Japan. Schools were devoted to the art, called Koh-Do or "the way of incense." The Japanese invented the cone form of incense.
Samurai warriors would perfume their helmets and armor with incense to achieve a proud aura of invincibility as they prepared to meet their foe and their fate in fourteenth century Japan. Incense use increased several centuries later. Today, the manufacturing process has developed to produce incense in stick, cone, and powder, making it available to most people on the planet for unlimited uses. Incense's humble beginnings were from burning articles of nature - leaves, twigs, wood with resins in them, that emitted odors stimulating the olfactory senses.
Incense Use in Spiritual Practices
from "The Hidden Side of Things" by C.W. Leadbeater
The same idea carried out in a different way shows itself to us in the blessing of the incense before it is burned. For the incense has always a dual significance. It ascends before God as a symbol of the prayers of the people; but also it spreads through the church as a symbol of the sweet savour of the blessing of God, and so once more the priest pours into it a holy influence with the idea that wherever its scent may penetrate, wherever the smallest particle of that which has been blessed may pass, it shall bear with it a feeling of peace and of purity, and shall chase away all inharmonious thoughts and sensations.
Even apart from the blessing, its influence is good, for it is carefully compounded from gums the undulation-rate of which harmonises perfectly with spiritual and devotional vibrations, but is distinctly hostile to almost all others. The magnetisation may merely intensify its natural characteristics, or may add to it other special oscillations, but in any case its use in connection with religious ceremonies is always good. The scent of sandalwood has many of the same characteristics; and the scent of pure attar of roses, though utterly different in character, has also a good effect.
Feminine Energy by Allison Williams Hill
Another point which is to a large extent new in the scheme prepared by its Founder for the Christian Church is the utilisation of the enormous force which exists in united synchronous action. In Hindu or Buddhist temples each man comes when he chooses, makes his little offering or utters his few words of prayer and praise, and then retires. Result follows each such effort in proportion to the energy of real feeling put into it, and in this way a fairly constant stream of tiny consequences is achieved; but we never get the massive effect produced by the simultaneous efforts of a congregation of hundreds or thousands of people, or the heart-stirring vibrations which accompany the singing of some well known processional hymn.
By thus working together at a service we obtain four separate objects. (1) Whatever is the aim of the invocatory part of the service, a large number of people join in asking for it, and so send out a huge thought-form. (2) A correspondingly large amount of force flows in and stimulates the spiritual faculties of the people. (3) The simultaneous effort synchronises the undulations of their bodies, and so makes them more receptive. (4) Their attention being directed to the same object, they work together and thus stimulate one another.
Cousin Alvin's Incense Burners
I have a cousin named Alvin. His twin is named Calvin. I met them both during family reunions, few and far between. I was grateful that I reconnected with Alvin last year and have been in contact with him ever since. The last Alvin sighting was at Aunt Ernestine Willemina Williams Robinson’s services in November 2013 who made the transition at age 96. She was married to Uncle Winifred for 75 years.
Mr. and Mrs. Winifred Robinson taken by their son, John W. Robinson
Alvin shared his experience with glaucoma, that he underwent surgery to drill holes into his eyeballs to facilitate drainage. He volunteered to help at-risk youth until one attacked him and further injured his eyes. He acquired his license for massage. It has been done before: people with limited or no vision become masseuses and are more sensitive to what their fingers “find” under skin. Now I know that one among them is my brilliant cousin.
Since Alvin wanted to control who he allowed to enter his home, he does little of the massage work. But, and this is what I want to share, he uses is hands for recycling bottles. He created incense burners with them. I saw in my mind a Michelob or a Heineken beer bottle. How nice, I thought. I got a postcard from another cousin and I was amazed by their beauty. None of them were beer bottles. The one he chose to send me is pictured. It is an elegant repurposed object. It is decorative and useful. Alvin creates them in all colors.
Women create home parties like what used to happen with Tupperware products. (In fact, I did that with Tupperware and Naughty Nighties many, many years ago. Never again.)
Jr Soul Life portrait by Allison Williams Hill
Alvin told me one woman purchased one for every room of her home. "It’s fun to watch for a genie to come out," I said. “You’re on your own there,” he said. “I didn’t put one in.”
I scanned the postcard with his contact information. He created a nice package for this product. His company is called One Eye Productions.
Source
Asian Art Mall incense Article
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