Preparations with plants: Sacred Smokes

Thousands of years ago resins and barks were very important and difficult to obtain. They say that the resins that burn are like drops of crystallized sun, and it is that it is ancestral vitality concentrated for years in the sap and bark of trees. These resins and barks had a very high medicinal value as they were antibiotic and part of rituals. They were also the most important offerings. Let us remember that the three wise men, the three sages who visit Jesus at his birth bring him incense and myrrh.

One of the first perfumes was incense. In fact, the word perfume comes through smoke, or by smoke.

Sacred smokes can come from incense burners, pressed plants, bundles of dehydrated plants, woods, these have the following properties.

• They facilitate transcendental communication: Sacred smokes have been present and have been part of rituals and ceremonies in many ancestral cultures. We can travel around the world through sandalwood in pujas in India, incense in Tibetan monasteries, agarwood in the Japanese Tea ceremony, white sage and Osha in North American Inipis, tobacco in Amazonian ceremonial medicine. It seems as if the use of these plants with fire were a bridge between the visible and invisible world, symbolized by smoke ascending to heaven. Kyphi – Incense of Egyptian tradition that was secret for thousands of years. Mixture of pine resin, honey, incense, cypress, calamus, cinnamon and juniper.
• Remove Impurities: They help atmospheric purification, releasing toxicity and pathogens.
• They keep us alert: Traditionally they have accompanied spaces of concentration, knowledge and meditation.
• Accompanies solitude
• Brings moments of relief, rest and peace

Unfortunately, nowadays many incenses and candles contain chemical components that are toxic and can cause respiratory damage, allergies, hormonal imbalances, cancer… the opposite of their traditional uses.

Always look for plants and barks whose origin you know and that come from sustainable agriculture.