Incence: - (a very brief history)
Incense, ( from the Lain “to burn” ) has a very long and complex history. It has been used in almost every society, in simple home based offerings, through religious ceremonies designed to include parishioners, to complex, secret rites practiced by high officers in almost every religion, sect and church, including many of those still around today.

Hinduism was probably the first religion in which incense was used and sacrificed to show loyalty to God. Incense holds an invaluable role in East Asian Buddhist ceremonies and rites as well as in those of Chinese Taoist and Japanese Shinto shrines. It is reputed to be a method of purifying the surroundings, bringing forth an assembly of buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods, demons, etc.
While there doesn’t seem to be too much mention of it in Western texts until around the 5th Century A.D., it is spoken of then as if it’s use was accepted and not anything new. It’s use is quoted in the bible and other texts as “used to recall one of the three gifts of the Wise Men to the Christ Child” or “It was the symbol of prayer” and the Twainesque “incense is to remind us of which direction our souls should be heading”, and as the different religions and sects had different agendas, they also had different mixtures. Suffice to say that the ingredients, recipes and formulas of incense are as you would expect, almost as many and various as the words that have been written about them.

The Christian bible and other available religious texts list; Calamus, Galangal, Elemi, “the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense” and “Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes” and “stacte, and onycha, and galbanum;.... with pure frankincense”, and while we won’t go into the proven effects of some of these compounds, there is ample hard science to prove that these alone or in combination, and if inhaled in sufficient quantities can induce at least a “feeling of well being” if not render you unable to tie your own shoelaces.

Not all incense was burned to hide the smell of the altar boys socks! A great deal of writings list common religious incenses containing compounds that did not have a great smell, or aid in the burning, and only had the same use then as they would have now, to alter your perception of reality.

Our aim has been to continue the tradition of incenses to relax, calm and invigorate and we formulate our products with these ends in mind. We print on our packets and literature that you MUST “Ensure adequate ventilation ad use responsibly”. Ours is not so much a warning as a reminder that not everyone is suited to everything, and so just as there are poor souls allergic to water, so there might be someone who finds they have an unexpected or negative reaction to our products, but if inhaled in the small quantities a well ventilated area would ensure, there should not be any problems - “please ensure adequate ventilation”.

However the best advice anyone can be given when trying anything new is simply, if you find it does not suit you, STOP using it immediately and in the case of a rare extreme reaction, seek medical help. This applies to anything that interacts with your body, from food and drink to washing powder. Commonsense should prevail, and do not subject others to our products without their permission - “use responsibly”.