Resin Incense

[Gauracandra]

I woke up this morning and just had this compulsive urge to purchase some incense. Not the stick kind, but the kind that comes in powder or resins crystals. I've never used this kind of incense before though I've seen it.

 

I knew of a place that sold the incense and the charcoal burners. Unfortunately they didn't have any holding containers for the burner so I've ended up using a little metal plate

 

I purchased two "flavours". One is called "Holy Cross" and another "Kashmiri". I'm testing Holy Cross out right now... and my place is starting to look like an opium den all smokey and such.... The only hard part was lighting the charcoal piece. I spent like 6 matches trying to get the thing finally to catch. But once it did, its kept burning.

 

Gauracandra

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Every morning and evening for our puja we use natural sambrani which comes from tree resin. It doesn't smell as nice and "flavourful" as what the Christian churches use though.

 

When you get it (in large chunks), you can see the shape of the resin, how it was dripping down the tree, etc. You need to powder it before using it. The hardest part is making a suitable coal fire to put it on. If there is flame, then it will just burn and no smell will come. So we have to either use coconut husks or dry coconut leaves to create a smoldering fire. If the fire is good, then the whole place will be filed with a thick smoke and you won't be able to see more than a few feet.

 

The smell is more of an earthy smell, unlike the Christian frank incense which really has a flavour.

 

We have to have this sent to us from Orissa, as in South India all the "sambrani" is made out of paint thinner and other chemicals. You cannot get original frank incense here.

 

I have actually seen it printed on the package of one of the best known brands of sambrani, "This is made from paint thinner and other chemicals, there are no natural ingredients in this product."

 

If you are unlucky enough to breath it you will start to cough and choke for about half an hour. I am sure it is quite dangerous and toxic.

 

[Gauracandra]

One thing that was interesting was after I burned the incense the house got real smokey. So when I was done I aired the place out, and went out to do whatever errands and chores I had to do today. As I was running around here and there, I kept smelling this really nice sweet smell (very subtle). At first I thought "Someone must be burning incense also". Then I realized that it was everywhere I was. The smoke must have been absorbed into all of my clothing. All day long, where ever I went I had a very subtle sweet aroma wafting around me. Its kind of like how smokers soon have a smell of tobacco throughout their clothing. For me it was the smell of "Holy Cross" and "Kashmiri" incense.

 

Gauracandra

[JRdd]

I love resin incense. We can get it in bulk at our herbal store here: copal, frankincense, and myrhh. I mix them or use them separately. They do get real smoky so I economize on charcoal by breaking one in half and using only half at a time. You can rest the charcoal in a dish of salt or sand after lighting it, which is easier to do if you light one of the "sharp" edges. It should catch quite easily, and will start by sizzling around its edges so be prepared to put it down quickly if you're holding it in your fingers. You can get tiny charcoals too, but I think they work out way more expensive.

That was a great description of that resin burning in India. Makes me want to be there right now.

ys, JR

[Gauracandra]

So you'd suggest breaking the charcoal, and then lighting the edge... I can see that being easier. That was actually the only problem I was having with the incense was lighting the charcoal piece. I made up the salt part myself (I put some so as not to burn my metal container). By the way, what is myrh? I know its one of the gifts that was given to Jesus by the 3 magi, but never quite knew what it was. Sounds like it is a type of incense as well. What distinguishes it from say frankensense?

 

Gauracandra

[JRdd]

Actually, I meant the outer edge of the charcoal, that is there even if you don't break it. The suggestion to break was an economical one. I don't know what resin myrhh is but it is different from Frankincense. But kind of similar in a compatible way. I prefer it. Your cusrious nature is so infectious that now I have to knw what myrhh is too.

 

ys, Jayaradhe

 

Originally posted by Gauracandra:

So you'd suggest breaking the charcoal, and then lighting the edge... I can see that being easier. That was actually the only problem I was having with the incense was lighting the charcoal piece. I made up the salt part myself (I put some so as not to burn my metal container). By the way, what is myrh? I know its one of the gifts that was given to Jesus by the 3 magi, but never quite knew what it was. Sounds like it is a type of incense as well. What distinguishes it from say frankensense?

 

Gauracandra

 

[Gauracandra]

I looked up some quick stuff on Myrrh. It is apparently a tree resin, like sap, that has medicinal properties. It can be used as an anti-inflammatory, also used in incense, perfumes, and holy oil. I also read (and I'll have to check in the Bible for this) that Jesus was given wine with myrrh before being crucified as it was supposed to be a pain killer. I'm not a Bible expert so don't know this, or if he accepted the wine or not. Anyone with the Biblical passage?

[fuzvulf]

Yes, some translations do say myrh, others say gall. Also if you look back to the story of his birth, The magi or wise men brought gold, frankincence, and myrh. Actually they would have brought myrh,frankincense and gold representing what they had seen foretold in the stars that made them decide to undertake such a long journey. You see the greek as I understand it lists things either in the order of quantity or worth, in this case the gold first and so on. The myrh for the pain of his being crucified, (don't forget they invented a new word to describe the pain involved here, "excruciating" the prefix ex- means from, cruc is the word for cross thus excrusias(please forgive if the latin isn't perfect) but it means from the cross) so myrh for the pain from the cross frankincense is used for embalming so it would be for his death and the gold would be for their gift of homage for his later ascencion to his eternal throne. Amazing if you think about it that these magi saw all that and new what gifts to bring this young child. Otherwise it would be some pretty cruddy gifts for a 2 or so year old(they didn't show up at the manger like the songs and the cute movies say. If you examine the text carefully it probably took them a while to get their entourage together and then the journey probably took over a year. The text says they gave the gifts to the "young child" some of my friends who study the greek tell me that the actual word used meant he was between 1-4 but not a baby when they got thier. the magi were from distant lands who studied the stars intently they may have been from what is now China as some say or they may even have been from India. Anyway yes I have heard that myrh is and has been used as a pain killer. You can find a number of listings by typing in myrh (or I think an alternate spelling is myrrh but of that I am not sure) along with for example holistic herbal and healing and pain killer or some such combination into a search engine such as Google.