Stuff I Think About

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-05-05 18:22:25 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, Calamus Root, (Acorus calamus) is also known as Calmus, Sedge, and Sweet Myrtle. It is a wonderfully spicy, aromatic, and very cinnamon-like fragrance that has been enjoyed since at least The Epic of Gilgamesh where it is mentioned as an incense ingredient. It is also referenced in the Bible as one of the ingredients of the anointing oil in Exodus 30:23. The Egyptians used it for the Kyphi recipes as well.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-05-05 17:31:15 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, "Burgundy Pitch" is the resin from the Spruce pine (Pinus glabra) that is collected and clarified through a melting process to yield a higher quality and more wonderfully fragrant end product. Spruce pine, also called cedar-pine or bottom-white pine, is a member of the southern yellow pine group. It is the most shade-tolerant species of southern pine and is scattered throughout the southeast in mixed hardwood stands, rarely occurring in pure stands.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-05-05 17:08:39 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, Borneo Camphor, sometimes called Borneol Camphor is a pale, straw colored resin from the Dryobalanops aromatica tree. It is an evergreen that can reach heights of more than 120 feet. The Japanese refer to this tree as the hon-sho and the sacred camphor tree at the Hachiman shrine in the Kagoshima district of Japan is more than 1,200 years old.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-05-05 02:03:29 Categorized in Reviews, Regular readers will no doubt be aware that I am not the biggest fan of Hem incense. The fact that it is charcoal based and is (probably) dipped in fragrance oil rather than being made from finely ground ingredients gives it a characteristic odor that I find very distracting on occasion. Sometimes though, Hem creates something that defies my expectations and can truly be classed as something special.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-05-05 01:16:41 Categorized in Reviews, There are few incense ingredients as confusing as Dragons Blood. The name Dragons Blood can refer to no less than sixteen different resins from the same number of trees. It can also refer to the extremely poisonous mineral cinnibar (mercury sulfide) although not in recent times to my knowledge. It is also another name for red rock opium, but it contains no opiates and its intoxicating properties are dubious at best.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-05-05 00:31:04 Categorized in Reviews, The distinction is important because white sage plays a tremendous role in Native American rituals as well as various Wiccan and Pagan spells and rituals for cleansing everything from space to Athames, crystals and more. The cleansing properties of white sage are well documented in hundreds of works and I am not about to argue with the wisdom of the ages. So with that in mind, and a trip to the Native American festival in Fort Walton Florida where plenty of white sage was burned still fresh in my memory, lets see what Hem has to offer with this stick.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-16 02:18:16 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, Tolu balsam (Myroxylon balsamum) trees grow in the northern part of South America. Primarily Colombia. Supposedly, the best tolu trees grow in the lower delta of the Magdalena River near the city of Santiago de Tolu. A member of the Fabaceae family, the same as the Peruvian balsam tree, the tolu tree can grow its straight trunk up to 40 feet high. All parts of the tree have an aromatic fragrance and the balsam discharges from V-shaped cuts in the bark and is collected in containers. The balsam is soft and can be kneaded easily. It can contain small crystals and it hardens over time to to a dark or reddish-brown color. It has been used for centuries for a variety of ailments including coughs, headaches, gout and various stomach ailments.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-16 02:11:07 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, It is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 90 feet tall or more. This tree yields smallish, ribbed and nut-like fruits which are picked when still green and then pickled, boiled with a little added sugar in their own syrup or used in preserves or concoctions. The seed of the fruit, which has an elliptical shape, is an abrasive seed enveloped by a fleshy and firm pulp. It is regarded as a universal panacea in the Ayur-Vedic Medicine and in the Traditional Tibetan medicine. It is reputed to cure blindness and it is believed to inhibit the growth of malignant tumours.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-16 02:04:34 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, Ambergris is the only perfumery ingredient that I can think of that comes from a living animal that is neither tortured, imprisoned or outright killed to harvest the substance. It is a solid, waxy and flammable substance that is grey to black in color. It is produced in the digestive system of sperm whales and is regurgitated naturally. It then floats on the sea for perhaps tens of years before washing up on the beaches of countries such as India, China, Japan and Australia among others.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-16 01:58:21 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, Before you run out and light your aloe vera plant you have on your windowsill on fire, be advised that this aloe (aloe ferox) is a different plant. It is also a part of the Asphodelaceae family and it can also be used in the same way as aloe vera for cuts, wounds, and burns as well as constipation and indigestion. The big difference is the wonderful smell that Aloe ferox gives when burned.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-16 01:52:21 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, Agarwood (or "Agar") is the dark resinous heartwood that is formed in Aquilaria trees when they become infected with Aspergillus sp. ad Fusarium sp. The resin this forms produces the fragrant substance. The more resin the wood contains the more aromatic the fragrance and the heavier the wood becomes. Excellent agar wood will not float and for that reason the Japanese call it jinkoh, the sinking wood.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-16 01:45:33 Categorized in Incense Ingredients, Gum arabic, also known as gum acacia, chaar gund, char goond or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal. The gum is harvested commercially from wild trees throughout the Sahel from Senegal and Sudan to Somalia, although it has been historically cultivated in Arabia and West Asia.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-14 05:50:59 Categorized in Meditations, The practice of meditation is to gain control of your thoughts and to learn to focus your concentration on the subject you are meditating on. Whether that is an issue you are having with your personal life, a Zen saying or story or some other matter that would benefit from your complete focus and concentration. Meditation with incense can either be a means of itself, or as an aid to unlock some part of your consciousness in order to help you understand some matter a bit more clearly.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-14 04:56:46 Categorized in Meditations, If you have read my post Beginners Guide To Basic Meditation and I hope that you have, you will recall I promised a follow-up post about meditating in the nude and how it wasn't as easy as meditating while clothed. Meditation in the nude is a freeing, liberating experience that if done with the right mindset, allows you a far greater sense of being connected to the world around you and a strengthened sense of self.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-14 03:45:38 Categorized in Meditations, If you create an Elf or Dwarf as your character you will start the game at Thorin's Gate. A wintry, snowbound and desolate place. A good incense for that area is eucalyptus because of the clean, clear and crisp scent that it provides. Another good one would be frankincense for the clear scent that it provides. Unfortunately there are no campfires in that area or Amitayu Tibetan incense would work great.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-14 02:59:13 Categorized in Headlines, First of all let me begin by stating that this is not a complete, or even semi-complete guide to meditation. There are literally thousands of websites and books devoted to every possible aspect and type of meditation and they are all available with a quick trip to Google. What you are reading currently is an easy to read and understand beginners guide to meditation.

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Article by Connor MacLeod at 2010-04-08 04:54:08 Categorized in Featured, Incense, Reviews, Koala Bears. That is the first thing that pops into my head when I hear the word eucalyptus. The second, after a moments thought, is some terrible cough drop that trumpeted how it was made with eucalyptus. Mercifully I have forgotten the brand. Anyway, Hem offers a eucalyptus incense that is actually surprisingly good.