The Incense Bible: Plant Scents That Transcend World Culture, Medicine, and Spirituality

Make a spiritual connection to nature with real, raw, natural incense

The Incense Bible is a comprehensive guide to the spiritual meaning of real, raw, natural incense and how to use it in prayer, meditation, or simply in creating a home environment to “reconnect” with divinity and nature. This unique book examines the spiritual and ritual uses of “pure” incense (not sticks, cones, or synthetic mixtures), explores our attraction to it, and explains how we can use it at home to increase wellness. Filled with easy-to-use references and easy-to-understand technical information, the book also looks at the use of incense in health and medicine, a history of its use in a variety of countries and cultures, and various types of raw incense, including eucalyptus, sandalwood, sweet grass, agarwood, frankincense, and myrrh.

The Incense Bible examines aspects of spirituality and religion, health and medicine, botanical medicines, ethnobotany, and history of real incense—not the low-quality, processed, synthetic fragrances most people think of as “incense.” This enlightening and entertaining book, written in everyday language and filled with photgraphs, examines why incense appeals to our sense of smell, of adventure, and of spiritual and physical well-being—and has for centuries. The book looks at the use of incense for purifications and cleansings, creative inspiration, meditation, worship and prayer, for inducing dreams and sleep, to improve learning and problem solving, and as a perfume for clothes, hair, and body.

Topics examined in The Incense Bible include:

• types of raw incense, including balsam, cedar, mugwort and moxa, and white sage
  
• safety
  
• how the sense of smell works
  
• the link between taste and scent
  
• scent and memory
  
• allergies and sensitivities
  
• oils and flower essences for healing
  
• how to make incense
  
• incense materials and symbols
  
• the use of incense in Egyptian, Greek, and Roman times, in Buddhism and Shamanism, in Israel, in the Catholic Church, in Native American sweat lodges, and in the African rainforest
  
• and much more!

The Incense Bible is an essential resource for anyone interested in health and natural medicine, botanical medicines, and ethnobotany, and for anyone seeking to express their spirituality by reconnecting to nature