The Use Of Sandalwood In Rituals

Although not truly an herb, but a wood, sandalwood is an item found often in modern Pagan rituals. In fact, “sandalwood” is an entire class of wood, found in trees that are part of the flowering Santalum family.

Sandalwood has been used for thousands of years in a ritual context. It appears in Buddhist and Muslim rituals, and was one of several fragrant plants used by the Egyptians in embalming rituals. In China and Tibet, its antiseptic properties make it a valuable part of folk medicine. In India, the wood is used for intricate carvings that adorn shrines and homes; figurines and mala jewelry are also crafted from sandalwood. In addition, a paste is sometimes made that can be used to anoint the forehead of the faithful in Hindu temples.

Sandalwood has a number of magical applications, and they tend to vary depending on which religious group you’re looking at. In many traditions of modern Paganism, it is associated with healing and purification. In Hindu rites, sandalwood paste is often used to consecrate ritual tools before ceremonies. Buddhists believe that sandalwood is one of the sacred scents of the lotus, and can be used to keep one connected to the material world while the brain wanders off during meditation. In chakra work, sandalwood is associated with the seventh, or root, chakra at the base of the spine. Burning the incense can help with issues related to self-identity, security and stability, and trust.

In a few Neopagan traditions, the actual wood of the sandalwood is burned as incense - sometimes mixed with other woods or resins, such as myrrh or frankincense. A few forms of folk magic associate it with both business and protection magic. You can also use pieces of the wood in spellwork - write your intent on a chip or stick of sandalwood, and then place it in a brazier to burn. As your sandalwood burns, your intent, or wish, will be carried up to the heavens on the drifting smoke...read  more>>>...

 

A Native Smoke Ritual For Renewal And Clarity

 Have you ever noticed that when you walk into any place of worship or sacred ceremony, there is always one repeating theme? Yes, the symbols and prayers spoken may be different, but one thing is universally present – the use of smoke.

Beyond its pleasing aromatic qualities, smoke is viewed in many traditions to be a bridge between the world we can see and the one we cannot. Not surprisingly, smoke plays a crucial role in shamanism, and often serves as a healing medicine itself in native ceremonies.

The burning of sacred herbs and resins can be a very powerful tool. A way of starting anew.

Below, I’ve shared some holy smokes you can easily create and a native prayer to accompany them. We’re excited to hear how you feel once you try them!

Some examples of sacred plants and resins to use for smudging and clearing...<<<Read More>>>...

 

Incense Meditation

[Daily OM]: When we focus on incense sticks during meditation, we move into a mystical space that is both physical and spiritual. Like us, the incense stick is earthbound with an ember that burns for only a finite time, but the diaphanous spirit it releases is unbound by time or space. 

Rather than shutting down our senses to focus on an inner realm, incense involves our senses as we follow whirling smoke upward and outward while we take its scent into us, filling us as we breathe. 
 
The journey starts with a flame, and then a glowing ember releases smoke to rise above us in an ethereal dance. Ashes fall below, purified by the fire. We can use this to imagine negative thoughts being changed from darkness into the beauty of warm gray snowflakes and a scented spun-silver plume, lighter than air. We can watch as our atmosphere is altered to become reminiscent of the heavens and lifts our thoughts: Embers become shooting stars, and the silver ribbon of smoke becomes unraveled clouds. Altered senses may guide our inspired thoughts to travel along new, perhaps undiscovered, pathways....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...
 

Frankincense Has Been Proven to be a Psychoactive Antidepressant

Waking Times: Burning Frankincense in the form of incense has been a big part of religious and other cultural ceremonies for a millennium. The resin from the Boswellia tree also known as Frankincense or olibanum is believed to be an aroma that will help your soul reach spiritual exaltation.

Recently a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem did a study to see what the effects were of this age-old practice. They studied Frankincense to determine why it has psychoactive effects.

In order to conduct the study and observe the effects of Frankincense on the mind, the researchers administered a primary Boswellia resin incensole acetate to some mice. The team found that the ‘incensole acetate’ influences the areas of the brain which regulate emotions...read more>>>...

Incense Meditation

Daily Om: When we focus on incense sticks during meditation, we move into a mystical space that is both physical and spiritual. Like us, the incense stick is earthbound with an ember that burns for only a finite time, but the diaphanous spirit it releases is unbound by time or space.

Rather than shutting down our senses to focus on an inner realm, incense involves our senses as we follow whirling smoke upward and outward while we take its scent into us, filling us as we breathe.

The journey starts with a flame, and then a glowing ember releases smoke to rise above us in an ethereal dance. Ashes fall below, purified by the fire. We can use this to imagine negative thoughts being changed from darkness into the beauty of warm gray snowflakes and a scented spun-silver plume, lighter than air. We can watch as our atmosphere is altered to become reminiscent of the heavens and lifts our thoughts: Embers become shooting stars, and the silver ribbon of smoke becomes unraveled clouds. Altered senses may guide our inspired thoughts to travel along new, perhaps undiscovered, pathways...read more>>>...

A Calm Sacred Space ....

WELL. That was quite a day! A door & a chapter is now virtually closed. There can be no going back ... but what lies ahead is a new challenge .

I've watched some of the Spain Vs Portugal game in between that two popular soap dramas, both which dramatic scenes. I was lucky to turn over onto the game moments before most of the goals! Yes ... not lucky time but insight/foresight (I kept telling my wife there would be a goal then turned over onto a LIVE game and there before our eyes were goals being scored!)

I now need to chill. I need to evoke a very calming and relaxing sacred space here in my 'man cave' (The spare bedroom filled with all my magical wares) ... to my left is a drawer with all my incenses. Its time to choose an appropriate one (Perhaps the famous Nag Champa or maybe Sandalwood or Dragons Blood) ... then let it burn whilst in my mind I enter observant mind mode to evoke a calm space ....

HERE GOES ...    

The Use Of Sandalwood In Rituals

Although not truly an herb, but a wood, sandalwood is an item found often in modern Pagan rituals. In fact, “sandalwood” is an entire class of wood, found in trees that are part of the flowering Santalum family.

Sandalwood has been used for thousands of years in a ritual context. It appears in Buddhist and Muslim rituals, and was one of several fragrant plants used by the Egyptians in embalming rituals. In China and Tibet, its antiseptic properties make it a valuable part of folk medicine. In India, the wood is used for intricate carvings that adorn shrines and homes; figurines and mala jewelry are also crafted from sandalwood. In addition, a paste is sometimes made that can be used to anoint the forehead of the faithful in Hindu temples.

Sandalwood has a number of magical applications, and they tend to vary depending on which religious group you’re looking at. In many traditions of modern Paganism, it is associated with healing and purification. In Hindu rites, sandalwood paste is often used to consecrate ritual tools before ceremonies. Buddhists believe that sandalwood is one of the sacred scents of the lotus, and can be used to keep one connected to the material world while the brain wanders off during meditation. In chakra work, sandalwood is associated with the seventh, or root, chakra at the base of the spine. Burning the incense can help with issues related to self-identity, security and stability, and trust.

In a few Neopagan traditions, the actual wood of the sandalwood is burned as incense - sometimes mixed with other woods or resins, such as myrrh or frankincense. A few forms of folk magic associate it with both business and protection magic. You can also use pieces of the wood in spellwork - write your intent on a chip or stick of sandalwood, and then place it in a brazier to burn. As your sandalwood burns, your intent, or wish, will be carried up to the heavens on the drifting smoke...read  more>>>...