While we in the Northern Hemisphere will be celebrating Samhain in the coming week, my friends in the Southern Hemisphere will be welcoming the Light Half of the Year: Bealtainne and the start of Summer.
One of my passions is creating loose incense for the celebrations in the Wheel of the Year, and I share with you now some of my favourite Bealtainne incense recipes.
I love working with loose incense, as it can be easily made and also be adapted for many purposes. You can burn it on your altar during rituals. You can use it to smudge. You can throw handfuls into your Bealtainne * fire. You can use it in healing work . . . and even just to add fragrance to your Sacred Space. That being said, please note that not all incense has a wonderful aroma as it is a working tool rather than simply a fragrant blend of herbs and other botanicals.
* FYI, my spelling of “Beltane” has changed over time, especially as I connect more with my Celtic/Irish Gaelic roots. It went from Beltane to Beltaine to Bealtainne . . . and hopefully that’s the last change. These spelling changes also reflect the wide regional variations across the Celtic world, as well as what happens when a spoken language becomes a written language!
Prep your Incense Ingredients
When you are making loose incense, first gather all your ingredients and prepare them (grind, chop, sift, etc) for measuring. I like to crush/grind in a mortar and pestle, as in the image above, but you could also use a dedicated electric grinder (I bought a coffee/spice grinder just for this).
When I grind my herbs manually, I also connect to them even more. I breathe in their aroma. I can sense the magic, and how well the spices and herbs are ground. I can hear them saying “a little more please”, and add a pinch more to the blend. And, most importantly, I can infuse the herbs with my own magick, and my intentions for the blend.
Because this recipe is in “parts”, you can make any quantity you like — just determine what a “part” is for you, such as by weight (e.g. grams) or quantity (e.g. teaspoons or tablespoons). The key, for me, about measuring in parts is to have everything roughly the same consistency by chopping or crushing with a mortar and pestle. This will make measuring easier, and produce a consistent blend with each batch.
Declare your Intention
As you work with your ingredients, declare your intention for why you are using it. It can be as simple as “I call on the Spirit of Rose to bring love to my life.”
Add your ingredients to your mixing bowl one at a time. Measure carefully, and if the leaves or blossoms need to be crushed, use your mortar and pestle to do so. As you blend the herbs together, state your intention, to charge the loose incense with your energies and what you wish to manifest.
Recipes
Della’s Bealtainne incense
This is my favourite Bealtainne loose incense, and I make a new batch every spring. My initial preparation is pictured above. I also use it throughout the year just because! I’ve been using it for a while and can no longer remember the original source, but thank you to whoever created it!
For each “part”, I used 3 grams by weight, so the net yield was 25 grams (just under one ounce imperial weight). You could also measure as one part equalling one teaspoon or one tablespoon, etc.
- 3 parts Frankincense resin
- 2 parts Sandalwood (I used a ground powdered form)
- 1 part Cinnamon bark (I chopped Into tiny pieces)
- 1 part Rose petals
- 1 part dried Orange peel
Bealtainne Incense #2, by Scott Cunningham
- 3 parts Frankincense
- 2 parts Sandalwood
- 1 part Woodruff
- 1 part Rose petals
- a few drops Jasmine essential oil
- a few drops Neroli essential oil
FYI, I often omit the essential oils in this recipe.
Bealtainne Incense # 3 from Thoughtco
- 2 parts Mugwort
- 1 part dried daffodil petals
- 1 part Basil
- 1 part Hawthorn berries
- 1 part Patchouli
- 1 part Cinnamon
- 1/2 part Dragon’s Blood resin
The Thoughtco writer further suggested charging your incense with an incantation, such as:
Fire blend and fire light,
I celebrate Beltane this warm spring night.
This is the time of most fertile earth,
the greening of the land, and new rebirth.
Fire and passion and labor’s toil,
life grows anew out of the soil.
By Beltane’s flames, bring fertility to me,
As I will, so it shall be.
Herbal correspondences
| Herb / Spice / Resin | Correspondences |
| Basil | love, wealth, protection, prosperity |
| Cinnamon | peace, prosperity, attuning to one’s soul, stimulate psychic powers |
| Daffodil | love, fertility, luck |
| Dragon’s Blood | protection, energy, purification |
| Frankincense | a traditional Beltaine offering for love, cleansing, manifesting |
| Hawthorn berries | faery magick, rebirth, success, happiness, repelling negativity |
| Jasmine | to attract spiritual love and prosperity, induce sleep and bring prophetic dreams |
| Mugwort | lust, fertility, increase power of divination tools, bring on prophetic dreams |
| Neroli | joy, happiness, confidence, banish negativity |
| Oat straw | prosperity |
| Orange peel | love, success |
| Patchouli | prosperity, fertility, grounding |
| Rose | divine love, happiness, lasting friendships |
| Sandalwood | healing manifestation, clearing negativity |
| Woodruff | prosperity and protection |
Trackbacks/Pingbacks