Lucky Mojo Forum

[coastwitch]

Hi
great site!!! love all the pictures. I wanted to ask about your incenses I am used to burning traditional incense sticks and joss sticks and even the tarry dhoop kind of stuff, it smells so great! but I'm not sure how to use your powdered incenses, do I need charcoal or what??? Thanks!

CW

*Love and Light*

[nagasiva]

burning powdered incense is different than burning resin incenses, which one burns in portions upon charcoal disks. each Lucky Mojo formula powder contains saltpeter, which is a natural combustible that keeps it burning after it is lit (that's why it is called 'self-lighting', because it keeps itself lit over time). if one burns such a powder on charcoal (try it sometime if you're curious, i have and it was kind of interesting), it combusts extremely quickly and almost evaporates without leaving any scent whatsoever (a waste of both charcoal and incense powder).

the trick is to get the powder into a form that will allow it to be lit easily and to burn properly. the conventional method for burning powdered incense is to shape it as a cone. this is described by catherine and illustrated with photographss by Carin Huber at:

http://herb-magic.com/incense-powder-cones.html

briefly, one makes a cone shape by using a piece of paper turned upon itself. typically this is done in small size, comparable to the size that cone incense is sold by mass-manufacturers. packing the cone, the incense naturally clings to itself as one sets the cone upon a metal, stone, or other non-flammable surface where it is to burn. one may then light it with a match, and it should burn naturally away.

CAUTION: I have occasionally placed cones upon the end of my cheap wooden stick incense holder, and this eventually did set the holder itself aflame (additionally setting the altar to smolder!). this is why there are metal bases provided with many cones that are sold in packaging -- whatever they are set upon will be exposed to burning embers and should therefore be capable of holding them).

in terms of their size and shape, i don't know why one could not make a larger size for extravagant events (i'll test this someday soon with a medium size and see if there are burning problems), or make them into some other stable, essentially vertical shape for which one has a form. one's limitations here would depend on how well the powder cleaves to itself, since in a cone it forms a little pile, whereas other shapes may fray about the edges or collapse away due to the effects of gravity.

since these cones burn completely through, theoretically (test it and get back to us!) they might be placed aside one another and burned in sequence, even with different formulae powders (effecting, for example, a 'reversible' effect by burning an Uncrossing Powder cone and then some pro-active cone such as Blessing, Attraction, or Destruction Powder).

I can imagine a constructed vertical stand in which the bottom of one cone sets upon a disk with a hole allowing the protrusion of the next one below it so as to set up a multi-cone burn quite elegantly, but i have never seen such a contraption. most people just light them individually as they need them.

enjoy!

[Mother Mystic]

I absolutely love the powdered incense. I use a small candle snuffer to form my cone, just dip it into the package, pack it tight and tap it out into the burner and it usually retains its shape.

[MissMichaele]

I pack my incense into an ordinary sewing thimble which I keep next to my incense burner. To unmold it, I tap it just like you'd tap a pail when making a sand castle. It usually unmolds perfectly, or at least well enough.

[Reynolds]

I do what Mother Mystic does, and when appropriate, I add tiny pices of Frankinsense and mix it up in my hand before puuting it in the Candle snufter.

What's great as well is that you can uniformly mix up different condition powdered incense inyour hand and then lpace it in the snufter.

And you can also add tiny pieces of appropriate herbs, though I recomend if you do this you have salt peter on hand and add a VERY tiny amount and mix it up.

[Literarylioness]

I write my intentions on the cone incense paper/shaper and burn it all together in a metal bowl. It gets a bit smokey, but I feel it gives my work more push.

Mary

[catherineyronwode]

Once again, for those who want pictures of how to roll your own powder incense cones in paper and pop them out for use, the pics are at our sister-site, herb-magic.com:

http://herb-magic.com/incense-powder-cones.html

[bubba]

Hi guys

Here in Arabia we Burn Incence allot. We burn it on charcoal on pretty wodden Burners and we simply sprinkle the powdered incence directly on top of the hot coals which is carried by the wodden Burner.
It creates a wonderful smoke aroma which fills the air and gives a distinctive smell. Its part and parcel of any true Arab home and is perfomed 2- 3 times sometimes a day to remove bad smells, and bad omens, spirits from home, It is called BAKHOOR or incence in english.
Goodluck

[NyteMuse]

Not generally in the habit of necroposting, but since I didn't want to start a new thread just for this, a friend discovered another nifty and cheap device for cones: pastry bag tips. They can be gotten for under $5 (sometimes under $1, depending where you go) and are good for smallish cones.
I tried the paper thing but I have arthritis in my thumbs so it's difficult to hold the paper for long enough.

[Honeybee]

I tried the various tips/utensils for burning the lucky mojo powdered incense that have been suggested on this link, however I have had the best success with a pastry tip # 23. It unmolds in a perfect cone.