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Sustainability

Aromatherapy
Aromatic History & Lore
Human/Plant Connection
Incense as Medicine
Natural Perfumery
Ritual
Sustainability
May 9, 20240Comments

From Nature to Nose: Unveiling the Art of Natural Perfumery

Have you ever felt a deep desire to have your beloved aromatic plants accompany you throughout your day? That’s what it’s like to wear natural perfume. Unfortunately, many modern perfumes found
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatherapy
Aromatic History & Lore
Aromatic Recipes
Bio-Regional Aromatic Medicine
Herbal Medicine
Incense as Medicine
Plant Profiles
Sustainability
Topical Medicine
January 24, 20240Comments

Medicine of the Evergreens: Our Greatest Winter Allies

In the heart of winter's icy grip exists a steadfast symbol of endurance and resilience – the magnificent evergreen trees. With autumn behind us, many plants have shed their leaves
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatherapy
Sustainability
November 29, 20228Comments

Herbal-Minded Holiday Gift Guide

The holiday season has arrived, and this is often a time when we think of giving something special to those we love and care for. However, the idea of picking
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatherapy
Bio-Regional Aromatic Medicine
Human/Plant Connection
Sustainability
April 14, 202210Comments

13 Aromatic Plants You Can Easily Grow at Home

Have you thought about growing a garden this spring? Now is a great time to start preparing! Whether you're a complete beginner, or a master in aromatic medicine making, there is
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatherapy
Human/Plant Connection
Sustainability
November 22, 202119Comments

Being A Conscious Essential Oil Consumer – Resist the EO Marketers!

This holiday time of year, there are great deals everywhere and multi-level marketing networks working overtime to sell essential oils. Don’t get me wrong – essential oils are amazing aromatic
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatic History & Lore
Plant Profiles
Sustainability
October 27, 20219Comments

Saving Spikenard: The Sustainability Struggle

Some might say that the words sustainable and essential oil can never be in the same sentence. Essential oils have dynamic health benefits, however, they’re also resource-intensive products. Hundreds to
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatic History & Lore
Human/Plant Connection
Ritual
Sustainability
July 19, 20210Comments

Smudging: An Issue of Ethics and Sustainability

Have you ever scrolled past a social media ad with an image of someone burning a smudge stick of White Sage with the caption reading something like, “Say Bye-Bye to
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Plant Profiles
Sustainability
November 25, 20190Comments

A Distress Call from the Sacred White Sage Plant

Oftentimes when trends spread like wildfire around the world, there is a great deal of misinformation or lack of understanding around them. Unfortunately, many trends these days include the use
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatherapy
Aromatic Recipes
Incense as Medicine
Sustainability
August 19, 20190Comments

Incense & Aromatics for Mental Focus & Clarity

Do you experience issues with mental focus and clarity, brain fog, or trouble with your memory? The aromatic incense plants I talk about in the video above have been used
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
Aromatherapy
Aromatic History & Lore
Ayurveda
Plant Profiles
Sustainability
January 23, 20180Comments

The Ancient Divinity and Healing of Sandalwood

One of the most widely used metaphysical plants in the world is the renowned Sandalwood tree. The use of this sacred tree in spirituality and ritual dates back thousands of
by NW School of Aromatic Medicine
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This might surprise you, but you probably already This might surprise you, but you probably already have an incense collection. 🌿🔥

If you have an herbal apothecary at home, take another look at what's sitting on your shelves.

Rosemary.
Lavender.
Rose.
Cinnamon.
Cardamom.
Juniper.
Cedar.
Pine resin.

You might know these plants from teas, tinctures, oils, culinary preparations, or your herbal practice.

But have you ever experienced them as incense?

One of the things I love most about incense is that it gives us an entirely different way to experience plants we may have known for years.

Apply heat to an aromatic plant and something fascinating happens.

A familiar aroma can reveal entirely different sides of itself.

Sweetness becomes deeper.

Woods become warmer and richer.

Spices transform into something new.

Resins release aromas that were barely perceptible when you smelled them in the jar.

And suddenly, plants you've walked past on your shelves a hundred times become interesting all over again.

That's part of the beauty of incense.

Many of the plants aren't new.

The way you're experiencing them is.

🌿 Take a look through your own collection today.

Which plant would you most like to experience as incense?

~ Evan

#Incense #NaturalIncense #Herbalism #AromaticPlants #AromaticArts #BotanicalIncense #PlantResins #Herbalist #Aromatherapy #NaturalAromatics #TraditionalIncense #IncenseLovers
Incense was the original aromatherapy. 🌿🔥 When yo Incense was the original aromatherapy. 🌿🔥

When you hear the word incense, what do you picture?

For many people, it's a stick burning in a little wooden holder.

But incense is so much bigger than that.

Long before bottles of essential oils lined our shelves, long before electric diffusers filled our homes, people around the world were experiencing aromatic plants through heat and smoke.

Frankincense and Myrrh resins.

Sandalwood and Agarwood.

Juniper, Cinnamon, roots, leaves, flowers, spices, resins and countless other aromatic plants.

They were burned, heated, powdered, blended, compounded and transformed into an incredible variety of aromatic preparations.

And people didn't work with incense simply because it smelled good.

For thousands of years, aromatic smoke has been woven into prayer and ritual, meditation and contemplation, traditional healing practices, ceremony, purification, perfumery, and the simple human desire to transform the atmosphere of a space.

In many ways, incense is one of humanity's oldest ways of experiencing the aromatic gifts of plants.

And yet today, this enormous aromatic tradition has largely been reduced to something chemical-based that many people buy at a convenient store, light, and burn.

There's an entire world of incense beyond the stick.

An ancient world of plants, aroma, tradition, creativity, and relationship with the natural world.

And over the next week, I want to show you a little more of it. 🌿

What does incense mean to you?

~ Evan

#Incense #NaturalIncense #AromaticPlants #AromaticArts #Aromatherapy #Herbalism #PlantResins #Frankincense #Myrrh #Sandalwood #TraditionalIncense #BotanicalIncense
Can you turn a memory into incense? 🌿🔥 Think abou Can you turn a memory into incense? 🌿🔥

Think about a moment from your life that you can almost step back into when you close your eyes.

Maybe it’s sitting around a campfire beneath a sky full of stars.

Walking through a wet forest after the rain.

The smell of your grandparents’ house.

A place you traveled years ago that has somehow never left you.

Holiday time with your family. 

Or one of those quiet moments that wouldn't mean much to anyone else, but means everything to you.

Now imagine trying to capture that experience through aroma.

What would it smell like?

What woods, resins, roots, herbs, flowers, or spices could help tell that story?

This is where incense crafting becomes so much more than simply following a recipe.

It becomes a form of sensory storytelling, memory-making, and remembering.

You take something that exists in your memory or imagination and begin giving it physical form through aromatic plants.

And that's just one place inspiration for an incense blend can begin.

We recently shared our blog,  7 Ways to Find Inspiration for Incense Blending, exploring everything from landscapes and seasons to intentions, the elements, celestial cycles, and individual aromatic plants.

🌿 Read the full article through the link in our bio.

Or comment with the word INCENSE below and we’ll sen you the article straight to your inbox. 

#IncenseCrafting #IncenseMaking #NaturalIncense #BotanicalIncense #AromaticPlants #AromaticArts #IncenseBlending #HandmadeIncense #PlantResins #Frankincense #Sandalwood #TraditionalIncense
Imagine walking through the depths of the forest. Imagine walking through the depths of the forest. It’s so quiet that all you hear are the treetops swaying from the light breeze; it smells like fresh, damp wood, and a hint of evergreen; and you finally find them – the raw aromatic plants and resins you’ve been searching for to roll into your own hand-crafted incense.

Incense is plant medicine that fills the air – the original aromatic medicine. It’s the traditional roots of modern aromatherapy and gave rise to all other aromatic arts. 

Crafting incense calls for creativity, intuition, precision, and passion, yet it is a skill accessible to all. All it takes is a willingness to dedicate your time and energy to cultivating and mastering it.

Where are you on your incense crafting journey? Do you dream of wandering the woods in search of the perfect plant for a recipe? Have you made your first successful incense blend yet? Maybe started your own natural artisan incense business?

No matter where you are, the aromatic arts path is endless, with inspiring twists and turns offering new opportunities for growth, knowledge, and imagination.

---

 #incenseresin #incensecrafting #essentialoils #diyincense #holistichealing #herbalmedicine #aromatherapy
If you could capture ONE place in an incense blend If you could capture ONE place in an incense blend, where would it be? 🌿🔥

Maybe it’s a place you’ve traveled that you can still smell when you close your eyes.

A forest after the rain.

A desert filled with aromatic plants.

A temple heavy with the scent of centuries of incense.

The ocean at sunset.

A mountain meadow in summer.

Or maybe it’s somewhere closer to home—a place filled with memories that you’d love to somehow capture through aroma.

This is one of my favorite ways to approach incense crafting.

Instead of beginning with:

“What ingredients should I put together?”

I tend to begin with:

“What do I want to create and why?”

Then you turn to your aromatic palette and start exploring which woods, resins, roots, herbs, flowers, and spices might help bring that place to life, or another intention or vision.

Suddenly, incense becomes more than a recipe.

It becomes a form of sensory storytelling.

So to have some fun with this...

👇 If you could capture ONE place in an incense blend, where would it take us?

For me, it would be this place. See my comment to learn where this is!

#IncenseCrafting #IncenseMaking #NaturalIncense #BotanicalIncense #AromaticPlants #AromaticArts #IncenseBlending #HandmadeIncense #PlantResins #Frankincense #Sandalwood #Herbalism #TraditionalIncense
Where does an incense blend begin? 🌿🔥 You might t Where does an incense blend begin? 🌿🔥

You might think it begins with a recipe.

But some of the most interesting blends begin long before you ever start measuring aromatic materials.

They begin with an idea.

Something you want to capture, express, remember, or experience through aroma.

And that's when incense crafting starts to become something much bigger than simply combining plants that smell good together.

It becomes a form of sensory storytelling.

You can take something that exists only in your memory or imagination and begin giving it form through aromatic plants and smoke.

But where do you find that initial spark?

And how do you look at a shelf filled with woods, resins, roots, herbs, flowers, and spices and decide where to begin?

In our newest article, we're exploring 7 different places you can look for inspiration when creating an incense blend—some obvious, and others you may have never considered.

If you've been staring at your aromatic collection wondering “What could I create with all of this?” this one's for you.

🌿 From Forests to the Stars: 7 Ways to Find Inspiration for Incense Blending

🔥Comment INCENSE below, and we’ll send the full article straight to your inbox!

And we'd love to hear from you:

Where does inspiration for your incense blends usually come from?

#IncenseCrafting #IncenseMaking #NaturalIncense #HandmadeIncense #BotanicalIncense #IncenseBlending #AromaticPlants #AromaticArts #PlantResins #Frankincense #Sandalwood #Herbalism #IncenseLovers #TraditionalIncense
Traditional herbalism and folklore hold valuable w Traditional herbalism and folklore hold valuable wisdom about plants. 

Throughout history, different cultures and societies have passed down traditional knowledge about the healing properties and uses of various botanicals. These stories are not merely fanciful tales but valuable repositories of ancient wisdom. 

Exploring botanical folklore and the symbolism within it helps us gain valuable insight into the historical context of herbs and the beliefs surrounding their therapeutic benefits. This often reveals unique and innovative ways in which these plants have been utilized for their medicinal, spiritual, or practical applications. 

By integrating this traditional wisdom with modern scientific research, we can harness the full potential of plants and explore their holistic healing properties, paving the way for a deeper understanding of nature's gifts and how they support our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realms.

---

 #herbalism #traditionalherbalism #folklore #botanical
How do you actually come up with a new incense ble How do you actually come up with a new incense blend? 🌿🔥

It's one thing to follow a recipe.

It's another thing entirely to look at a shelf filled with Frankincense, Sandalwood, aromatic woods, resins, roots, herbs, flowers, and spices and think...

What do I make with all of this?

Where do you even begin?

How do you decide what belongs together?

And how do you move beyond following someone else's recipes and start creating something that's actually your own?

These are some of my favorite questions when it comes to incense crafting.

Because once you begin exploring them, the art of incense gets a whole lot bigger.

I've got something coming tomorrow that I think will get your creative wheels turning. 🌿

But first I'm curious:

When you create an incense blend, or any other fragranced creation, where does your inspiration usually come from?

#IncenseCrafting #IncenseMaking #NaturalIncense #HandmadeIncense #BotanicalIncense #AromaticPlants #AromaticArts #Herbalism #PlantResins #Frankincense #Sandalwood #IncenseLovers #IncenseBlending #TraditionalIncense #AromaticMedicine
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