The Woods – Raw Incense

The Woods, something unique from us.  A folly, an exploration, a case of giving time to being curious.  We camp in the mountains nearby often and I love to walk amongst the tall trees and inhale all the scents, trying to separate and identify each one.  Some from the ground, some from the cold wet rocks, some the damp rich soil, some from the damp moss.  The scent of the green fern fronds or the tall broad trunk of the tree, high enough to be warmed by some sun.   The insects, the river, the fallen leaves, the warm upper canopy both protecting and giving to the lower layers of this wonder of diversity.  Could this be imagined or invoked when I got home? The Woods contains a selection of various plant species.  Some plant species are chosen for their sap, their wood, their bark.  Some for their leaves and hard peppery berries.  Some for their fragrant spicy seed pods or earthy rich roots. They are ground with all their oils, resins and scent intact.  The resulting mixture is rich, dark and highly fragrant and while not exactly how that forest smelt that day it does indeed take me there. This raw incense is purely just plant material. A spoonful is placed in an oil burner, or on a saucer on top of a fire place, where the mixture can absorb enough heat that the fragrant oils it contains are released into your room space.  When spent this mixture becomes lighter in colour, dry and sand like, as if it had sat in the hot sun. When you are ready to discard it, please return it to the earth where it came from.