Incense & perfumes
Resins, incense and sacred perfumes in the history of religions, from Egypt to Japan.
Agrippa's planetary suffumigations in De occulta philosophia
Suffumigations in Agrippa's De occulta philosophia: how planets match fragrant roots, flowers, woods and resins, and the legacy of these correspondences.
Perfumes of ancient Egypt: Nefertum, unguents and cones
Perfume in ancient Egypt: Nefertum, god of the lotus, the sacred oils, the unguent jars of the tombs and the mysterious scented cones of banquet scenes.
Copal in Mesoamerica: the incense of the Maya and Aztecs
Copal, the sacred resin of Mesoamerica: Maya pom and Aztec copalli, the Popol Vuh, the offerings in the Sacred Cenote and rituals still practised today.
Dhūpa and dīpa: incense and light in Hindu pūjā
Incense and lamp in Hindu pūjā: the upacāra offerings, dhūpa and dīpa, the āratī rite, the god welcomed as a guest and the five elements of tradition.
Frankincense: history and symbolism of the Boswellia resin
Frankincense, the resin of the Boswellia tree: where it grows, how it is harvested, why it became incense par excellence and what it meant in worship.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh: the meaning of the Magi's gifts
The gifts of the Magi in Matthew's Gospel: why gold, frankincense and myrrh, how Irenaeus and Origen read them, and the Magi who became kings.
Hatshepsut and Punt: the expedition for the incense trees
Queen Hatshepsut's expedition to the land of Punt: the Deir el-Bahari reliefs, the resin trees brought back to Egypt and the sacred value of aromatics.
Herodotus and the Arabia of spices: winged snakes, cinnamon nests
Herodotus's legends of spice-bearing Arabia: winged snakes guarding incense, cinnamon in birds' nests and ladanum gathered from the beards of goats.
The holy anointing oil: from Exodus to the sacred chrism
Holy anointing oil in the Bible and the liturgy: the recipe in Exodus, the anointing of kings and priests, the name Messiah and the chrism with balsam.
Incense in Rome: altars, emperors and the martyrs' refusal
Incense in Roman religion: the acerra and household altars, the imperial cult, the letter of Pliny the Younger and the certificates of the Decian era.
Incense in China: boshan censers, temples and incense clocks
Incense in Chinese civilisation: mountain-shaped boshanlu censers, temple sticks, ancestor worship, incense clocks and the meaning of the name Hong Kong.
The Incense Route: caravans and kingdoms of ancient Arabia
The Incense Route from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean: the kingdoms of Saba and Hadramawt, the Nabataeans of Petra and the towns of the Negev.
Ketoret: the incense of the Temple in Jerusalem
The ketoret, sacred incense of the Tabernacle and Temple: the recipe in Exodus, the golden altar, the Yom Kippur rite and the rabbis' eleven spices.
Kōdō: the Japanese way of «listening» to incense
Kōdō, the Japanese way of incense: the Awaji driftwood, the Heian court and the Genji, the Oie and Shino schools, kumikō games and the Ranjatai wood.
Kyphi: the sacred evening incense of the Egyptian temples
Kyphi, the compound incense of Egyptian temples: what Plutarch says about it, the recipes carved at Edfu and Philae, its ingredients and its meaning.
Myrrh: the bitter resin between myth, burial and Scripture
Myrrh in the history of religions: the bitter resin of Commiphora, the myth of Myrrha and Adonis, Egyptian embalming and its place in the Bible.
The odour of sanctity: the fragrance of saints and flowing relics
The odour of sanctity in Christian tradition: the martyrdom of Polycarp, Paul's aroma of Christ, the myrrh-streaming saints and the manna of Bari.
The Orphic Hymns: a perfume for every deity
The Orphic Hymns and their fumigation headings: frankincense for Ouranos, saffron for Aether, storax for Kronos. An ancient liturgy made of scents.
Oud and bakhoor: agarwood in the Arab tradition
Oud, the agarwood of the Aquilaria tree: how its resin forms, its names across Asia, bakhoor and the mabkhara in Arab homes, and the biblical aloes.
Rosewater in the Persian and Islamic tradition
Rosewater between Persia and Islam: distillation and the alembic, the rose harvest of Kashan, the rose and nightingale of the poets, cleansed shrines.
Sandalwood in India: sacred paste, tilaka and devotion
Sandalwood in Indian tradition: the wood of Santalum album, chandan paste, forehead marks, its offering in Hindu and Jain worship and its poetic symbols.
Spikenard and the anointing at Bethany: perfume in the Gospels
Spikenard, a precious perfume from the Himalayas: the Song of Songs, the anointing at Bethany in the Gospels of Mark and John, and its symbolic meaning.
The thurible and incense in Christian liturgy
Incense in Christian liturgy: the thurible and boat, Revelation and Psalm 141, the incensations of Mass and Vespers, and the great Botafumeiro of Santiago.
Tibetan sang: the juniper smoke offering of the mountains
Sang, the Tibetan smoke offering: juniper, barley and butter burned in ritual ovens on roofs and mountain passes, and the local deities it honours.
The Zoroastrian sacred fire and the offering of sandalwood
The sacred fire of Zoroastrianism: the grades of fire, the Atash Behram, the boi ritual at the five watches of the day and the Parsi sandalwood gift.