How is it that something with such a long and rich history can be present in almost every major religion, and yet go almost completely un-noticed and un-discussed?
To see the 10 incense plants, go to the LinkedIn Post:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kerry-hughes-941353_10-plants-used-for-incense-activity-7276627556282331137-aA5E?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Explore the far corners of the world, and incense use is sure to be there. From the Catholic priest swinging incense-filled censors down the isles of a church in Rome, to the billows of incense smoke that cloud and curl around the Buddha icons in a Buddhist temple in Thailand, to cedar and sweetgrass smoke that fills a Native American sweatlodge in South Dakota—we have been using incense to connect to divinity in almost every culture and class of society for as long as we can look back in time.
The nature of incense—its qualities of being somewhat ethereal, of this world but yet not of this world, here and yet gone, tangible and yet intangible—represents the great mystery of life that we all seek in spirituality.
It is a way of gaining an understanding about this mystery and also paying reverence to it. As people burn incense they use their senses and they often ponder these great mysteries of life. Incense is also a way we can invite the divinity that is in all of life and nature into our daily spiritual practice.
– Excerpt from the book The Incense Bible (Kerry Hughes, 2007)
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