In ancient ceremonies bark, bushes and resin were burned for their vibrational and purifying properties. CEREMONY is that same practice, an AYURVEDIC INCENSE POWDER I grind from resins, woods, flowers and roots. It lights with a match and burns by itself, with no need for mica plates or charcoal. A tiny spoon comes in every pot. The dose is yours to choose, how much and when, so the ritual becomes your own. How long it burns depends on how much you add.
Of all the incense I have made or lit in my life, nothing comes close to the vibrational shift I feel with CEREMONY.
Smoke curls from the bowl in ribbons. Stagnant energy clears and the frequency of the space raises. Corners let go. What you feel is a clearing first, then expansion, and grounding. As the smoke rises , the mind untangles, and the subtle vibrational bodies shift the physical. The moment clears and opens possibility. It feels as it is: special, held, sacred.
In Ayurveda we are more than the physical body. We are layered, and the subtle bodies that carry our thoughts and our feeling are always in conversation with the physical one. Aromatic smoke meets those layers directly. As they settle, our body follows.
CEREMONY reconnects you with yourself, with whatever you call sacred, with being. Every day holds the opportunity to begin with intention. A match, a spoon and a bowl is a beginning. It says: I am, I am here, I am becoming. Use it as you wish. In the morning to set a foundation before the day begins. In a room that has gone stagnant, to bring the outdoors in: air to the ground, fire to what has stagnated, uplift to what is stuck. These are the principles of VASTU, the Indian science of space. Use it before you meditate, so the sitting has a beginning you can smell. In the evening, to unwind the last of the day from your shoulders. Or for no reason at all, as found poetry: smoke ribboning, curling, thinning to disperse, and the room altered.
Each plant brings its own element. Frankincense and oak give the body, resin and wood, steady and slow. Rose and lavender soften the edges. Vetiver holds the floor, a root that goes down into the dark. True cinnamon bark, clove and black pepper put a spark under whatever has gone still. Ground eucalyptus leaf opens the air. All five elements are in the bowl.
Each batch is ground, then charged with Lemurian quartz and intention. I make it in small numbers, timed to the movements of the planets, so every batch carries its own sky. The first was made under a Venus and Jupiter sextile, air feeding fire. The tiny spoon in every pot means the first dose is measured and every one after is yours.
I have taught Ayurvedic incense making and ceremony for over ten years, to small groups, private gatherings and independent businesses in London, the southwest of England and Paris, and at Pukka Tea and Aveda. I love the making of this powder. And I love the SMOKING BOWL, held close in both hands, sitting with courage in the centre of the table. Lifting it is holding possibility, a small physical gesture that travels through the subtle bodies, the space around us and beyond.
Light a match. Measure your dose. Begin.