27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good book on the subject, October 8, 2004
This review is from: Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents (Paperback)
We use it every day and we probably take it for granted. Incense is part of our everyday lives. We use it to make our house smell nice, we use it for meditations and we use it for rituals.
But what most of us don't know is how it is made, how to make it ourselves, what is involved in making it and do we want to get into making our own.
Carl F. Neal has put together a book on the basics of making incense and mixing together the scents that make it attractive to our every use.
The book is very well laid out, with an exact Table of Contents, a good index, a very light bibliography and a good glossary of terms. While I would have liked to see more of a bibliography, I believe Mr. Neal's personal experiences make up the bulk of the book, so I can live with the few references he has provided.
The introduction is interesting. His How To Use This Book even tells you where to concentrate your reading in order to produce your first batch of incense... read this chapter, skim over this chapter and so on. He is eager to have you get into the actual making of your own incense.
Mr. Neal has a good overview of the final products, what they are, what their differences are and what you can use them for. I like his easy to read and clarity of writing. He works a simple basic introduction for the reader, assuming that we do not have a good working idea of the product. And for the most part, those picking up this book probably will not.
I like his treatment of the topics. The Importance of Form is a good overview of the different types of incense and I found his advices to be good. Incense Composition gives us the basics of building our incense; what makes them smell, and what science is involved in our being able to make them smell as good as we choose. Even the How To Use Incense part, which seemed silly at first (we all know how to use incense, or do we?) explained how to achieve the best results when we use incense. Pay special attention to the Hazards part of this... some people do not realize that while we are considering incense to be a representation of air, we are actually dealing with fire. Mr. Neal makes this point very clear.
Mr. Neal gives the same kind of careful considerations to the chapters on Selecting Materials, Tools and Workspaces and Making Incense, walking you through step by step to help you select the best materials for your special purposes, the best tools to achieve your final product and the procedures for actually making the incense. Clear instructions, easy to understand and no mysterious terms makes this easy to follow. In the Recipes section he provides simple recipes and complex recipes for those who want to advance to the next round, and the recipes are broken down in to mixes named for specific magical workings you may have in mind. The recipes contain a base, binder, liquid and aromatic so you understand the composition process. He also provides various styles of incense so you can work with them all and decide which ones you prefer to make.
There are also Experimentation and Troubleshooting sections and then Appendices which give you ingredients chart, help with locating materials and Mr. Neal's philosophies on incense and suggested ritual uses. A very interesting section on Listening to Incense: The Japanese Approach to Incense is an insight into how the Masters of incense production, the Japanese, look at the creation, burning and treatment of incense. A brief overview, but it is meant to allow for the individual to explore the topic further if they feel they want to.
I like the idea of the book. While I personally would not go through all the work and expense of making my own incense, I liked the idea of being able to understand the incense process. For those who feel that they would like to explore the topic "hands on", it provides two things. If you are curious, this book can help you make a decision about this being the kind of craft you would like to get into. Do you feel this is something that you can devote the time, effort and interest to? Do you feel this work is worth it for your use of incense? Secondly, if you are a person who has decided on making your own incense, this is a great beginners handbook and will allow you to follow, step by step, the process of making basic incense to creating your own special blends.
On the down side, there are no pictures, so those who need images will be left out.
Mr. Neal's magical associations are general, non-path specific and a good basic starting place for those who are not familiar with using incense in magic. His associations of types of incense with magic (like a combination of pine, clove, benzoin, oak moss and sage for an incense for Air) are from the basics with a touch of inspiration in blending. Nice combinations for the most part.
My opinion of this book being well written, easy to understand and nicely put together makes this a good recommendation for anyone interested in the topic. boudica
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great resource!, July 11, 2005
This review is from: Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents (Paperback)
I've always loved incense and recently decided to try creating my own. What interested me about this book was the concept of making self burning incense, although I had pretty much discontinued that type due to many of them having a rather artificial/chemical smell. Carl Neal gives you plenty of detailed information about making all-natural self burning types...cones, sticks and other forms. In fact, that is the main focus of this book which makes it unique among other incense books I've checked out. Not that there's anything wrong with blending resins and herbs and using charcoal, but I was very fascinated with the idea of making cones, etc. My first experiments so far have turned out really well, and I am very impressed. This is not "incense making made difficult" as another reviewer stated. I made two batches of different types and molded them into cones in less than a half hour. It is a nice feeling to know *exactly* what is in your incense!
I should also add that this is a very user friendly and easy to read book. I love Carl Neal's writing style, which is very conversational and down to earth, just like a regular guy explaining what he does. He explains everything thoroughly, such as what tools, conventional and unconventional, that he uses, other tricks about the drying process and so on. There are plenty of recipes, a detailed troubleshooting guide, ingredients chart with elemental and traditional associations and so on. He explains the Japanese concept of incense very well. I also liked the "Advanced Incense Philosophies" in which he discusses the ethical use of various ingredients. All in all, I would highly recommend this book.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Overall, a very good book about incense, October 7, 2005
This review is from: Incense: Crafting and Use of Magickal Scents (Paperback)
This book gives very good advice about making incense at home. I like the fact that the author discourages the use of salt petre and blank cones and sticks for oil dipping. There is a troubleshoot guide in the question/answer format that is helpful. Without a doubt, the author has a passion for making incense.
There is a part in the book that lists suppliers. It is a little confusing because it says Internet sources, but it lists the mailing addresses and phone numbers without the Internet addresses.
Overall, the book is a good starting point, but leaves out information that would classify it as a "comprehensive guide" to making incense. The author encourages experimentation rather than completely engaging in instruction. I guess I am trying to say it could have gone further into some topics, but I am glad I bought the book and recommend it to anyone interested in learning to make their own incense.
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