Yule Incense - Prepping

I know what you're thinking: "It isn't even Samhain!"

You're right, it isn't. But it isn't too early to start on your Yule incense. In fact, anytime within three months before any Sabbat isn't too early to start its incense. Honest.


So, while harvesting out in the yard yesterday, I stopped to harvest some Spruce Needles. I use these interchangeably for Pine Needles in my recipes. I feel perfectly at ease doing this, as this Spruce was planted by me within weeks of moving into this house back in 2006. This tree and I are good friends, in a manner of speaking.

When I removed this little guy from the nursery pot, I could balance him, root ball and all in one hand. He was less than a foot tall. The tag said he was a Norway Spruce - but I'm not so sure about that. This little guy has none of the characteristics of the Norway Spruces I've seen through the years. Who knows?

He is now almost 8 feet tall. He has grown remarkably fast and healthy.

 

I traditionally replace my pine/spruce needles yearly, as they tend to age very fast. He was badly damaged when I bought him (hence, he is already misshapen) so I'm not a fan of pruning him at this time - I just take a few snips here and there from underneath, which is all I need. 

Now that I have a new stash of needles to work with, I've already started prepping for my Yule incense. 

I have this recipe listed as a Complex Incense for Yule under the Yule tab. I term this complex because of the number of ingredients, the availability or scarcity/cost of ingredients and the addition of multiple oils. 

Yule Fire Incense

2 parts Frankincense, crushed                2 parts pine needles               
1 part Cedar shavings                             1 part Juniper Berries
1 part Orris Root                                    1/2 part Myrrh
Evergreen Oil                                         Neroli Cedar Oil                    
A few crushed Ivy leaves

• Crush the resins first, separately. (Frankincense, Myrrh)
• Next - crush/chop any woody/herby elements, including your ivy. ***Crushing pine needles or cedar shavings with a pestle and mortar is about as successful as nailing Jell-O to the wall; It isn't worth your time.*** I actually have an old set of kitchen knives and an old coffee grinder that I use for lighter things that don't grind well by hand. I usually treat the pine needles like a woody herb and chop the needles with a knife on an old cutting board. My cedar shavings are freshly planed off a cedar board, and I can actually chop those pretty fine if they have been planed thinly. Ivy is easy to crush when dried.
• I leave the Juniper Berries whole - you can crush them or chop them if you wish. 
• Mix the resins, needles, cedar and juniper berries together. Toss in the Orris Root and Ivy leaves - mix all together well.
• Add oils - one drop at a time, alternating from Evergreen to Neroli Cedar. Mix and lightly toss your incense mixture after each addition of oil, letting all ingredients absorb the oil. One drop might not sound like much, but it's a great deal of moisture to the dry ingredients. 
• Add only as much oil as you want for consistency. 

---- If you can't find the oil specified, substitute with any good quality pine or wood type oil according to the scent you like, or go with a holiday appropriate scent such as Bayberry. This incense can also be used with just a few drops of wine or honey to help bind it. However, you may want to increase your resins to offset the lack of scent from the oils if you use wine or honey, or you may prefer it less heavily scented. Once again - it's all about personal preference. I've just given you the recipe as I use it.

If you try this recipe, or try it with substitutions or variations, please drop me a line and let me know how it went!