Planetary Suffumigations (Incenses)

Greetings, faithful followers!

I thought it might be useful – for me as well as my readers – to post my favorite recipes for planetary incenses here.

In a best case scenario, you would want each incense to include the planet’s sacred number of ingredients.  Thus, Saturn incense should include three ingredients, Jupiter incense should contain four, etc.  The down side to this is when you reach the higher-numbered planets:  six ingredients for Sol and seven for Venus isn’t so much, but by the time you reach Luna’s nine ingredients the recipies begin to get unwieldy.  Another option is to have all the recipies include the same sacred number of ingrendients.  Three and seven are always “standard” sacred numbers for nearly any purpose.

I generally choose three ingredients for mine – representing each of the three worlds described by Agrippa (physical, mental and spiritual), or the three shamanic worlds (celestial, terrestrial and the underworld).  I have found that simpler is better when it comes to mixing aromatic powders together.  Quite often, substances that you think would smell wonderful when burned together, instead create acrid and unpleasant burning smells.  Whatever number you choose, it will take some trial and error before you find the exact mixture that works best for you.

Incense of Saturn/Saturday:

1 part Myrrh

1 part Asafoetida

1/4 part Sulphur

Incense of Jupiter/Thursday:

1 part cedar

1/4 part clove

1/8th part apple pectin

A few drops of pine oil

NOTE: This is a rare case where I use more than three ingredients, and four is sacred to Jupiter.  I find that apple pectin tends to have an acrid burning smell – so I add very little and then offset it with the pine oil.

Incense of Mars/Tuesday:

1 part Pipe Tobacco (or, my favorite, “Black and Mild”)

1/2 part Cinnamon

1/8th part Crushed Red Pepper

WARNING!: Martian incense is one of the most dangerous substances I’ve worked with!  It is, quite simply, tear gas.  If you make this, do not add too much red pepper.  And when you burn it, do it in small quantities. Never, for any reason, lean over the censor and inhale or draw in breath!  Too much pepper or direct inhalation can burn your throat and lungs.

Incense of Sol/Sunday:

1 part Frankincense

1 part Copal

1/2 part Benzoin.

NOTE: You may also use standard “Church” incense, which can be found in most botanicas or christian supply stores.

Incense of Venus/Friday:

1 part Sanalwood

1 part Benzoin

1/2 part Red Rose Petals

Incense of Mercury/Wednesday:

1 part Benzoin

1/4 part Frankencense

1/8 part Lavender Blossoms

Incense of Luna/Monday:

1 part Calamus

1/2 part Juniper Berries

1/4 part Gardenia Flower

As a note, I generally find that the various flowers used in the above incenses tend to produce a burnt smell when placed on hot coals.  A good solution is to replace the flowers with a drop or two of essential oil instead.  Just be careful, as too much flower essence will quickly overpower the other ingredients in the recipe.

You should, of course, test these recipes and tweak them according to your tastes and intuition.  Or, if you feel inspired to do so, try making scents with the planetary number of ingredients.  A wonderful resource for this work is Scott Cunningham’s Incenses Oils and Brews.

Also, you can use these for Elemental incenses as well:

Fire: Martian Incense

Water: Lunar Incense

Air: Mercury Incense

Earth: Saturn incense*

(* – Personally, I find Saturn incense too noxious for Earth. My favorite Earthy scent is Patchouli.)

May you find these suffumigations useful and powerful in your magick.

 

ADDENDUM:  One thing Agrippa mentions, and I’ve been meaning to experiment with it, is the inclusion of a lodestone.  (That is a natural magnet made from magnetite.)  It certainly wouldn’t add anything to the scent of the incense – so I’ve always assumed it was included for its attractive properties.  That is, since a magnet can be used to magnetize other metals, then perhaps it is added to the incense to “magnetize” it to attract forces in sympathy with it.

However, I do note that Agrippa only lists the lodestone as an ingredient for Saturn and Martian incenses.  So this may hint at a more chthonic attribution for the lodestone, having something to do with commanding spirits…