Religious Use of Incense
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by: Itamar David
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Word Count: 810
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 Time: 3:48 AM
It could be said that the use of incense for religious ritual is as old as religion itself. In most cases that may be the truth, but the first recorded use of incense in ritual was by the Egyptians. What we do know is burned incense is meant as a sacrificial offering to a particular key figure within the religion, or as an tool of meditation and prayer. Here we will take a brief look at some the faiths in the world that use incense and why.
It is widely believed that Hinduism was the first religion to use incense as a sign of loyalty to a god. Daily worship includes incense offerings to deities along with prayer and thankfulness. Each time incense is offered it is believed the Krishna god responds with "Krishna accepts the offering made to him with love", spurring his worshipers to make further offerings during the day at temples and altars in the home.
Asian belief systems such as Buddhism, Taoism and Shintoism value incense very highly in ceremonies and rites of passage. Temples and inner spaces are thick with smoke and coiled incense as it is believed to be a method of purification of the surroundings. By purifying the temple it is believed that a host of buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods and demons will appear to offer advice and relieve afflictions. In Chinese Buddhist temples lit incense sticks are used to burn spots in a monks and nuns scalps during an ordination ceremony.
Christian churches have used incense in ceremony as far back as Old Testament times. The Bible refers to incense as the symbol of prayer from the faithful rising to heaven and being greeted by God. Particularly the Roman Catholic and high Anglican sects use incense in ceremony. The formulation always includes frankincense, myrrh, styrax and copal. During a Christian service incense is particularly important during the Eucharist (communion) and the reading of the Gospel. These are thought to be the times of the most prayer during the service.
Neopagans use incense in rituals to represent all the elements in nature. The belief is incense is made from materials from the earth, some varieties requires the use of water, fire is needed to ignite it and the smoke wafts through the air - therefore encompassing all the major earth elements. Burning incense is believed to release energy stored within the incense and create a magical setting for inviting spirits to the Pagan altar. Perfumed or synthetic incense is not used in Neopagan rituals as it does not contain the same energies as natural incense.
Satanic rituals use incense in much the same way as Neopagan rituals do, for the purpose of creating an atmosphere capable of calling up spirits. The difference with Satanism is they believers are seeking the presence of demons for the purpose of telling the future, releasing a curse or healing someone present. Patchouli is the chief variety of incense used in Satanic rituals as it is believed to bring about the particular demons the practitioner wishes.
Judaism uses incense, or ketoret as a holy incense as it is described in the Hebrew Bible and Talmud. It was meant to be offered at the altar at the time of the Tabernacle and is still an important part of the Temple rituals. There was a period after the fall of the Second Temple in 70 CE when ketoret fell into disuse, most likely because of persecution and the need to hide rituals. Now members of Orthodox Judaism, a highly rigid and fundamentalist sect, are studying the composition of ancient traditional incense and the reintroduction of the its use in Jewish services.
Islam uses incense, but not in ritualistic ways like the religions listed above. Instead it is used as a reminder to Muslims of their rewards in heaven. The Koran describes heaven as a place where everyone will resemble the 'father' Adam, be free of bodily functional needs (urination, mucous etc), bodily sweat will have a pleasant odor, spouses will be magically beautiful and aloe wood will be used as incense. Paradise will apparently be sweet smelling in every way, therefore the burning of incense on earth reminds the believer of the heaven that delights all the senses.
Just as there are hundreds of religions in the world and millions of sects, there are hundreds of 'flavors' of incense. Many are dipped, perfumed or formulated from man-made materials. These varieties may offer such desirable scents as gingerbread and pumpkin pie, but they are not the traditional and natural forms of incense. Incense that uses ingredients from nature will not irritate the eyes, sinuses or lungs like synthetic ones will. Seek out brands that are made of natural elements such as sage, frankincense, myrrh, cedar and pine.
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