Fragrance is used in our lives every day. Whether it is the natural odor of life around us, the woods, or a carefully blended perfume, fragrance evokes emotional memories and can often provide reminders to our history. There is also something special about a home that has a well stocked herbal cabinet and essential oils. Not only is this great for homeopathic use, but the fragrance is truly uplifting in many aspects.

Incense is used for anything from getting a stale odor out of the home to utilizing it for “religious” purposes. Many people prefer either the punk stick type of incense or the cones. I tend to favor the loose herbal type as it provides a more earthly feel. The fragrant aspect is also far superior in my opinion than most punk or cone type incense. Not all herbs will burn with a fragrant aroma, so it is important to experiment with what works for you.

Since I live in the city, having a “live” Christmas tree around the holiday’s is not very practical. I found myself missing the pine fragrance of my youth. I tried pine sprays, pine candles even carefully place pine spring throughout the home, but all to no avail. The odor was generally laced with a chemical residue that stopped up the sinuses and exterminated the neighbors for miles or the sprigs were too small to do any real work.

It was in this quest for the scent without the mess of pine needles in my sheets, couch and rug till July that helped create the following recipe. Usually one friend will have a beautiful fragrant pine tree standing in their home during the holidays. Once they have decided to discard it, I suggest you take a little zip lock bag and help your self to as many pine needles as you can scoop in. By the time the tree is ready for disposal, the needles should be dry enough to easily slide off into your hand and into the mouth of the bag without so much as a fuss. This will be incorporated into a lovely holiday incense or potpourri shortly.

Mix these all together and place in a clean jar. Put the jar away in a dark corner for about 2 weeks so it can fully “cook” the fragrance. Shake the jar vigorously once each week to distribute the scent throughout. If you want to burn this, it will require a charcoal briquette and a fire safe dish and trivet. Never leave burning items unattended. The charcoal briquette is not the same as you would use for a barbecue. These charcoals are round and sold in most occult supply houses.

It is important to use essential oils as this is the exact extract from the plant itself. A little goes a long way, so care should be used when mixing them.

Orris root is the “fixative” that will hold the scent. Usually, I prefer to put a few drops of the essential oils onto the root pieces and mix that in with the final process. Again, you have to play with this for what works best for you.

This concoction, when burned, will smell like being outdoors in a winter wonderland and has become a favorite of many friends. This also makes a nice gift to put into a smartly shaped jar that you can decorate with ribbon to provide a quality look and feel to it.