Our Top 5 Incense Blends for Home Cleansing: Natural is The Way
Burning incense is a great way to cleanse energy and your home. However, due to modern influence, incense has changed from what it was in ancient times. Luckily, there are types of incense more cleansing than other. In this article we talk about our favourite type of incense and our 'Top 5 Natural Incense Blends for Home Cleansing: And Why'. So, read on to learn more!
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1. What is Incense? 2. What is Natural Incense? 3. Why Burn Natural Incense For Home Cleansing?
4. Why Blend Natural Incense Scents? 5. Top 5 Natural Incense Blends For Home Cleansing
6. List of Other Note-Worthy Blends 7. The Bottom Line |
What is Incense?
Incense has been popular for centuries; it was a prominent tool used in ancient religious and spiritual practices. Its use dates back to ancient times, when civilisations such as the Egyptians and Greeks burnt plant life as a deity-connecting tool. Incense had many other uses during this time - a significant use for incense was to cleanse sacred bodies during mummification, thus bringing eternal fortune and protection to the soul.
Nowadays, incense has a wide array of uses. Some examples include to enhance meditation, improve spirituality, strengthen connection to higher entities, fragrance the air, and even to home cleanse.
What is Natural Incense?
Natural incense involves burning aromatic plant extracts, including aromatic resins, botanicals, and essential oils, each carefully extracted from earthly plants. These plant extracts have healing and purifying properties provided by the plant it is extracted from.
Usually, these extracts come with no added chemicals or harmful toxins, and this said, they are kinder on the lungs.
Natural incense is fresh and pleasant in fragrance, perfect for incense cleansing. This also makes it stand out amongst the other incense types that usually coincide with a smoky, harsh fragrance.
Why Burn Natural Incense For Home Cleansing?
Natural incense is wildly cleansing, thanks to its association with plants. The extracts found in natural incense are all sourced from different flowers, leaves, herbs, stems, fruits, bark, and seeds. So, what makes these extracts individually cleansing?
Essential oil:
Essential oil is the oil/liquid extracted from plant life. There are many essential oil scents, each with unique healing properties. However, they all have one thing in common - they are each extremely cleansing.
Most essential oils have natural antibacterial and antifungal properties that can help to fight surrounding pathogens. This being said, burning essential oils provides protection from harmful bacteria and germs present in the air.
The wonderful, unique, and fresh fragrances produced from burning essential oils can keep your space cleansed from harsh or unpleasant odours. It can also keep energy cleansed from negativity and harm.
Aromatic Resin:
Resin is a gum substance found and sourced from the bark of trees. Aromatic resins are found in specific trees and are known for their unique, pleasant aroma. The main aromatic resins used are Frankincense, Myrrh, and Benzoin; each resin is equally cleansing.
Much like essential oil, aromatic resins have antiseptic and antibacterial properties that can help to remove harmful bacteria. This said, burning aromatic resins defuses and purifies the air, ultimately cleansing it.
Aromatic resins coincide with an earthy, powerful fragrance, naturally removing unpleasant odours. Their aroma can help cleanse your space, producing a fresh, clean, and happy environment.
Botanicals:
Botanicals are dried plant matter, also meaning they are 100% natural. This said, they have natural plant purifying properties within them and when burnt, these properties release into the air, cleansing your space and producing a wonderful, healing aroma.
Why Blend Natural Incense Scents?
Blending different scents, essential oils, resins, and botanicals can help to bring depth and fragrance to your incense. There are many scent blends, that together produce a pleasant, unique, fresh aroma. So, combining scents can wildly enhance your incense, bringing excitement and individuality to its fragrance and energy.
Blending different natural extracts and scents can also enhance the cleansing energy of your incense. Every plant extract and scent has its own healing properties. Burning different scents together can combine these properties.
Top 5 Natural Incense Blends for Home Cleansing
1. Lavender & Clary Sage
Together these two scents make for a refreshing, herbaceous blend. Both herbs are naturally antiseptic, perfect for cleansing a space and removing unpleasant odours.
Lavender is both sleep and stress improving; Sage is wildly energy soothing and mood boosting. So, when combined, these two scents can keep energy tranquil and positive. They are both also analgesic and anti-inflammatory, having a profound impact on our health and immune system.
Sage cleansing, or 'smudging', was significant for many ancient communities and practices. Witches would burn Sage bundles to cleanse their space from evil or negativity, and the indigenous people of America burnt Sage during their ceremonies and healing rituals. Nowadays, smudging is popular amongst spiritual practitioners as a means of aligning the energy centres and increasing clarity.
Lavender has a long history of use as a medicinal herb. The Romans would cleanse their bodies with the herb and its oil, known to heal energy and bring about prosperity. The ancient Egyptians also commonly used Lavender - they would burn Lavender incense during the mummification process to cleanse the body and soul. Over the centuries Lavender has become a worldwide popular scent and its cleansing abilities remain in use.
All this said, the blend of Lavender and Sage is an extremely powerful incense combination. It can cleanse and purify the air, whilst keeping energy calm and soothed.
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2. Lemon & Chamomile
Lemon and Chamomile are impactful scents. Together they make for a stunningly sweet, fresh, and citrusy blend, with a strong herbaceous undertone. And to prove this blends significance even further, it is wildly and undeniably cleansing.
The Lemon fruit and its extracts are rich with healing properties. Lemon essential oil has anti-inflammatory properties - when burnt as incense, these properties are extended into the air. Similarly, Chamomile essential oil also has healing, and medicinal qualities. Chamomile is known to help strengthen the immune system, allowing the body to fight infection and illness.
Both plants and their extracts have a rich history of use in ancient times, and the knowledge and wisdom of their benefits remain prominent in modern living...
Lemon essential oil was significant in the Middle East and Europe - its prominence was for cleansing the air, skin, and surfaces. Chamomile is one of the most ancient medicinal herbs recorded, dating back to ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Its herb and extract were commonly used to cleanse the body from negativity and illness.
Chamomile is a calming fragrance, also known to help improve sleep and anxiety; Lemon is energising, yet soothing and perfect for enhancing positivity. Combined, these two scents make for a powerful, healing incense duo.
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3. Sweet Orange & Frankincense
Sweet Orange blended with Frankincense is a must-try combination, especially for those who enjoy a sweet, healing, and earthy fragrance. Furthermore, their extracts are stress-reducing, antibacterial, Chakra-strengthening, and cleansing.
Both Frankincense and Orange essential oil are proven to act as a natural antimicrobial agent, and when burnt as incense, this quality remains, cleansing the air from harmful bacterias present.
Sweet Orange trees originate in China but shortly after grew in areas of the Mediterranean and Europe. Here, the fruit was popular for improving health and fighting illness, especially colds and the flu. Orange essential oil gained popularity, not only for its medicinal properties but also for its fresh fragrance, perfect for masking pungent and unpleasant aromas. Nowadays, Orange essential oil is popular amongst spiritual practitioners, mostly to cleanse energy, internal or external.
Frankincense was a significant scent and resin in ancient living, especially for the Egyptians, who treasured it greatly. They burnt the resin and its essential oil for many reasons - commonly they burnt Frankincense to improve odours, increase spirituality, and cleanse energy. The ancient Egyptians also used and burnt Frankincense during mummification as it was known to protect the body from eternal harm and cleanse the soul. Frankincense has remained popular, especially amongst religious and spiritual communities.
Together this blend makes for a cleansing masterpiece. They are also both perfect for enhancing positivity and keeping energy uplifted.
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4. Sandalwood & Bergamot
Sweet and woodsy Sandalwood combined with citrusy, soothing Bergamot is a surprising yet beautiful blend. This blend is refreshing and fragrant, coinciding with a wide array of healing and cleansing benefits. Though, more on that below.
Sandalwood essential oil is popularly known for its skin-improving qualities; this is thanks to the natural anti-inflammatory properties it possesses. This also being said, Sandalwood is wildly rejuvenating and cleansing, which is present when it is burnt as incense. Similarly, Bergamot is also anti-inflammatory and has skin-improving qualities. Also, being a citrus fruit, Bergamot is rich with flavonoids, citrus compounds known for improving health; these flavonoids also help strengthen the immune system and cleanse the body.
Sandalwood is a historic scent - its wood and oil were used and burnt by popular ancient civilisations. The Egyptians treasured the sweet fragrance of Sandalwood essential oil, using it commonly as perfume and incense. Sandalwood later became popular in Paganism, where they used the protective energy it possessed to cleanse their space of worship, riding bad or evil energy.
The Bergamot tree originated in areas of Asia, however, it became popular for its natural medicinal properties in areas of the Mediterranean and Europe. Bergamot essential oil was mostly used to heal wounds and cleanse energy. Nowadays Bergamot has made prominence in the spiritual community for its ability to improve clarity and positivity.
This blend really is the perfect home-cleansing solution.
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5. Peppermint & Myrrh
Peppermint and Myrrh make for a wildly cleansing, fragrant duo, perfect for those days when energy might feel 'off' or 'negative'. Together, these two produce a fresh, earthly, and soothing aroma with subtle hints of sweetness - healing for the mind and body.
Associated with the mint family, there is no surprise why Peppermint is one of the most cleansing scents around. Mint-types are accompanied by natural antiseptic properties, and Peppermint is the same. Evidence even suggests that Peppermint essential oil can help to improve colds, blocked sinuses, and sore throats - burning its oil as incense can release the soothing, medicinal properties it obtains into your space.
Myrrh essential oil is naturally anti-bacterial. This said, when burnt as incense, it can cleanse the air from bacteria present, helping to clean and rejuvenate your space. Myrrh is also a great scent to use when in need of deterring those nasty pests intruding on your home.
Much like Frankincense, Myrrh is an ancient resin, commonly used in day-to-day living amongst the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. It was popularly used for its medicinal qualities, especially to heal wounds, disease, and negative energy. Nowadays, Myrrh remains popular, though mainly for cleansing purposes.
Peppermint is a hybrid mint originating in the Middle East and Europe. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians favoured this unique herb, using it as incense, flavouring, and medicine. Peppermint has become a popular fragrance, perfect for ridding unpleasant aromas; it's used in aromatherapy, skincare, and oral care.
List of Other Note-Worthy Blends
- Pine & Sweet Orange
- Ginger & Chamomile
- Geranium & Bergamot
- Vanilla & Rose
- Myrhh & Lemon
- Rosemary & Orange
- Ylang Ylang & Vanilla
The Bottom Line
In this article we have discussed our 'Top 5 Natural Incense Blends for Home Cleansing: And Why'. There are hundreds of different blends you can chose from, but for home and inner cleansing, the ones listed our true winners. Incense is an ancient ritual, and using earthly extracts, opposed to modern incense, can truly increase the cleansing energy provided.