Holle / Holda Incense

Description

This blend is a union of light and dark aspects, addressing the mother goddesses Holda/Frau Holle, Mokosh et al in their wholeness.

The herbs in this mixture have been gathered ritually over the course of a year, starting with the herbs of winter – blackthorn bark and thorns, elder bark, juniper tips and berries, windswept pine needles and spruce resin, continuing with the herbs of spring – birch bark, blackthorn and hawthorn (hagedorn) blossoms, sweetgrass, myrtle, elder flowers and leaves, on with fragrant herbs of summer gathered when they are richest in aromatic oils – these being mugwort, yarrow and stinging nettle, and finally the fruits of autumn – hawthorn and elder berries, apple peels and sloes.

Fluffy poplar seeds embody the clouds in which Frau Holle resides and from which she sends snow and rain to earth. Willow and poplar bark gathered from old hollow trees by a river, link to her underworld abode and her regency over the well of souls, from which she sends forth the souls of children to be born and into which she receives the souls of the stillborn. Stinging nettle is representative of the weaveress, since fabric used to be made from nettle fibre. Elder is the tree that embodies Holda/Holle (it is named Holunder in German). All these herbs are blended with amber, native pine and spruce resin.

Scent: herbaceous, warm, earthy

Uses: burn for cleansing a room, purification, wear in a sachet for protection, healing, strengthening, fertility, honoring and connecting with the mother goddess and goddesses of spinnning and weaving