This blend for the winter solstice smells like a walk through the winter forest – resinous, coniferous and aerial. It contains a number of precious resins such as high grade Hojari frankincense, sandarak resin, spruce resin and baltic amber. White birch bark and chaga mushroom evoke the self-restoring powers of nature, ash leaf, metasequoia and yew needles bring forth the circling life energies of above and below, holly, juniper, mistletoe and wormwood call forth the protective spirits, mugwort and labrador tea open the third eye. Oakmoss, resinous white fir cone scales, pine, fire and spruce needles all add up to an evergreen winter blend, perfect for lighting up and guiding through the twelve longest nights of the year.
Engraved with my Mabon sigil, this box celebrates the beginning of autumn and the harvest of the season. It is perfect for storing smaller sacred objects such as paper sigils, stones, crystals, amulets, beeswax candles etc. E.g. I fill seasonal boxes with sympathetic objects and place them beside the bed for inspired dreaming. This box measures ca. 14 cm x 16 cm x 3 cm and comes including:
1x Lughnasadh Incense
1x Mabon Incense
1x Samhain Incense
In addition are included seeds, fresh from the end of Summer ’24 gathered by Bussardflug and by myself:
Atropa belladonna
Aconitum napellus
Bryonia dioica
Conium maculatum
Datura stramonium
Digitalis purpurea
Hyoscyamus niger
Solanum dulcamara
Angelica archangelica
Artemisia absinthium
Foeniculum vulgare
Opoponax chironium (rare!)
Ruta graveolens
Salvia apiana
Salvia mellifera
Symphytum officinale
Comfrey seeds with little bones found in the soil beneath…
Along with the box can be ordered a custom pendant / herbal amulet filled with rare witch herbs and paraphernalia. Please e-mail me along with your purchase to discuss the details.
Small acts may still bring small changes and, most importantly, some rest and recreational time. Hence, whether you are able to make a great ritual bonfire or only light a candle, it still does make a difference! My solstice ritual was very basic and reduced. I have cut it down to burning incense and (re-)charging gemstones, which I find at random and in color and vibe connect to the beginning of winter. These currently being a dark translucent black-green tourmaline, a nicely banded gray blueish hawk’s eye, some clear irisdescent quartz crystals, a new rock crystal with dark green inclusions and an ice blue topaz with golden inclusions, which shows some subtle light diffracting effects.
The longest night here was stormy and lit up by lightning. Germany is experiencing heavy storms until christmas. We got a taste of it the next day, when we went outside with the kids for some jolly carousel rides in the rain! It is no wonder our ancestors connected this time of the year with the wild hunt! Though it marks also the turning point for the return of light. But the way is still long and winter has just officially begun.
I used the liminality of the occasion to (re-)charge said stones in the smoke of my Winter Solstice incense blend. And the moment I placed it on the burning coal and the blueish smoke rose up and followed the wind, I realised again that it is indeed one of my favorites! I was also happy to hear back from people, who also use(d) this blend. It feels actually really great knowing that people in very different places burn the same incense and appreciate its effects.
I therefore wish all my customers and followers a truly magical winter time!
Here comes a another fresh batch of Samhain incense! This blend is was the first I created for the harvest festivals and closes the circle, being dedicated to the third and final harvest feast. At the same time it marks the beginning of the Gaelic New Year. On Samhain the living and the dead assemble and sacrifices are made. The blend is hence both protective and strengthening as well as suited for opening the gates to the spirit world and chthonic realms. It smells woody, herbaceaous and resinous.
Contains: amber, juniper, mugwort, pine + spruce resin from local forests, oak bark, rosemary, sage, thyme, vervain
Please remember my ordering deadlines for Samhain: 18 Oct. ’23 for international shipments 25 Oct. ’23 for orders within Germany
This incense blend is dedicated to seasonal feast day of Mabon, September feast days and the Autumn equinox in particular. It is part of the Teufelskunst “wheel of the year” incense series and is dedicated to the second of the harvest festivals (the first being Lughnasadh and the third being Samhain). It is all about the rituals of autumn, for example the celebration of the Autumn Equinox and blot rituals / harvest blessing and sacrificial rituals. It smells earthy, warm and sweet, but also resinous. It unifies dark and light aspects. It contains aromatic and warming ingredients, such as cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, precious saffron, storax bark and vetiver root. The resins in this fiery blend are powerful protective agents, such as dragon’s blood, dark copal and pine resin. Sweet myrrh, oakmoss and sticky labdanum in turn revere the scents of autumn and bind the herbs. Fragrant herbs such as mugwort and mullein complete this special composition. Lastly, freshly gathered nettle is included as a reference to the goddesses of spinning and weaving, but also enhances the protective qualities of this magical Mabon blend.
The sigil adorning the blend has been desgined especially for Mabon (read more in my next post).
I made new designs for them, especially for the qliphotic blends. Step by step I am also re-doing the feast day sigils. It’s a pile of work, but ultimately it will be easier to simply print and fill these than cleansing, labeling and packing up glass jars, which also always meant more packing waste. Also, the production of the silver foil labels wasn’t particularly environmental friendly either. So…
These are meant to be smelled and burnt.
I may still do special editions in glass jars every once in a blue moon. I have in fact been gifted a big pile of small miron violet glass jars…
But for now, it’s paper bags! How do you like them?
Around the 1st of August, the first harvest of the year is celebrated, and it is the best time for gathering fragrant and medicinal herbs since now they are rich in aromatic oils! It is also the time when the bilwis – originally benevolent priests guarding the fields, later envisioned as corn demons with sickles on their feet – cut the first corn. Common festivals held during this time are Lughnasadh or Lammas, which celebrate the ripening of the corn and the baking of the bread from the first harvest. Traditionally, this first bread is offered to the spirits, and likewise, corn dolls are crafted and offered. Altars are decorated in flaming red, orange, and golden yellow colors. Most emblematic of this time are the sunflower, the lion and the cornucopia. But all the herbs and fruits that are ripe during this time of the year can be used to decorate the home and honor the spirits.
It is a time for celebrating Lugh, the Celtic god of craftsmanship and weaponry. Lughnasadh is translated as the ‘killing of Lugh’ in old Irish language, which is an allegory for the end of summer. Wolf Dieter Storl identifies the Celtic Lugh as a god of fire, who imbues medicinal herbs with power and associates him with the Germanic Loki (Lodur), the trickster and fire god. On the same first day of August, the torch bearing bringer of light, Lucifer was banished from heaven. It is hence believed that persons born on the 1st of August would become a witch and a ghost-seer.
My personal incense for celebrating the fire of August:
black, golden and / or white copal
coriander seed (ground)
nutmeg (a pinch)
palo santo or sandalwood
red carnation or red rose flower petals
sunflower petals
tobacco (optional)
white sage
Aside from the witches’ Wheel of the Year festivals, there are other feasts taking place in August. Romans celebrated the Nemoralia, a festival sacred to DianaNemorensis. Interestingly, the Romans would pay tribute to Diana by honoring the dogs of the hunt and polishing the spears, meaning no hunting or fighting would take place during this time. Instead, the dogs were cared for and adorned, and slaves, warriors, and hunters were granted a time of rest and nurture. Torches were carried to the grove of Diana in Nemi, which offered a refuge for slaves during the hottest time of the year. At the center of her grove stood an oak tree, which was guarded by a priest titled rex nemorensis, who himself was an escaped slave. This priest had to defend the tree and his own life against other slaves, until the next slave would take his place by killing him and breaking a branch from the tree. This unusual ritual seems to have pre-Roman roots.
Diana is identified with the Greek Artemis and also bears references to the Greek Hecate.
My suggestion for a Nemoralia incense:
belladonna leaves
fennel seed
frankincense
galbanum
juniper berries
mugwort
mullein leaves
myrrh
oak bark
sandarac or pine resin
thyme
wormwood
Similar to the motive of Lugh as a god of fire, weaponry and craftmanship, the Romans celebrated one of their oldest deities, the fire god Vulcan, around the 23rd of August. Vulcan was worshipped and appeased during the August heat as to be protected from (wild) fires and especially to protect the granaries from fire. During the Vulcanalia, bonfires were lit and grain offerings were thrown into the flames. After the Great Fire of Rome, the worship of Vulcan only increased, and the offerings now also included red bulls. Noteworthy, Pliny the Younger documented the outbreak of the Vesuvius in Pompei only one day following the Vulcanalia festival.
Shortly before the middle of August is also the time of the Perseid meteor shower, during which the trinity of heaven, earth, and the underworld was celebrated in antiquity. Another ancient goddess revered during this time was Hecate, who governed these three realms. The herbs that are especially sacred to her include monkshood, henbane, wormwood, asphodel, mandrake, pomegranate and the saffron crocus.
Incense for Hecate:
aconite flowers
myrrh (soaked in red vine and honey)
orris or mandrake root
saffron
styrax
wormwood
In August, we also honor the mother goddesses per se.
On the 15th of August, Christians celebrate the Assumption of Mary. Along with it, various herb blessing traditions once sacred to Freya have been adopted and converted into the Maria-Kräuterweihe. Herbs that are traditionally part of the Mariä Kräuterbuschen:
chamomile
elecampagne
mullein (at the center)
mugwort
St. John’s wort
tansy
thyme
valerian
vervain
wormwood
yarrow
The blessed herbs were then given into the food of sick animals, hung in the home and barn, or thrown into the fire for protection from thunder and lightning. The time spanning from the 15th of August to the 8th of September (Nativity of Mary) is also known as Frauen-Dreißiger. The entire time is considered auspicious for the gathering of medicinal herbs.
Likewise, the Germanic Holle/Holda/Dame Hulda, in her role as the ancient mother goddess of neolithic origin, can be honored and asked for maternal blessings during the August full moon. Especially sacred to Holda is the Elder tree, which is now full of ripe fruits.
In Argentina, Paraguay and Southern Brazil the 15th of August (or alternatively the 13th of August) is dedicated to a folk saint, which is not accepted by the Catholic church: devotees of San la Muerte praise the Saint of Death with offerings of flowers, candles, liquor, tobaccco, money, food offerings such as pork and sweets and coffee. My favorite incense for San la Muerte is similar to the August fire blend Iisted above.
Finally, in Japan, the festival of the Dead, called Obon, is celebrated around the middle of August. A key symbol for this liminal time is the cherry blossom, also known as sakura. According to Japanese folklore, the souls of fallen kamikaze fighters (revered heroes) are symbolized by falling sakura petals.
My personal ‘Sakura’ blend for contacting the dead in dream:
aloeswood
benzoin (Siam)
cherry blossoms
lavender
orris root
silver colored frankincense
star anise
styrax
white sandalwood
Conclusion: the feasts of August both venerate the light and fire of life, the culmination of summer, the bountyful harvest, the vegetation and mother goddesses, as well as the sickle, death himself and the dead. Do you know more feasts of August? Please write in the comments!
In December I finished fresh batches of “Rauhnächte” and “Winter Solstice” incense and started a new round of working with the birch’s arboreal spirit…
Incense ‘master’ Caroline Maxelon of Bussardflug and me began plotting a future collaboration. Along with a lot of powerful shamanic items for my ritual work, she also send me her new book “Räucherstoffe aus aller Welt” (published by Nymphenburger). I was thrilled to read about so many new incense ingredients, that are not part of standard encyclopedias and was especially thrilled to find incense materials described for the first time in it, which I had been discovering intuitively by myself over the past years. It feels, like my own weird and wild incense formulas are now receiving confirmation through Caroline. I thus highly recommend this book – both for its content as well as its photography.
Special edition of “Secret Ambrosian Fire” by MOSAIC/Eisenton Records
Yesterday I received yet another surprise in my mail – the special edition of “Secret Ambrosian Fire” by German black metal originators MOSAIC (Eisenton Records). Some time ago I was asked to compose an alchemical inspired plant sigil for this record. This sigil now adorns the cover of the digi-pack edition. I begin to grasp the broad idea behind this opus magnum and it is deeply satisfying to witness the fruits of our mutual efforts!
Everything points in to a new direction in my life, but it is also getting more complex, along with all these new impulses. Today I went to different trees, burnt some of the winter incense and blessed the new birch wood pentacle among a circle of young birch trees and at the roots of two older birch trees, which are frequently visited by crows. For me, the circle of the old year is now closed and I head into another phase of creative work after the holidays.
Culmination: blessing the new “Berkano” birchwood pentacle in the smoke of my “Winter Solstice incense” and at the base of different trees
I am running low stock on most incense blends and will not be able to restock all until October. Please remember also, that I will be offline from the 1st – 15th of September! I will still handle and ship orders placed until Friday noon CET.
Recent Incense Order: “Qliphotic Incense of Lilith and Naamah”, “Dia de Muertos Incense”“Qliphotic Incense of Lilith”. Unfortunately, due to PayPal idiocy censorship I can no longer sell it under that holy name. Since it is in essence a qliphotic working tool, I am hence going with the name of Her qlipha and offer it now as “Gamaliel Incense”. The ingredients remain the same though. The second of three female incense blends, the blend for the qliphotic goddess “Naamah”, who is sometimes also referred to as the ‘younger Lilith’. The third of three female incense blends, the sweet and mysterious, necrosophic blend for “Lady Qalmana”.
