Long before incense was associated with spirituality or ritual, it was a practical tool. Humans burned aromatic plants and resins to purify air, preserve materials, mark time and create sensory experiences in everyday life.
"Over 1,400 years ago, a piece of unusually fragrant driftwood washed ashore on a tiny Japanese island of Awaji. Island locals, realizing it's unique aromatic properties, presented the log as a gift to Empress Suiko. An era of the appreciation of scent had begun." The legend of Koh, Shoyeido.
Aromatics have long been held in esteem for the way they capture our attention or invoke a feeling or state of mind. What we now call presence would not have been named as such, but it was inherently embedded in how people structured their day.
Incense is more than a way to add fragrance to a room.
It enhances mindfulness and elevates the senses, and because of this, it is often paired with tea. Across cultures, the two have developed side by side as tools for shaping attention, focus and environment. The pairing adds calm focus and used intentionally, incense can help recreate what earlier cultures understood intuitively, that attention is less likely to drift, when the environment is coherent.
While incense has been a pairing with Eastern tea ceremonies for centuries, we don't often see incense paired with herbal tea, though I'm not sure why that is. It enhances both herbal and true tea experiences. All plants contain volatile aromatic compounds and terpenes that affect the body and mind.
Tea engages taste, temperature and internal sensation. It embodies water and earth. Incense engages our sense of smell, environmental awareness and embodies fire and air.
Together the two offer a complete sensory experience, a way to ground ourselves, return to center, and add more presence into a busy day without requiring ceremony.
Quality matters. There are many artificially scented types of incense on the market. I avoided incense for years because I couldn't stand the headache. I didn't realize I had never experienced true traditional Japanese incense.
For over 300 years, Shoyeido has been crafting incense the traditional way, using only pure, natural botanicals, and hand blending them using methods learned at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. This process is an art form, leading to a beautiful product that adds the lightest whisper of scented smoke to the air, cleaner than even most candles on the market today. They produce the most pure, natural and subtle incense available. For this reason, Shoyeido is one of the few brands that I trust.
The following Ten Virtues of Koh (incense) were compiled in the 16th century and continue to capture the spirit of incense appreciation.
Incense refreshes mind and body
It removes impurity
It brings alertness
It is a companion in solitude
In the midst of busy affairs, it offers a moment of peace
It enhances a meditative environment
When it is plentiful, one never tires of it
When there is little, one is still satisfied
Age does not change its efficacy
Used everyday, it does no harm
As incense became woven into cultural life, it has taken on many symbolic associations, such as religious and ceremonial uses. But at it's core, incense remains an environmental cue. A way to signal to the mind "This space is different now."
Shoyeido incense has been a beautiful tool that I have personally used for years, to enhance moments of calm and focus, and so I've decided to carry a small selection in the shop.
You can find my curated selection of aromatic offerings here...