ROSICRUCIAN INCENSE

Its production - Its mystical use

Rosicrucian incense is created following time-honoured recipes which are kept in the archives of the A.M.O.R.C.  Produced using rose essence, this incense which is specific to Rosicrucian tradition can be categorised into one of three groups: rose incense, rose and sandalwood incense or four rose incense.

Each of us can individually select which incense best helps us to focus on meditation, prayer and more broadly on introspection as well as spiritual communion.

                                               Production: an artisan process

Nowadays, Rosicrucian incense is produced by artisans in a small workshop located in the heart of Normandy, in the Château d’Omonville.

First of all, the resins are carefully weighed and mixed. The oils which will give the incense its scent are then added. After that, this mixture is pressed to create incense cubes. 

These are placed on racks for the first part of the drying process, the second part of which is then performed in stoves.

Once the incense is dry, the cubes are placed into cardboard boxes by hand. The final stage is to wrap each box in film.

The incense is then ready to be dispatched right throughout France, Europe and even Africa and the USA.

The mystic use of incense

Extract taken from the book by Ralph Maxwell Lewis, “un Rose-Croix des temps modernes” (A Rose-Cross for modern times),chapter entitled “Incense, its meaning and use”

One thing philosophers of days gone by yearned for was to bring all of man’s senses, at the very least the physical senses, into harmony with one another. For them, perfect physical harmony meant something being equally and simultaneously pleasurable to each of the five senses.  It was believed that by achieving this, the resulting ecstatic state would enable harmony with the spiritual forces within and around us. It is the distraction of the physical which anchors the soul of man the earth, as Socrates put it in the Dialogues of Plato. (…)

Certain delicately scented aromas relax and sooth the body and liberate physical forces. They are highly conducive towards meditation and provide us with the increased energy we need to overcome the challenges of our day. We know from experience that in churches incense seems to become one with the place itself, its tranquillity, the beautiful music and solemnity. Most people are unaware as to why. Mystics and Rosicrucians know all too well.

Rosicrucians also see a symbol in the rising smoke, and only a symbol, of a spiritual essence which is present in man and resembles a silver thread which leaves him and connects his body with the Cosmic realm. Even if (...) incense can influence our psychic centres, it is nevertheless true that, like any other form of material, it is not absolutely essential to achieve cosmic harmony or to appreciate the spiritual and make use of our connection with it.  By developing our inner selves, we can go without music, incense or aesthetic influences; but even if we attain such self-control, our inner self will nevertheless always enjoy contact with sounds, scents or an inspiring natural ambiance.