So I’ve been thinking a lot about cultural appropriation lately.  I never used to really worry about using sage or palo santo, feeling like I was OK as long as I honored the First Nations tradition of smudging but without trying to claim it as my own.  However, if I’ve learned anything in my practice, it’s that I can always learn and grow and find new perspectives.

The two main deities I work with are Greek, and while I don’t have Greek ancestry either, I think it can be argued that the Greeks and Romans are kind of ancestors of us all, since they really codified modern civilization, philosophy, medicine, math and science, and a lot of other things that we draw from today.  I see them as kind of the intellectual ancestors of the modern world.  As such, I wanted to find herbs and resins that would be in use and readily accessible in ancient Greece and create a blessing incense blend.

I’ll be using this for a few days leading up to Samhain to cleanse/bless my tarot cards, oracle cards, and other divination tools.

Greek Smoke Blessing Blend (for divination tools)

2 parts bay leaves (ground fine)
2 parts cedar tips (ground fine)
2 parts mugwort (ground fine)
1/2 part frankincense tears (frozen, then ground fine)
1/2 part myrrh resin (frozen, then ground fine)
1 part storax (or benzoin, frozen and ground fine)
I’m going to use this as a dry blend for now because I need it immediately.  But in a few weeks, I’ll add honey and labdanum essential oil and form the mixture into pellets so that they’ll burn longer and store well into the future.

Also, I’m DEFINITELY going to need more charcoal.