MadgeWhitlin

(I received a free copy to review from NetGalley)

This book is a brief introduction to creating your own incense, whether it be for rituals, magick, or just because you enjoy the smell of incense and want to try to make your own. I have no experience with the crafting of incense, but it is something I’ve been interested in for quite some time. I think this book is great for those new to incense making (like myself).

Incense: Crafting & Use of Magickal Scents covers a broad range of topics related to incense, but none are covered extensively. This is a beginner’s book, so I’m not sure an experienced incense maker would benefit from it as much as a newbie. The book is laid out in a way that made me feel prepared by the time I got to the actual recipes. I felt that I had a decent understanding of different forms of incense, base materials, binders, aromatics, safety, etc. All the things necessary before creating your first batch of incense.

My copy isn’t perfect (because it’s an uncorrected proof), so I’m not sure how it will look in versions that have been edited more. I had no pictures, which was a little sad, but understandable. This book had quite a few images and diagrams (according to my copy, there are 23), tables for troubleshooting, and an ingredient chart. I think in the finished copy, those will prove to be quite useful. (The troubleshooting and ingredients are in my copy, but they’re not formatted very well. They are still useful, however.)

I found several really cool and helpful tips for incense making. One of my favorites (which I plan to use very soon for my first batch of incense) is looking for binders and other materials at your grocery store. I had no idea you could use things like guar gum or xanathan gum as binders. I also really liked the idea of using a plastic straw for a mold for joss sticks.

I liked that environmental concerns were brought up. I honestly don’t know a lot about what plants are rare, near extinction, etc. because I don’t work with any that aren’t readily available (and reasonably cheap). I did know about a few that seem to be common for things like incense are endangered (such as Indian Sandalwood, and at least one type of sage). I’m really glad the author brought that up, because I think it’s important for us to remember that wecan over-harvest plants.

I disagreed (personally) with a few things, but I won’t go into that because it isn’t really important. All I will say is that the parts about ritual, magick, etc. had a very Neo-Wiccan feel to them. That was really my biggest complaint about this book, and it isn’t that big of an issue.

So, overall, I liked this book. It was laid out well to introduce people to types of incense and prepare readers for making their first batch of incense, there were quite a few good tips and ideas for troubleshooting, and there were some pretty good magickal, ritual, and philosophic topics discussed.