Pagan Christmas (18 page)

A fairy, a being from the otherworld, climbs out of the smoke. (Etching by Moritz von Schwind in the Album of Smoking and Drinking, 1844)

Natural fragrances have a significant impact on the nervous system. They not only influence memory, thinking, and emotions, but also sexual behavior. Today, we have a better understanding of the nature of the chemical messengers known as pheromones, substances secreted by humans and animals to influence the behavior of other members of the species. Scientific research has shown that pheromones seem to have an even bigger impact on our choice of sexual partner than physical appearance. In the world of botany, we now know that many plants generate chemical compounds that are quite similar to human hormones and pheromones. Certain plant aromas appear to have effects similar to those of pheromones. Many love potions, incense ingredients, and perfumes contain such alluring messenger substances. These are chemicals that can induce a euphoric state, heighten enthusiasm and mood, and entice our readiness for love. “Pheromones, like smells, make us open up and become curious about things we are yet to encounter; they make us ready, on a subconscious level, for a sensual experience, even if it is not actually going to happen” (Wieshammer 1995, 65).

“Nostalgia Woodland” scent pouch: Christmas oak-wood block, pinecone, and greens from pine, larch, and holly—a real gathering of Christmas ethnobotany. (From England, around 2001)

Typical Christmas aromas provide us with a true shower of pheromones! Nearly all incense resins and balsams (for example, frankincense and myrrh) contain phytosterols. Pine resin (Pinus sylvestris) contains substances much like the male hormone testosterone and its chemical precursor, androstenedione. Myrrh contains a testosterone-like substance too. The chemicals zingiberone and zingiberol in ginger essential oil can act as pheromones, and the violet-scented dried orris root (Iris pallida) contains the pheromone-like compound α-irone. Coconuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts contain γ-nonalactone. Other plants substances that can act like pheromones include myristicin from nutmeg (Myristica fragrans); cuminaldehyde from cumin (Cuminum cyminum); asarone from calamus oil (Acorus calamus) and hazelwort (Asarum europaeum); safranal from saffron (Crocus sativus); α-and β-santalol from sandalwood (Santalum album); cinnamaldehyde, benzaldehyde, and cuminaldehyde from cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum); anethol from anise (Pimpinella anisum); and vanillin and benzaldehyde from vanilla (Vanilla planifolia). Like cinnamon and vanilla, bitter almond (Prunus dulcis) also contains benzaldehyde: “During the Christmas season the scent of bitter almond essence is one of the most popular baking ingredients, found nearly everywhere” (Wieshammer 1995, 87).

The aromas we associate with Christmas come from Christmas evergreens and the Christmas tree, Christmas spices, Christmas incense, and special scentproducers (pomanders, oil lamps, scented candles, and so on). Little aromatic pouches and potpourris are especially popular in the United Kingdom. These contain what amount to aromatic drugs (a word that comes from an old Dutch term referring to dried plants). These so-called “designer drugs” in the form of dried plant parts are included in potpourris, tea blends, and smoking mixtures partly for aesthetic reasons, but also because of their symbolism.

In England, little scented pouches are fabricated for every imaginable purpose, including Christmas. On the European continent, we decorate oranges—“the golden apples of the Hesperiden”—with whole cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) to make scented balls or pomanders. German names for cloves—gewürznelken and nelken—refer to the nails used to hang Jesus on the cross. Both words are derived from the diminutive form of nage, meaning “nail.”

In ancient China, clove-studded oranges were used to freshen the air in rooms. To make a scented Christmas pomander ball, simply poke cloves into the peel of a whole orange. You can arrange the cloves in lines or patterns or just cover the entire surface of the orange. You may further scent your pomander ball by sprinkling it with a spice powder made from 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, a pinch of mace, and 1 teaspoon of orris root (Fronty 2002, 16). The intense aroma of these clove-studded orange pomanders comes from the unique combination of essential oils of clove and orange peel—a classic Christmas scent. The evocative aroma results from the perfect chemistry that exists between the phallic clove and the orange peel it penetrates.

Cloves are an especially important carrier of Christmas scent. The typical Christmas aroma of wine punch is due mostly to the presence of cloves. They are also a primary ingredient of Christmas potpourris and scented pouches, incense and scented candles, smoking tobaccos, baccy mixtures and snuffs, foods (roasts and baked goods), drinks (tea, cocoa, Christmas beer, hot drinks, punch, mead, herbal liquors), tinctures, and elixirs.

Today it is easy to find aromatic beverage mixtures of exotic spices with black or green tea under names such as Christmas Tea, Advent Tea, or Winter Magic in tea shops and natural food stores. Perfumers and scent shops proffer a plethora of essential oil blends specially formulated for Christmas. For example, according to its label, one Christmas blend contains sweet orange peel, clove, and cinnamon essential oils. Another, called Happiness in Winter, is composed of essential oils of frankincense, fir, tuberose, orris, and lime.

MAKING A CHRISTMAS ESSENTIAL OIL BLEND

It is simple and rewarding to make one’s own special essential oil Christmas blend. Especially appropriate for the season are essential oils of clove (Syzygium aromaticum), frankincense or olibanum (Boswellia sacra), benzoin (Styrax benzoin, believed to make one feel very merry), myrrh (Commiphora molmol or C. myrrha), cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), citrus (Citrus spp.), bergamot (Citrus bergamia), lime, nutmeg and mace (Myristica fragrans), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), white sandalwood (Santalum album), fir (Abies spp.), pine (Pinus spp.), spruce (Picea spp., especially Siberian spruce), palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii), rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora), orris (Iris germanica), vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), and tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa).

Essential oils can be purchased in scent shops, pharmacies, and natural food stores, as well as through mail-order sources. True essential oils, properly distilled from naturally grown plants, can be very expensive, especially in pharmacies. However, pharmacies and other reputable suppliers offer the advantage of being able to guarantee the natural origin and pharmaceutical quality of the essential oils they sell. In India, shops selling essential oils—often tea shops—are much less expensive, but also sell synthetic substitutes.

Blending essential oils is an art in itself. Aromatic substances react differently depending on how they are blended. But experimenting with natural essences can bring great pleasure in the long winter nights. There is one basic rule: Remember that less is more!1

Incense for the Holy Nights

The essence of smoking is the essence of life, and the aroma of the spirit.

ARVIGO AND EPSTEIN 2001, 65

The German word for Christmas, Weihnachten, comes from the Middle High German Wihenaht, which has been documented as far back as the latter half of the twelfth century, the time of Hildegard von Bingen. The Old High German verb wihen comes from the adjective weich (holy), a usage that died out in the sixteenth century. Weihrauch (incense) goes back to the Middle High German wi[h]rouch and the Old High German wihrouch, which mean “holy smoke.” All of this goes to prove that incense is an essential element for the Christmas ritual.

The primary meaning of the German word weihrauch is “smoke for invocation” or “sacred smoke.” It refers in particular to the aromatic smoke that results from the burning of a smoking (or incense) substance, or a substance transformed by burning to produce a smoke that distributes itself throughout a room. In modern usage, weihrauch is a synonym for any substance burned to produce smoke. It is largely associated with the incense used in Catholic churches, even though this ancient “smudging” practice takes place all over the world, in numerous religions and cultures.

Olibanum Eritrea, the source of resin tears (“sweat of the gods” or “tears of the gods”) from the true frankincense tree (Boswellia sacra). Frankincense or olibanum from B. sacra was introduced in Greece or Rome around 500 BCE.

The use of incense is no invention of the Christian church. Smudging and incense burning are fundamentally human activities, ancient behaviors that people from all ages and regions have discovered, developed, and treasured. In the Himalayas, the shamans told us that their ancestors, the first shamans, introduced smudging around sixty thousand years ago as an essential element of shamanism. Shamans of all cultures report something along the same lines, that the incense substances they use were discovered by their first shamans or were revealed to the shamans by messengers of the gods. Shamans all over the world also adhere to the belief that the smoke liberated by the fire that burns the incense carries the soul of the substance into the otherworld, the world of gods and goddesses. The holy smoke is transformed into a divine nectar, the most desired potion, the godly food needed to prevent aging, just like the golden apples of Idun or Freia.

The smoke or vapor emerging from the smoking chalice can contain hidden messages. The holy smoke is sometimes called “cigarettes for the gods” or “the brain of heaven.”

The gods are as dependent on the favor of human beings as humans are on the favor of the gods. In the shamanic cosmos, there is no one god lording over his chosen people and punishing them for wrongdoing. The shamanic cosmos is holistic: Everything is part of one meaning, and in one or more different contexts everything is interdependent on all other things. Incense burning and smudging are an expression of give and take, exchange, mutuality. They represent a holistic pattern and a spiritual process, a ritual of consciousness.

Thus we see that incense burning and smudging are among the oldest ritual practices of humanity. Shamans put themselves into a trance state with the smoke that rises from certain woods, resins, and leaves. The prophet (seer) inhales the smoke of the consciousness-altering substance in order to fall into ecstasy. Priestesses and priests burned resins to make contact with the gods and goddesses. With incense, one can conjure or drive out demons, sanctify and purify buildings, and introduce the sick or possessed to delicious scents or dreadful stinks. Aromatic smoke was believed to have magical and medicinal attributes; different incenses were associated with specific gods and planets. In Scandinavia, children’s letters to Father Christmas were burned in the open fire, because this was the only way one could be sure the message would reach Father Christmas.

Incense for the smudging nights of Christmas fulfills most of the purposes stated here. It enables contact with the otherworld and the gods and goddesses who dwell there. It points the way to the wild chase, feeds the dead souls of the ancestors, wards off demons and evil shamans (“witches and sorcerers”), cleanses and purifies house and yard, and prevents the spread of contagious illnesses. Perhaps most important for modern people, incense gives rise to a ritualistic holy feeling. In short, it marks the time of the twelve raw nights and announces the arrival of Christmastime.

Incense Under the Christmas Tree

So it is tending the fire that makes the feast of Christmas so cozy.

APPLETON 2002, 53

Modern people still enjoy smudging and incense burning for purposes of contemplation and pleasure, not necessarily to invoke the Earth gods. But where there is smoke, there is fire! This should never be forgotten, especially when the pine needles and other evergreens are dried out because of the warmth of the home. All too quickly, a Christmas tree or wreath can catch fire.

How should one burn smoking substances in such a potentially dangerous atmosphere? The safest thing might be to forgo smudging altogether and instead set out potpourris, sprinkle essential oils in the room, or decorate with clove-studded oranges. Fortunately, human creativity has given us relatively safe ways to burn incense. We have fireproof smoking chalices, incense burners, smoking pans, and heat-resistant plates on which incense may be burned. Those who find even these methods too dangerous for the living room can turn to commercial incense coals that contain saltpeter.2 After the coal is lit and begins to glow thoroughly, spoon incense onto the coal in small portions. Never leave the glowing coal unattended, and keep all burning incense out of the reach of children.

Commercial incense sticks are also relatively safe. However, they usually are of inferior quality, cheap, and saturated with synthetic aromas. Some types touted as Christmas incense do not bring up Christmas associations at all, but rather make one think of teen techno parties and music festivals. However, the little incense candles and “incense men” produced in the Erzgebirge region of Germany are different and have been developed especially for Christmas. One lights an incense candle at the pointed end, puts it in the hollow body of the incense man, and places the man on a piece of aluminum foil.

Incense candles are little pointed cones or cylinders made from different mixtures of resins (olibanum, benzoin, storax, myrrh, balsam of Peru); herbs and woods (thyme, rosemary, lavender, aloewood, rose petals, sandalwood, cedar); spices (cloves, cinnamon, cassia, nutmeg, laurel); essential oils (jasmine, rose, orange blossom); animal scents (civet musk); charcoal (weidenkohle, sawdust of linden); saltpeter and binding agents (dragon’s blood, gum arabic, tragacanth)—in short, a wide variety of very exotic substances. Juniper, pine, and fir resin are especially popular ingredients in most regionally produced European incenses. In the GDR (East German) era, Christmas incense substances were reduced to aromatic mixtures of resins from Vietnam and Sumatra, lavender blossoms from the Balkans, pine needles from Siberia, regional pine resins and South American tonka beans—all for political reasons (Hinrichsen 1994, 59).

Incense Recipes for the Smudging Nights

For incense we used mugwort, juniper, fir and pine resin, fir and pine greens, wild rosemary, and amber; it is very likely that some crumbs of fly-agaric mushroom and hemp were in the mixture.