Pagan Christmas (19 page)

NAUWALD 2002, 36

Recipes for incense are like cooking recipes. Even if you follow them very closely, your results can be unexpected and unsatisfactory. This is a good reason to “mistrust” incense recipes, meaning they are best regarded as suggestions or loose guidelines and should not be taken too seriously.

The outcome of a recipe does not depend solely on a combination of abstract components; more often, the result is determined by the quality of individual ingredients. When working with incense and smudges, count on incorporating some artistic license. Be creative and try new things. Making incense is a method of experimenting with and experiencing nature. Thus all of your experiments will prove valuable, because through them, you will learn about nature with all of your senses.

“Christmas Scent.” Even though the package guarantees it is from an age-old recipe, this incense does not smell much like Christmas. Unfortunately, the label does not disclose the ingredients. (Knox incense candles, Dresden)

“From Tradition.” An incense-burner with a green Father Christmas cloak and baccy pipe, shown on a package of Christmas incense candles made of frankincense and myrrh. (Knox incense candles, 2001)

Don’t worry if you don’t always end up with a beautiful aroma. Some incense smells so bad that even witches and devils flee from it! If you experience psychoactive effects with incense, you have probably inhaled too much smoke.

Juniper

Juniperus communis L., Cupressaceae (common juniper)

OTHER NAMES

Feuerbaum, juveniperus, kaddig, krammetsstrauch, kranabit, kranawitterstrauch, kranewitt (“crane wood”), machandel, mirtesgarden, quackelbusk, queckholder, quekholder (Middle High German, “evergreen tree”),3 rauchholter (“smoking bush”), rauchkraut, reckholder, wecholderbaum, wecholter (Middle High German), weiheicheln (“holy berries”), wekcholder, wehhal (Old High German), wodansgerte

The evergreen branches of the stinking juniper (Juniperus sabina) are an important ingredient of smudging night incenses.

Ingredients for Smudging Nights Incense

Amber, ground

Ash wood (Sorbus spp.)

Benzoin (Styrax benzoin)

Cedar (Thuja spp.)

Fly agaric mushroom, dried (Amanita muscaria)

Fir needles (dried or fresh) and resin (Abies spp.)

Frankincense or olibanum (Boswellia sacra)

Juniper tops, berries, and resin (Juniperus communis, J. oxycedrus, J. sabina)

Hemp flowers (Cannabis spp.)

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

Laurel (Laurus nobilis)

Mastic (Pistacia lentiscus)

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)

Pine needles (dried or fresh) and resin (Pinus spp.)

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)

Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata)

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

Wild rosemary (Ledum palustre)

Wild thyme or quendel (Thymus serpyllum)

Yew needles (Taxus baccata)

INCENSE RECIPES FOR THE SMUDGING NIGHTS

Nordic Incense

Equal parts of

Juniper berries (Juniperus communis)

Mugwort herb (Artemisia vulgaris)

Fir resin (Picea abies)

Yew needles (Taxus baccata)

Grind juniper berries, chop the fir resin, and mix the two together well. Chop the mugwort herb and knead it into the mixture. Mix in chopped yew needles. If desired, you can also add ground amber, hemp blossoms (Cannabis sativa), and henbane (Hyoscyamus niger). Place by teaspoonfuls on the smoking embers. It should make little snapping noises as it burns!

Smudging Night Incense

Equal parts of

Ground fir resin (Picea abies)

Whole juniper berries (Juniperus communis)

Chopped mugwort herb or stripped flowers (Artemisia vulgaris)

Chopped sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata)*

Mix all ingredients together. Place incense by teaspoonfuls on the glowing coal.

*Fragrant sweetgrass (called mariengras in German) was known as Freia’s grass in pagan times. Braided, it is one of the most important smudging substances of the North American Indians. In Christian Europe, the grass was called Mary’s grass because of its perfume; it was used to decorate pictures of Mary.

Twelve Holy Nights*

Each ingredient stands for one of the twelve nights!

2 parts herb bush mixture, consisting of:

Mugwort Vervain

Sage

Mullein flower

Lemon balm

Elecampane

St. John’s wort

Yarrow

Mint

Chamomile

Powder the herbs and mix them with the ground resins. Place the mixture by small spoonfuls on the glowing coal.

Incense for the Smudging Nights†

Amber, ground

Fir resin

Fir needles, dried

Juniper tops

Fly agaric mushroom, dried

Hemp blossoms

Laurel leaves

Mugwort herb

Yule Smoke‡

Equal parts of:

Pine resin (Pinus spp.)

Juniper (Juniperus communis)

Cedar (Thuja spp.)

This incense can be used for any winter rite. You can also smudge the house with it, but only during the period from November 1 to March 21 (in other words, from the time of Samhain, the feast of All Souls, to the spring equinox).

Pagan Christmas Incense

Equal parts of:

Juniper needles (Juniperus communis)

Mugwort herb (Artemisia vulgaris)

Ground pine resin (Pinus spp.)

Wild rosemary (Ledum palustre)

Chop the herbs and mix well with the ground pine resin. Place by teaspoonfuls on the glowing coals.

*Recipe from Fischer-Rizzi 2001, 48.

†Recipe from Nana Nauwald, 2002. Exact quantities are not important; feel free to improvise.

‡Recipe adapted from Cunningham 1983, 120.

Wild rosemary or Labrador tea (Ledum palustre L., Ericaceae) is botanically related to rhododendron and heather and is among the old Nordic ritual plants. In addition to its use in smoking substances, the ancient Germans used wild rosemary as an ingredient for beer. They did not know hops; beer made with hops is an invention of Christian monks.

Nothing else purifies the air in a room as well as the burning of juniper wood.

VON PERGER 1864, 346

The smoke from juniper is part of the oldest shamanic rituals. Pictured here: Juniperus recurva.

Juniper (wekholder). (Woodcut from Brunfels 1532)

The evergreen juniper is one of the most important plants in the ethnobotany of Christmas. Its branches have served as winter greens, medicinal remedies, and protective amulets. The tree’s branch tops, berries, and resin have been used as incense ingredients; the berries are a cooking spice and an ingredient for beer, schnapps, and gin. Juniper wood found its way into baccy, Sunday pipes, and bonfires. Like many other plants, juniper branches also have been used as life rods: “On the Second Day of Christmas, in the Vogtland and the Saxon Erzgebirge, when the young men were beating the women and virgins with juniper rods, it could very well be while they were lying in bed” (Aigremont 1987, 52).

In medieval times, juniper was used as a purifying smudge against contagious illnesses. The smoke was also considered a defense against poisonous snakes. In the Engadine valley of Switzerland, farmers put milk through sieves made of juniper in order to preserve freshness. In Switzerland, up until the modern age, people smudged schoolrooms and hospitals with juniper to disinfect rooms if it was too cold outside to open the windows. Juniper was considered a symbol of the life force of Christ and his ability to overcome death in the Late Medieval period.

Juniper resin has been called “German sandaraca” and used as a substitute for frankincense. The blossom pollen of juniper was called “blossom smoke.” Juniper berries were sometimes called weiheicheln (holy berries) in the German vernacular. Juniper berries were used in poor churches of the Slavic East as a substitute for incense.

In German-speaking countries, juniper was used as a smudge to treat a wide range of different ailments, including rheumatism, asthma, pain in the chest or side, sleepiness, depression, and lunacy. Juniper smoke was believed to protect people from evil spirits, witches, goblins, demons—even the devil himself! The plant was used in a similar way in England:

In medieval times, the berries were used during burials in order to keep away the more intangible enemies—spirits and devils—that could be waiting. Green branches were burnt to smoke out the witches and drive out the dark powers; in Wales the juniper tree was considered holy, and hurting it or a dying tree was supposed to bring illness and death to the family (Drury 1989, 90).4

Juniper tree (wecholderbaum). (Woodcut from Lonicerus 1679)

“Nine Herbs” Christmas Incense

The roots of the consecration of herbs reach back to the oldest mysteries of mankind. As pre-Christian thanksgiving and nature feast, the custom found a place in the Church’s cult of Mary.

ABRAHAM AND THINNES 1995, 146

During holy times in old Germany—Christmas, smudging nights, New Year’s Eve, and epiphany—nine consecrated herbs were burned for incense or smuding. While the combination of herbs varies, the concept behind the consecration was the same. Each herb represented one of nine mythological worlds: three worlds above, three worlds in the middle, and three underworlds. Three times three worlds, all of which are united through the world tree, is the basic shamanic cosmology.

Thus the nine herbs were dedicated to the nine worlds and their nine inhabitants. The Anglo-Saxon nine herb charm written down in the eleventh century describes nine herbs that Wotan used as medicinal magic: mugwort, “oldest of the herbs;” plantain, “mother of all herbs;” stone root, which “drives away evil” (presumably stinkweed or pennycress, Thlaspi arvense); wormwood (venom-loather); chamomile; wergulu (maybe chicory); apple; chervil; and fennel. (There is some scholarly disagreement as to exactly which herbs should be included in this verse.)

These nine might go against nine venoms.

A snake came crawling and it tore apart the human being:

So Wotan5 took nine wonder branches

And killed the snake, so that it tore apart in nine pieces.

Thus the apple and its poison was made,

So that it would never want to come to a house again… .

Now the nine herbs have power against nine evil spirits

Against nine venoms and nine contagious illnesses.6

In folklore, the nine herb blessing has lived on in some remote areas in the “nine herb bushes” incense mixture that is still used in certain blessings performed by the Catholic church.

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Yarrow (Achillea spp.)

Valerian root (Valeriana officinalis)

European centaury (Centaurea erythraea)

Arnica (Arnica montana)

Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile), thyme (Thymus spp.), or lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis)

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), hog’s fennel (Peucadanum palustre), or eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis)

Mint (Mentha spp.), basil (Ocimum basilicum), or sage (Salvia officinalis)

Nine-Herb Incense for the Smudging Nights

The old Germanic plant magic consists of the following herbs:

Elecampane (Inula helenium)

Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)

Southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum)

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)

Lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum)

Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara)

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) Collect blossoms from these nine herbs and mix them together in equal parts. You may also add juniper berries and frankincense (von Perger 1864, 45, 347).

The first six herbs are a vital part of the nine herb bushes mixture. The last three may vary. Some of the herbs that might be used instead include elder, wheat, hazelnut, bird berry, flax, and rosemary. The incense mixture served as a blessing and a protection charm.

The smoke of incense goes up to the sky, connecting heaven and Earth. Beyond that, incense connects the nine worlds of the world tree with the person performing the ritual.

The smudging nights of the Christmas season got their name because, when they started, the priest would go around after evening bells with a red-hot pan held in his left hand. With it, he smudged the whole house to ward off demonic influences… . This kept witches and devils away and protected the livestock and produce. As the custom developed, the nine herbs were used during smoke-nights; put in the troughs and wells where the horses and cows were fed, or mixed with juniper berries and incense and put on the red-hot pans—and the whole house was smudged. But this could only happen when the cows were milked and the horses fed, because after cleansing with the smoke, no one was allowed to go back into the stables. (von Perger 1864, 54).

Incense was burned to protect against evil in the German and Swiss folk custom: “The four smudging nights (consisting of the night before St. Thomas’ Day and the three nights before Christmas), New Year’s Eve, and epiphany are all full of terror and secrets. Ghosts are powerful and every evil has a free ride.”

The witches also need nine different herbs for the making of thunderstorms: Alantroot [elecampane], lady’s bedstraw, southernwood, mugwort, wormwood, valerian root, black nightshade, bittersweet (or climbing nightshade), and common tansy (von Perger 1864, 71).

The nine herbs have a very close association with old Germanic myth and ritual. Elecampane (Inula helenium) represented Odin’s head or the head of Wotan. Lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum) was originally the straw for Freia’s bed. Southernwood was dedicated to the god Fro. Mugwort was used as a solstice girdle or belt. Like tansy, wormwood was an herb of the witch goddess. Valerian root was the holy plant of Wieland, the smith, and was also called “Balder’s eyebrow.” “Hertha used it as a riding crop when she was riding on her noble deer (who was crowned with hops)” (Zimmerer 1896, 278). Both of the solanums (Solanum spp.) contain Nachtsachen, a malefic demon that brings on illnesses—but also fights them.