St.Ego on Incense/Aromatherapy

I recently picked up an actual "censer" for burning incense in. Not for lighting off your typical pedestrian "cones" either. This is set up with a small basin of sand in which you place a lit piece of coal. Upon this coal, you place nuggets of incense resin which smolder and melt while giving off whatever flavor of fumes you happen to have picked up.

And, while we are on that subject, there happens to be a lot more to incense than just lighting off another stick of Na'g to hide the smell. Live a little and try something new once in a while.

Me, I'm a big fan of collecting a variety of something so that I can try out as many different types as possible. You should have seen the selection the day I decided to try out exotic fruits; I wasn't even sure what most of it was called when I ate it, not having gone to the trouble of keeping anything labeled. I felt it was educational anyway.

Today, I'll let you in on my recent experiences with the various types of resin that I've burned in my censer.

Myrrh - A pungently spicy scent, although not overly strong. I didn't care for this one very much. Between this, Frankinsence and gold, I'll take the gold.

Three Crowns - I could barely smell this one, despite burning a pile of it. Faintly aromatic, not unpleasant.

Dragons Blood -This one persistently evokes scent-memories of being in caves when I was younger. It smells like a deep, damp cave and it turns from a chalky red powder into a pile of bubbling red ooze that could easily be imagined as actual dragon's blood.

Celtic Blend - Not sure what goes into this one, but it has a very woodsie/piney smell to it. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

Kashmir -This is, by far, my favor of the bunch. Strong pine hints but with a heavy pungency. For whatever reason, this particular incense causes an immediate relaxation of the neck and shoulder muscles (areas that are usually rather tight for me), making this a very therapeutic resin to burn!

Copal - I enjoy this particular scent, with it's darker alchemical smell. The resin melts into little gelatinous clumps that are fun to watch as well.