Incense

Incense in vara, granulate and cone for domestic use.

The incense (from the Latin incensum, participle of incendere, "burn", "ignite&# 34;) is a preparation of aromatic vegetable resins, to which essential oils of animal or vegetable origin are often added, so that when burned it gives off fragrant smoke for religious, therapeutic or aesthetic purposes.^{[ citation required]}

As a form of perfume, it was used to enhance scent, but since ancient times, it was believed to allow worshipers to communicate with the gods.

History

Egyptian incense burner, seventh century a. C.

Incense of traditional copal in Mexico and parts of Central America.

In Ancient Egypt, the Egyptian word for incense was senetyer, which literally means 'to make it divine'. Not only was it presented as a gift to the Egyptian gods, in the style of what would be the presents offered by the Magi (along with gold and myrrh) to Jesus, but it was also burned in the temples, because they were the houses of the gods and made space become divine. And when incense resin was used during the embalming of the bodies, the body of the deceased was being transformed towards divinity.

Chinese and Japanese societies used incense as an integral part of deity worship. In the same way, civilizations in Mesoamerica such as the Purépecha, the Maya, the Mexica and others implemented it but under the name of copal (copalli, in Nahuatl), which was burned in anafres, and the smoke that comes off, when burned, was used as an offering to their deities or their energies and as therapy for different physical and spiritual ills. At present, such uses are still common within the indigenous tradition. In addition, it has an important use in Buddhism, in the Catholic Church (for Eucharistic adoration, processions, etc.), in the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church and, to a lesser extent, in other denominations. Christian.^{[citation required]}

Regarding the name of incense, the Hebrews called it levonah (לבונה), the Greeks Lebanon (λίβανος), the Arabs luban, the Romans olibanum and the Aztecs copalli; in all languages except the Aztecs it means 'milk', due to the appearance of the resin when it sprouts from the tree, while in the language of the Mexicans it means "resin". However, today it is called incense, a name that derives from the Latin word incendoere, that is, "to ignite", "burn", "set fire", "set fire".^{[ citation required]}

The archaeological data on incense go back to the Nile Valley: in the temples of Deir el-Bahari you can see inscriptions with drawings of rituals where the puffs of incense smoke are more than evident. Around fifteen centuries ago, the Egyptians traveled to the country of Ta-Necher (incense, in Egyptian, it was written snTr, which means that which causes divinity) to look for incense.^{[citation needed]}

The stories narrate that King Rama-Ka brought small incense trees to his tent, planted them carefully at the precise time, under the stellar omens and thus achieved perfect and slender trees of excellent wood and gum resin. The Phoenicians, for their part, being great navigators and merchants, always carried incense logs in their ships to trade with the known world. More historical data on incense is available from the stories of Alexander the Great: it is said that when he took the city of Gaza, he accumulated among the precious objects of the spoils of war 500 talents of incense and 100 of myrrh.^{[citation required]}

For his part, Strabo tells us how commercial transactions were made with Arabia, the Red Sea area and even China, in search of the highly prized incense. Also, Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder mention in their works about the boom that incense had in the temples of the times of Imperial Rome. One of the most notable data comes from Nero: it is said that he would have burned impressive amounts of incense before the tomb of Poppaea. ^{[citation needed ]}

In Greco-Roman mythology, incense is also present: Leucótoe, the daughter of Arcamo and Eurinoma, gave herself in love to the beautiful and coveted Apollo. When Arcamo learned of such a dishonorable event, he buried her alive out of the greatest anger. But the sun god, to honor the unfortunate creature buried alive, turned it into a leafy incense tree. For this reason, it is also held that, astrologically, the planets that govern this sacred tree are the Sun and its favorite son, Jupiter; therefore, the corresponding zodiac sign is Leo.^{[citation required]}

An offering of incense was made by the Seleucid king Seleucus II Callinicus, when he gave the temple of Apollo of Miletus myrrh and more than ten talents of incense. Incense has been considered so important that Herodotus, father of History, tells us about the great defeat of the Arabs against Darius I, and that, as a war tribute, he forced them to pay a thousand talents of incense annually. ^{[citation required]}

Benzoin, called by Ibn Battuta "the incense of Java and Sumatra", is a typical aroma of the Cuatrocento and the Renaissance: in the year 1461, the sultan of Egypt, Melech Elmaydi, dispatched to the Doge of Venice, Pascual Malispiero, a shipment of precious benzoin, among other gifts. Another reference from the year 1476 tells us about a gift made by Sultan Kaitbei of Egypt, consisting of 15 pounds of benzoin, to the beautiful Catarina Cornaro, from Venice. Lorenzo the Magnificent, of Florence, would also receive a shipment of benzoin from Sultan Kaitbei as a present.^{[citation required]}

Presentations and use

Incense vessels, burned at a Buddhist worship site in China.

Incense Spiral, usually used in China and Japan as a mosquito repellent.

Incense granulate before burning for domestic use, in religious temples and in processions (traditional mode of Catholic Holy Week).

Sahumeras of the Lord of the Miracles, in Lima.

Incensary or incense burner

Decorative sahumera at the Soumaya Museum.

Incense is available in numerous presentations and degrees of preparation. However, it is generally classified into two types, depending on the use: incense for direct burning and incense for indirect burning.^{[citation needed]}

In general, large, coarse incense tends to burn longer than more processed ones, and direct burning incense requires less preparation for use but more pre-processing. Apart from this, the preference for one presentation or another depends largely on culture, traditions and personal tastes. Stick incense is the most common and preferred form used in Chinese and Japanese cultures, so most incense produced in these countries is made in this form. In the West, due to Christianity's ties to Judaism, incense is often burned in powdered form or in whole pieces.^{[citation needed]}

Direct burning

Incense for direct burning is generally placed in a receptacle called a censer, in which the incense is lit and ventilated to spread its aroma.^{[citation needed]}

It is also called combustible incense when it has lit and is fanned; The ember thus obtained will be consumed without a flame until all the incense is burned, without the need to apply more heat. This kind of incense is usually made from finely ground fragrant incense materials, which are held together by a binding fuel.^{[citation needed]}

The most common forms in which it is marketed are:

• Spiral: is able to burn for a long time, from hours to days.
• Cone: burns relatively quickly. Cones that include artemisia are used in traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion treatments.
• Huecas: This form of incense in vara has a bamboo center. The highest quality varieties present a fragrant sandal center, which is covered with a thick layer of incense that burns together with it. This presentation occurs frequently in China and India. When used for worship in traditional Chinese religion, incense hollow rods are sometimes known as joss sticks.
• Solid Varas: This incense in vara does not have a support core and are solid. When easily divisible in pieces, it allows to determine the specific amount of incense that you want to burn. This is the most common form of incense in Japan.^{[chuckles]required]}

To use direct burning incense, it must be lit and then extinguished, so that the incense continues to glow and smoke as it burns.^{[citation needed]}

Indirect burning

Also called non-combustible incense, the use of this type of incense requires an external source of heat, as it does not produce embers when consumed. Heat is usually achieved by charcoal or hot ash. Incense is burned by placing it directly on burning coals or on a hot metal plate in the censer.^{[citation needed]}

It is the most common form of incense traditionally used in Middle Eastern or Christian culture. Similar forms of indirect burning of incense occur in the Kōdō, the Japanese incense (香道) ceremony. The best known incense of this type is the crude resins of frankincense and myrrh, probably due to the numerous mentions that appear in the Christian Bible. In fact, the word frankincense is often synonymous with any form of incense in many European languages.^{[citation needed]}

• Entero: the material burns directly in its unprocessed gross form on coal handles.
• Pulverized or granulated: the material is part of smaller pieces. Incense burns so quickly, providing a short period of intense odors.
• In pasta: pulverized incense or granulate is mixed with a sticky aglutinant, such as dry fruit, honey or soft resin, forming small balls or tarts, a practice widely used among cultures that use incense. Much of the Arabic incense, called bukhoor or bakhoor, is of this type.^{[chuckles]required]}

Manufacturing

Historically, the incense that has been used in each place has been made up of different elements: resins and woods above all. It has been used from tree resin to cedar resin from Lebanon Cedrus libani to royal juniper (Juniperus lycia or Juniperus thurifera) from Africa., which by having turpentine exhales a pleasant perfume. Likewise, other gum resins were called incense in some parts of the world: wormwood in Andalusia, Artemisia aragonensis in the Canary Islands, Grindelia glutinosa or palaucupatli in Mexico, or Thuaria chilensis in Chile.

Gum resin is obtained from incense by making an incision in the trunks of the Boswellia trees, in this way the resin flows, dries in contact with the air and is then formed small rounded grains of a pale and opaque yellow color, of brittle texture and whose diameter does not exceed 2 cm. When the grains come into contact with the fire, they melt, exhaling their exquisite aroma.

Frankincense belongs to the botanical genus Boswellia; thus, we have in China the use of Boswellia sacra, in Abyssinia, Boswellia papirifera, in India, Boswellia serrata, and in the Middle East and North Africa, Boswelia carterii. It is produced and exported mainly in Oman, where the so-called Land of Frankincense exists.

Biblical references

In both the Old and New Testaments there are many mentions of incense. Thus, we have that in Exodus 30: 1 Moses is told that he should make a separate altar, of acacia wood, to burn incense. Further on, Exodus 30:7 says: “And Aaron shall burn sweet incense on it (the altar); every morning when he prepares the lamps he will burn it ».

Also in Psalm 141:2 a comparison is made between the rise of incense smoke and the rise of prayers: "Let my prayer rise before you like incense." Similarly, incense appears in Deuteronomy 33:10, when Moses blesses the twelve tribes of Israel: "...they will put before you and a burnt offering on the altar." Another reference to incense in the Old Testament can be read in Leviticus 16, 12-13, during the day of atonement: «Afterwards he will take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before Yahveh', and her fists full of ground aromatic perfume, and she will carry it behind the veil. And he will put the perfume on the fire before Yahweh , and the cloud of the perfume will cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony, so that he does not die ».

In the New Testament, incense also appears when the Magi visit the newborn Jesus: «And upon entering the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and prostrating themselves, they adored him; and opening his treasures, they offered him presents: gold, frankincense and myrrh ».

Also in the Book of Revelations or Apocalypse of Saint John (8:3-5), the Seventh Seal, we read: «Another angel then came and stood before the altar, with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to add to the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that was before the throne. And from the hand of the angel the smoke of the censer rose into the presence of God, and filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth, and there were thunders and voices, lightning, and an earthquake."

Incense and cancer

Recent studies in Taiwanese Buddhist temples have linked incense burning to cancer risk, due to elevated levels of benzopyrene (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) in incense smoke. Keep in mind that the amount of benzopyrene that can be concentrated in a home where a few sticks or sticks are burned has nothing to do with what is produced in a temple like the one described in the study (Buddhist temple with many people in its interior, very poor ventilation and where large amounts of incense are being burned that impede visibility) so it is not possible to extrapolate the case and more studies would be necessary to reach more specific conclusions and adapted to domestic use.

In contrast, a study conducted by several Asian Cancer Research centers showed: “If an association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms such as chronic cough, chronic phlegm, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia in three populations studied—ie, elementary school children, their nonsmoking mothers, or a group of nonsmoking older adults who burn incense—did not affect the risk of lung cancer. lung cancer among non-smokers, but significantly reduced the risk among smokers, even after adjusting for length of life smoking." However, the researchers qualified the findings by noting that incense burning in the study population was associated with certain people's low-risk cancer dietary habits, and concluded that "diet may be an important confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health.”^{[citation needed]}

Although several studies have not shown a link between incense and lung cancer, many other types of cancer have been directly linked to incense burning. A study published in 2008 in the medical journal Cancer found that the use of incense is associated with a significantly increased risk of cancer of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of cancer of the nasopharynx. Those who used frankincense heavily also had higher rates of a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, which refers to tumors that arise in cells lining the inner and outer surfaces of the body. The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held out when the researchers weighed other factors, such as cigarette smoking habits, diet and alcohol. The research team noted that "this association is consistent with a large number of studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke, and given the widespread and sometimes inadvertent exposure to smoke from burning incense, these results carry important research implications." public health". It has been shown to cause antidepressant behavior in mice. Little-known ion channels in the brain are activated to relieve anxiety and depression.^{[citation needed]}

Incense is a common source of indoor air pollution, especially in Asian homes where it is burned for religious reasons. In previous studies in Hong Kong it was found to be the main source of carcinogens in household air, and a major contributor to personal nitrogen dioxide exposures among women. To assess its effects on respiratory health, air pollution data from a cross-sectional study of 346 primary school children and their 293 non-smoking mothers ING, and a case-control lung cancer study of 189 patients of the same sex female and 197 previously married district matched controls were analyzed.^{[citation needed]}