Incense

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INCENSE

INCENSE . The term incense (from Latin incendere, to burn or kindle) has the same meaning as the word perfume, i.e., the aroma given off with the smoke (per fumar ) of an odoriferous substance when burned. Incense may then be associated with the perfume arising from the burning of substances that produce a pleasant odor. Aloe, camphor, cloves, sandalwood, myrrh, frankincense, cedar, juniper, balsam, galbanum, and turpentine have been used as incense. Since ancient times incense has been an important part of religious rites and practices in various regions of the world. Incense has been used to appease the gods, sanctify a place or an object, display reverence and respect, honor commitments, tie bonds, and seal promises and friendships. Valued as a precious commodity, it was offered as a gift to honored personages: Frankincense and myrrh were two of the gifts the wise men of the East brought to the infant Jesus.

In association with concepts of purity and pollution, incense plays a major role in purification rites and customs. Incense smoke is used for these purposes because of the transforming powers of fire, as well as the seemingly purificatory powers of sweet smells. Because its fragrance is thought to be pleasing to the gods, incense has played an important role in worship and is used in ceremonies of offering, prayer, intercession, or purification. It is used to attract the attention of, or establish a connection with, a deity and is also used to exorcise evil or harmful forces.

The Far East and India

In Chinese, the word xiang can mean both "aromatic" and "incense." In China incense was sometimes burned in conjunction with aesthetic enjoyments like reading, writing compositions, or performing music; in Japan it was an important part of the tea ceremony. In Chinese Daoism, incense was used to disperse evil and to appease the gods; it was also employed in rituals for the cure of disease. Considered a punishment for evil deeds committed by the sufferer himself or by an ancestor, illness was regarded as a punishment by the San Guan (Three Officials), the judges and officials of the dead. During the rituals for curing sickness, a formal appeal was made to mitigate and revoke the officials' judicial severity. Using the rising flame and smoke from the incense burner in the center of the oratory to transmit a message borne by spirits exteriorized from within his own body, the Daoist libationer submitted petitions (zhang ) to the appropriate bureau of the Three Heavens (San Tian), where officials pronounced judgment on the appeal and marshaled celestial forces against the offending demons responsible for the illness. Incense played a major role in another Daoist ritual for fending off disease, the Mud and Soot Retreat or Retreat of Misery. The ritual was usually performed outdoors at a specially delimited sacred area, or altar (tan ). It was a ceremony of collective contrition where the combined effects of clouds of incense, the light of many lamps, and the sound of the chanted liturgy produced a cathartic experience in the participants.

Incense is also central to the Daoist Jiao liturgy, which renews the community through communication with the gods. Jiao rites may be held for the ordination of priests or the birthdays of gods or may be held to ward off calamities. For the Jiao ritual, a village feast is held outside the temple, and an esoteric liturgy is performed inside the closed temple. In the temple ritual the main incense burner, the central object in the temple, is the focus of the rite. A symbolic incense burner is "lighted" inside the body of the main priest, whose meditation transforms him into a mediator with the divine and makes possible the efficacy of the rite. Incense is employed for the ecstatic symbolic journey to heaven performed inside a sacred area demarcated by five buckets of rice. Together with the burning incense, a document is burned ("sent off to heaven") as a "memorial to the throne" (zhang ), which announces to Heaven the performance of the liturgy.

Incense also forms an important part of the Buddhist ritual ceremonies in Korea. When taking the vows of Buddhist priesthood, young initiates undergo a rite called Pul-tatta, or "receiving the fire." In this ceremony a moxa, or cone of burning incense, is laid upon the arm of the novice after the hair has been shaved off; the ignited cone is then allowed to burn slowly and painfully into the flesh. The remaining scar is considered a mark of dedication and holiness and commemorates the ceremony of initiation. Incense is used in ancestor worship as well; tablets containing the names of the departed written in gilt and black characters are placed on every household altar, where sacrifices are offered and incense burned.

At least until the late nineteenth century, incense timekeepers were used in Japanese Buddhist temples to mark the intervals at which the priest struck the great bell to call the people to prayer. The use of incense to measure time was an idea borrowed from China, and so in Japan these sticks were called "Chinese matches." In China the first literary mention of incense being used as a time indicator appears in the sixth century, although it may have been used much earlier. It was widely used from the tenth century on. To make the timekeepers, hardened-paste incense was prepared in sticks or spiral coils and marked into hourly intervals. Depending on the season, the burning time of the sticks was usually between seven to eleven ke, one ke being equivalent to about a half an hour of modern time. Sometimes a continuous trail of powdered incense was marked off into equal lengths and burned to indicate how much time had passed. The legacy of using incense sticks as timekeepers has been transferred to Hawai'i, where many Japanese and Chinese have migrated.

In India, incense is used in both Hindu and Buddhist rituals. In Hindu rites it is offered in temples as an act of homage before the statue of the devity; in the āratī ceremony, for instance, the increase censer or stick is rotated before the image of the deity in order to make an offering and evoke blessings. Fragrant incense was also used to waft prayers to the gods and to drive off foul-smelling demons.

The Ancient Near East

In ancient Egypt, incense was frequently used in cultic rituals. According to Plutarch, the Egyptians burned incense to the sun three times a day; Herodotos recounts that incense was daily burned before an image of a cow. Sacrifices were offered to the pharaoh, and incense was burned before him in the coronation procession. The importance of offering incense is evident from the title of a courtly official, the "Chief of the House of Incense." It was also an important element of funerary practices, because the soul of the dead was considered to ascend to heaven by the smoke of the burning incense.

Incense also figures in Mesopotamian mythology. In the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh's mother Ninsuna supplicated the gods, asking them to protect and befriend her son. She burned incense and offered it to the god of creation, Shamash, to show her reverence and receive his blessings. As Gilgamesh embarked on his mission to kill the Evil One, Huwawa, he heard the words of his mother and remembered the fragrant aroma of the incense.

Judaism, Christianity, Islam

According to the Hebrew scriptures, in ancient Israel incense was considered a holy substance and was reserved for Yahveh; it was included with the bread offered to him on the Sabbath (Lv. 24:7). Incense was placed in the Tent of Meeting (Ex. 30:34) and was used in the offerings of the first fruits (Lv. 2:15–16); it was offered in censers on the Day of Atonement when the high priest appeared before the mercy seat (Lv. 16:12ff.). Its use as a perfume is indicated in Song of Songs 3:6, which states that it was used to scent Solomon's couch. In Psalm 141 incense is likened to prayer.

Until the time of Constantine, incense was not used in public worship ceremonies of the Christian church. Its use as an offering was severely condemned by the early Fathers (e.g., Cyril of Alexandria and John Chrysostom) because of its association with pagan practices. Christians were identified by their refusal to burn incense before a statue of the emperor; Saturninus and Sisinnius were martyred for their refusal to do so. Those Christians who capitulated in order to escape death were known as turificati, or burners of incense. However, by the ninth century incense was used in some churches for the dedication and consecration of the altar. Incense was later incorporated into the liturgical services of both the Eastern Orthodox and Western churches.

In the Islamic tradition, incense is burned to create a pleasant aroma in places of worship, although it does not have any specific religious significance. The Muslims of India burn incense sticks on auspicious occasions such as weddings, births, or religious festivals. Incense is frequently offered at the tombs of saints, which people visit in order to obtain blessings. In the Ṣūfī samāʿ incense is often burned as the dhikr is chanted.