Actually there is no special way to burn aloes wood (agarwood) you only needs charcoal that have been burnt until it is red, then place the Agarwood over the charcoal which would you burn.
But there is also a unique way, some people do something else in burning aloes wood (agarwood), there is little difference, that is, before the aloes wood (agarwood) is placed above the charcoal,, they put aloes wood (agarwood) into their mouths, suck the small chips of aloeswood that they will burn, not a big piece of aloes wood (agarwood), the point is, they dampen the aloes wood with saliva, so that if you burn it over charcoal, then the wood will burned slightly – by little, burn longer than wood that has not dampened.
If you put aloe dried over charcoal, charcoal will directly burn the wood immediately, if the wood was wet, it will not directly burned, the wood will burn longer.
I do not teach you dirty, you can use the water, without need to use saliva, you just dip in water, then sprinkle and place it over charcoal.
Tips of burning Agarwood
When burning Oud wood chips, it is always better to burn it ‘clean’ on a mica plate that can commonly be found for burning incense. This will ensure that you get a ‘cleaner’ scent out of your burned Oud wood, as burning on coal requires that you not prepare the coal too hot, lest you will have some ‘coal scent notes’ together with your Oud wood scent during fumigation.
The best way to optimally heat up the coal is not through the stove but rather by a blowtorch lighter you can get for lighting up cigars. Just aim to torch the far sides of the 4 sided squarish coal instead of the middle part of it, and immediately place your Oud chip on the middle spot once you have done lighting. The heat from the sides will slowly move up to the middle of the coal and will give the slow burning effect on your Oud. The scent will be longer lasting and better smelling (without the coal notes) this way. The traditional way of burning is with a burner and coal and that is how we like to do it.
The Incense Route was one of the most important highways in the world at a time when faith in the mystic power of incense was at its height. Its traffic — frankincense and myrrh, spices from India — was the lifeblood of the countries through which it passed. That continuous stream saw the rise and fall of many kingdoms along the way. Earliest records mention the Egyptians sending an expedition for incense in 2800 BCE. Each kingdom, growing rich and ambitious, sought control of the forests of incense that lay to the east.
So says Barbara Toy in her extraordinary 1968 trans-Arabian journal, Travelling the Incense Route. For thousands of years, incense has been a currency of inestimable value for its roles in medicine, ceremony and religious and spiritual pursuit. It was favoured by the Egyptians (remains of frankincense have been discovered within pharaohs’ sarcophagi), Babylonians and Romans,, was used in India as far back as 2000 BCE and travelled with Hinduism and Buddhism into the East.
Today, smoky wreaths of incense still fill places of worship throughout Asia, and in Catholic churches everywhere, as they did in ancient times, but incense is also coming under the scrutiny of modern research and data is both confirming the health benefits as well as revealing the darker side of this enlightening product.
Ancient practice
In a time when hygiene was a very different kettle of fish from what it is now, and body odour, food decay and sewage all fed into daily life, it seems a logical conclusion that strong aromas that smelled “good” would have been highly prized for their perceived ability to purify the air. “It all goes back to our primitive origins, with the discovery of fire,” describes Lissa Coffey, who blends the wisdom of aromatherapy and Ayurveda on her site coffeytalk.com.
“We discovered the amazing aromas that came from the wood and the effects these fragrances had on our emotions. Then we started experimenting, burning different materials, leaves, herbs and fruits. As the smoke carries the aroma towards the sky, toward heaven, we can see that as a spiritual experience. Burning fragrances became a part of religious and spiritual rituals, seen as both a gift from the gods and an offering to the gods.”
Incense became deeply entwined with spirituality in a variety of religious practices throughout the world, from East to West. “In both the Buddhist and Hindu traditions, incense is offered as a devotion and used to accompany meditation,” Coffey explains. “Buddhist monks from India brought incense to China and Japan, and the Japanese then introduced incense in the cone form at the Chicago World’s Fair in the late 1800s. Sandalwood is often used in both traditional Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurvedic practices.”
Active ingredients
Incense is essentially any organic substance that emits fragrance when it smoulders (its name comes from the Latin verb incendere, “to burn”). To make incense, pulverised aromatic herbs, wood, roots or resins are mixed with oil or water to make a dough that is then pressed into a stick or cone shape, rolled onto a stick (typically bamboo or pine) to coat it, or simply put in a tray as a powder. When lit, the fragrant, active substance is released into the air. “Our olfactory bulbs lie underneath the brain, just over the nostrils,”
explains Dr Thom E Lobe, a licensed practitioner in both Western and Eastern medicine. “These organs of smell are the closest link the brain has to the outside and are located very close to that part of our brain that regulates emotions and other important bodily functions. When you inhale incense there is a direct effect on the brain that is measurable and nearly immediate.”
According to Lobe, the various effects of incense depend on the aromatic. “It’s a chemical reaction within the brain; each variety of incense — and there are hundreds — has specific effects on the system,” he says. “We can see spiritual elation, enhanced ability to pray and meditate by effecting a calming of the emotions, activation of ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety and depression, and facilitation of the movement of energy.”
Incense through the ages
Myriad essential oil, herb, bark, leaf and flower products have been used in incense to spice the air. The following are some of the most commonly found and their benefits.
Frankincense Also called olibanum, frankincense is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, traditionally on the Arabian Peninsula, through tapping the tree and allowing the resin to harden. Judaic, Christian and Islamic faiths have used frankincense mixed with oils to anoint newborn infants and individuals considered to be moving into a new phase in their spiritual lives. Frankincense resin is edible and often used in various traditional medicines in Asia to aid digestion and skin health. In Ayurvedic medicine, Indian frankincense, commonly referred to as dhoop, has been used for hundreds of years for treating arthritis, healing wounds, strengthening the female hormone system and repelling mosquitoes.
Myrrh This is a reddish-brown resinous material, the dried sap of a number of trees, but primarily from Commiphora myrrha, which is native to Yemen, Somalia and Ethiopia. The Ancient Egyptians imported large amounts of myrrh as far back as 3000 BCE, using it to embalm the dead, as an antiseptic and to burn for religious sacrifice. The Greek word for myrrh, μύρον, came to be synonymous with the word for perfume. Myrrh has been used in traditional medicine to prevent putrefaction and infection while promoting cell and tissue regeneration.
Agarwood Also called aloeswood, agarwood is produced inside a tropical rainforest tree called Aquileia and relies on an infectious mould to convert the light heartwood into the dark, resin-embedded heartwood whose ethereal fragrance has been prized in Asia for incense in ceremony, as well as used as a sedative in traditional medicine. Agarwood is said to calm the nervous system, expel negative energies, bring alertness, relieve anxiety, invoke a sense of strength and peace and enhance cerebral functioning. In Tibetan Buddhist traditions it’s said to bring energy to calm the mind and spirit and to provide motivation and the necessary devotion for meditation.
Sandalwood Heavy and yellow in colour, this fine-grained wood retains its fragrance for decades. Traditionally grown in India, sandalwood has been valued and treasured for medical and religious qualities. Used broadly in Ayurveda, the aroma of sandalwood is said to help to ease various ailments of the digestive system by encouraging the production of gastric juices and easing nausea, colic and gastritis. It is also thought to be a natural sedative, subduing aggression and irritability, promoting compassion and openness and enhancing meditation.
Patchouli A bushy herb of the mint family, patchouli is native to tropical regions of Asia and has had a long history of medicinal use in India, China and Japan where it has been used to stimulate the nervous system, lift depressed moods, relieve stress and give a feeling of elation and wellbeing. Patchouli is believed to help balance the endocrine system, which in turn balances the hormones of the body, as well as to stimulate the pituitary gland, which secretes endorphins, so relieving pain and inducing euphoria.
Sage Dried sage leaves, especially white broadleaf sage, were traditionally used by Native Americans as an ingredient of smudge sticks, in which it is bundled up whole and dried. One end of a smudge stick is lit and then blown out so that it smoulders and smokes. The smoke is used in Native American practices for purification and cleansing as well as for meditation and divination. Smudging with sage can also be used to encourage spirituality, clear negative energy, banish spirits, create sacred space, invite positive energy and promote decision-making.
Gaining validation
Historically, incense has been used to enhance prayer and balance the body. Recent scientific studies bear out its effect: frankincense has been found to have anti-depressive qualities, myrrh can reduce cholesterol and agarwood actually causes new neurons and synapses to grow in the brain.
In October last year, scientists from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel reported that, when inhaled, frankincense provides an arsenal of bio-active molecules with considerable therapeutic potential. “These compounds were shown to exert significant anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic activity in vitro, in vivo and in clinical trials … Furthermore, it causes behavioural as well as anti-depressive and anxiolytic [anti-anxiety] effects in mice,” they reported.
Other ancient products are also garnering respect from the scientific community. In 1991, the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, found that myrrh had pharmacological application in the reduction of cholesterol and triglycerides. In Japan, a 2006 study at the University of Toyama’s Institute of Natural Medicine demonstrated that agarwood showed significant induction effect on brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in rats, helping to support the survival of existing neurons and encourage the growth of new neurons and synapses. And a 1995 study in China found that the antibacterial qualities of Chinese herbal incense made it as effective an air steriliser in hospital wards as methods such as ultraviolet radiation and formaldehyde.
Vietnam Agarwood 