Limited Edition Crystal Chaparral Incense ☽•☾
Southern California Chaparral-Coastal Oak Woodlands Incense. Incense blend of wild De Luz botanicals, collected from our 5 acre parcel of Southern California Chaparral-Coastal Oak Woodlands and processed by me. Includes:
White sage (Salvia apiana) leaves, stems, flowers, seed pods;
Black sage (Salvia mellifera) leaves, stems, flowers, seed pods;
Laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) leaves, stems, flowers, seed pods, fragrant sap.
I wild harvest from our own property. The sage are a concern of many due to overharvesting. My technique is to pick the leaves that are about to fall off and cover the ground anyway (a known tinder material for California wildfires). This way I don't have to cure the leaves myself, as they are already sun-dried, but their aromatics are still intact. They have not started to desiccate or molder in the soil. Furthermore, I collect the seed pods and plant them on our property in decomposed granitic soil, which S. mellifera prefers, and volcanic as well as decomposed granitic soils which S. apiana thrives in both types. Although S. apiana and S. mellifera are self sowing, human planting of the seeds and conscious watering is far more productive and yields a germination rate that makes the natural cycle pale in comparison. These plants are wonderful for erosion as well as the colonies of native pollinators. Human intervention can both encourage their propagation as well as temper their contribution to wildfires, both destructive and rejuvenative. Sales of the Crystal Chaparral Incense will help me to continue this stewardship of these precious plants.
White sage, Salvia apiana, bee sage. When, at the lightest touch, the leaves curl and fall off, we collect them. At the interval between life and death, just before the De Luz sun draws the waters out of the silver sarcophagi, frying their fragrant oils: like psychopomps, we scoop up their bodies to transport them from the plant world to the perfume realm. The aura of our GPS coordinates cast in cellulose. 4.87 acres hosting several thousand wild white sage plants in between the greasewood cover and over the orange scented threads of creosote. Not a reproduction: an extraction of a time and a place. Botanical contingency. These plants, these leaves, this place, this moment. Incense as aura.
Black sage, Salvia mellifera, honey-bearing sage. Dinosaur skin textured leaves, from grass green to chartreuse, to dry rust the color of autumn. Smell: peppery fruit leather, strawberry skins, rhubarb pie, citrus and tamarind zest. Some say it is a clean scent. Collected in the same method as the white sage described above.
Laurel Sumac, Malosma laurina, Lentisco, is the only plant in its genus. It covers our hillsides with its fragrant foliage, flowers, and edible fruits. Citrus growers have used it as a sentinel plant because it only grows in frost free regions, with a natural range from Gaviota to the Baja California peninsula. I will be making it into both incense and an absolute to showcase its signature aroma of fresh sugar snap peas just broken off of the vine, green apples, and turpentine, a hallmark of California chaparral. I harvest the leaves, stems, flowers, and the extremely fragrant and high vibration sap that oozes from its blisters like that of balsam fir (Abies balsamea).
WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE: loose incense measured out into a 1 oz tin, which is perfect for storing and further aging your incense, should you so desire. This incense is best used on an electric incense heater where the delicate notes are not overtaken by smoke.
r a w ☽•☾ m a t t e r
Wild Veil natural incense is composed by me, Abby, using homemade, wildcrafted and organic aromatics in both De Luz and Vermont. These include my handmade enfleurage, tinctures, enfleurage extraits, absolutes, resinoids and concretes, and floral waxes. I spend much of my time growing plants organically and sustainably foraging the old growth woods and bogs on my family's mountain property, and in my chaparral acreage, both of which are far from pollutants.
☽•☾ Wild Veil ☽•☾ alchemy between earth and ether ☽•☾
☽•☾ All aesthetic material copyright Abby Hinsman 2023 ☽•☾
