Aromatics & Books

I finished up a couple of new products in the past few days; a sweet amber creme, and a sweet amber beard and body oil. Next up, sweet amber solid parfum. The newest incense is drying nicely, though, by some estimations (mine), a little too slowly. Though with incense, especially compounded resin and Kyphi, the longer the 'fermentation', the better the result. I've given the new incense a name -- May Zahr -- and a rough estimate as to when it will be ready for the shop -- end of October. Ish.

So remember when I posted that I had begun a new incense book and I had initially wanted to create a booklet of recipes for the holidays? Remember I mentioned it had grown into something else? A monster book is on the way. And it may very well take two years to finish because a lot of hands-on research needs to go into it.

Here is a rough outline of the book as it sits today:

SECTION 1 ~ BASIC INFORMATION AND HISTORY

            Chapter 1 ~ The King of Incense ~ Kyphi

                        Types (Edfu, etc)

                        Syriac-Kupar

                        Modern Kyphi

            Chapter 2 ~ Historical Incenses

Japanese Incense

                        Chinese Incense

                        Tibetan Incense

                        Middle-Eastern Incense

                        Church Incense

                                    Greek Orthodox

                                    Catholic

                        African

                        East Indian

                        European

                                    North European

                                    Mediterranean

                                    Balkans

                                    The ‘Stans’

                                    (etc.)

                                    Russian

                        North American

                        South American

                        Australian

                        Islander

                        Indonesian

Chapter 3 ~ Resins & Gums

Frankincense (Ethereal)

            Dakkara (Boswellia neglecta) Ethiopia

            Hammaderoh (Boswellia elongate) Soquotra

            Hojari (Boswellia sacra) Oman

            Cricognimu (Boswellia dalzielii) Burkina Faso

            Maydi (Boswellia frereana)

            Salaai Gugul (Boswellia serrata) India

            Beyo (Boswellia carteri) Somalia

            Makker (Boswellia papyrifera) Ethiopia

            Zama’ano (Boswellia socotrana) Soqotra

            Matabut (Boswellia rivae) Ethiopia

            MORE . . .

                         

                        Myrrh  (Ethereal)

Habek Hadi (Commiphora guidotti) Ethiopia

Opoponax (Commiphora holziana) Kenya

Omumbungu (Commiphora kraeuseliana) Namibia

Echte Myrrh (Commiphora kua) Yemen

Molmol Myrrh (Commiphora molmol) Somalia

Guggul (Commiphora mukul) India

Yemeni Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) Yemen

Omumgorwa (Commiphora tenuipetiolata) Namibia

Omumbiri (Commiphora wildii) Namibia

MORE . . .  

                        Gum Arabic

                        Gum Tragacanth

                        Damar

                        Benzoin

                        Amber

                        Ammoniacum

                        Acacia

                        Pine/spruce, etc.

                        Copal

                        Copaiba

                        Elemi

                        Asafetida

                        Galbanum

                        Balm of Gilead

                        Labdanum

                        Breu Claro/Breuzinho ~ brittle resin, Protium heptaphyllum, Brazil, used ceremonially and medicinally

                        Palm Resins ~

                                    Sandarac

                                    Mastic

                                    Dragon’s Blood

                        Balsams

                                    Balsam of Peru

                                    Balsam of Tolu

                                    Styrax

                                    Benzoin

                                   

            Chapter 4 ~ Herbs

            Chapter 5 ~ Leaves (gum leaves, monkey ball leaves aka liquidamber (American styrax), etc.)

            Chapter 6 ~ Spices

            Chapter 7 ~ Woods

            Chapter 8 ~ Animal derived (beeswax, honey, propolis, civet, ambergris, castoreum)

            Chapter 9 ~ Binders

                        Water

                        Wine

                        Sugars

                        Waxes

SECTION 2 ~ CREATING INCENSE

            Chapter 10 ~ Balancing Formulations

                        How much of what and techniques

                        Sticks – textural references

                        Cones – “  “

                        “Chips” – “  “

                        Loose powder – “  “

 


 It's a bit much, yeah? And that's just the beginning, I have reams of notes and research documentation, some sections already have information written in them, plus there's a Section #3, beginning with Chapter 11 which is entitled "Rites of Kyphi", and a Chapter 12, 13, and 14 all full with formulations for Kyphi, Syriac-Kupar, and other 'compounded' types of incense. I'm already feeling the typical emotions I get when beginning a new writing project -- exhileration and exhaustion. With a bit of bloodletting. And nausea. And repeatedly questioning my sanity.