Incense Dreams
So I'm organizing the shelves in the new studio space with the addition of some nifty dollar store baskets to separate the incense and perfumery goods when 'lo and behold I find two full jars of Lavender Kyphi Supreme tucked back on a top shelf in the HP closet. Two. Full. Jars. Two. And now that they're two plus years old and well 'fermented', they smell out of this world amazing. So amazing, in fact, that a few pieces are going on the burner to honor the goddess. The melty piece of Nar I placed on the burner earlier this morning will have to scooch over to make room for this gorgeous LKS incense. I've been religiously (see that? I wrote 'religiously') burning the frankincense resins every morning first thing, before coffee is made, before the computer is fired up, and before packages are prepared, and I feel a shift of sorts, a euphoria. It could be nothing other than the physiological effect of smelling frankincense, but I feel like my day is brighter and less stressful when I do.
All night last night I dreamed of incense. Pastilles and Kyphi and sticks and beautiful cones. One after another, I worked those incense batches throughout the night (dream) and lamented the late arrival of that electric incense burner. I woke to the thought that in this case, my practice of determined patience was hokum. Instant gratification is what I want! Deliver that stinkin' burner already, mail person, I got some ritual stuff to do!
The incense dreams were strange. I haven't had dreams of work like that in years. I usually have those kinds of dreams when I start a new j-o-b where I'm freaking out over procedure and whether I'm doing the work correctly, and if my boss likes me. I've rarely experienced dreams of this urgency relating to my business. Back when I first began making soap in the 90's I'd have soap dreams, but they weren't like these incense dreams. The soap dreams were about cutting soap or finding neat molds. The incense dreams last night were frenetic, steeped in urgency -- I dreamt of formulations and getting angry that the ideas I was coming up with were old and tired; I dreamt of rolling out incense in a big shop where bags of raw materials were laying all around. I dreamt of huge burlap bags of frankincense from all over the world -- rare stuff like the hard-to-find Socotra types; the red and the green and the bone white sacras, and myrrh sweet as sugar. The whole time I was dreaming in incense, it felt busy. Like there was a deadline. Perhaps it was a subconscious nudge (smack in the face, more like it) to get back to work finishing what I've started in the studio. It was agitating and inspiring.
Back to the grind (literally).
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| Lavender Kyphi Supreme c. 2014 ~ now in the shop! |
All night last night I dreamed of incense. Pastilles and Kyphi and sticks and beautiful cones. One after another, I worked those incense batches throughout the night (dream) and lamented the late arrival of that electric incense burner. I woke to the thought that in this case, my practice of determined patience was hokum. Instant gratification is what I want! Deliver that stinkin' burner already, mail person, I got some ritual stuff to do!
The incense dreams were strange. I haven't had dreams of work like that in years. I usually have those kinds of dreams when I start a new j-o-b where I'm freaking out over procedure and whether I'm doing the work correctly, and if my boss likes me. I've rarely experienced dreams of this urgency relating to my business. Back when I first began making soap in the 90's I'd have soap dreams, but they weren't like these incense dreams. The soap dreams were about cutting soap or finding neat molds. The incense dreams last night were frenetic, steeped in urgency -- I dreamt of formulations and getting angry that the ideas I was coming up with were old and tired; I dreamt of rolling out incense in a big shop where bags of raw materials were laying all around. I dreamt of huge burlap bags of frankincense from all over the world -- rare stuff like the hard-to-find Socotra types; the red and the green and the bone white sacras, and myrrh sweet as sugar. The whole time I was dreaming in incense, it felt busy. Like there was a deadline. Perhaps it was a subconscious nudge (smack in the face, more like it) to get back to work finishing what I've started in the studio. It was agitating and inspiring.
Back to the grind (literally).
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