Kyphi, Vermillion, & Ruby

I began experimenting with Kyphi-type incenses almost from the moment I completed my first real Kyphi incense that was based on a recipe inscribed on a temple wall (Edfu). I bought Karl Vermillion's 'Kyphi: The Sacred Scent' and worked out the recipe's weight measures, which, according to my research up to that point, would create a huge amount of Kyphi, multiple kilos of it at a time. So I cut the recipe into 10ths (or even smaller, I will have to consult with my notes on it) and created my first Kyphi incense based on that. Then came those experimental variations. There was Pink Lotus Kyphi, Red Kyphi, Blue Lotus Kyphi, Black Kyphi, Lavender Kyphi Supreme, Golden Kyphi, and Mourning Incense, a type of Syriac-Kapur (Kyphi). 

Right after publishing the booklet 'Kyphi Magic & Art: Creating the Breath of the Gods', Mr. Vermillion contacted me and asked where I had found the formula in my booklet, to which I told him he was responsible, but the final outcome took a bit of sleuthing to pull together. Most of my peers at the time were deeply disappointed in Mr. Vermillion's work due to 'all those pesky hieroglyphics'. Me, not so much. I love the book, beginning to end. It is a treasure trove. 

Then more recently, I took a class with Dora Goldsmith, a noted Egyptologist who has spent the past few years translating those pesky hieroglyphics to discover the first, true Kyphi formula, and provide some answers that fill in the blanks of my previous research on the subject. Though not entirely complete, Ms. Goldsmith's work gets all of us a little closer to what those early Egyptians experienced (Ebers). 

Back to Mr. Vermillion. During my conversations with him, he made a point to say that Kyphi was, for the Egyptians, a very important part of their lives because, much like everything else we know about them, they had literally written the recipes for Kyphi in stone. That statement really struck home for me, and it sparked a passion for creating and recreating Kyphi over and over again, as well as a desire to take an artistic license with those formulas and create Kyphi that has no foundation in history. I think, given the variety of materials and access we have today, ancient Egyptians would have created hundreds, if not thousands, of different types of Kyphi. 

My booklet, Kyphi Magic & Art, received rave private reviews (for some reason people are scared to show their faces in the public forum of an Amazon review), but more recently, with the introduction of Ms. Goldsmith's work, as well as the work of a half-dozen or so new Kyphi experts, the booklet received a poor review, basically lambasting it for its inauthenticity, lack of expertise, and overt creative license. I am not an expert, and I never claimed to be one. I'm an avid student of incense who shares her ideas with others. 

Today, I am wrapping up (well, rolling up) the newest fruit-based incense in the studio, Ruby, based on roses, and though not traditional in any way at all, Kyphi or nerikoh-like, she is gorgeous.