Alchemy Works Incense & Resins

These incenses and resins have historically played a role in ancient and modern Paganism, Traditional Witchcraft, Wicca, and various forms of ceremonial magic/k. Because they come from plants, they have a depth of scent and a connection to life and the Earth that fragrances made from petrochemicals can never have. All Alchemy Works incense is handcrafted according to the apothecary's art, using a consecrated mortar and pestle. We use only all natural ingredients that we have grown &/or personally gathered, or that we source from suppliers that are committed to providing sustainably-grown, high quality, natural &/or organic botanical ingredients. All of our incenses are based on personal recipes or on historically accurate formulae that have been gathered through researching works like the Ebers papyrus or Dioscorides' Materia Medica.

For over 20 years Alchemy Works has sought to provide the best available ingredients while also keeping our prices accessible. As active spiritual practitioners ourselves, we understand the importance of using quality, ethically-sourced materials: Good ingredients potentiate magical works. If an ingredient doesn't satisfy our personal standard for ritual practice, we will not sell it. Alchemy Works incense is measured by weight, not by volume, and is packed in a square tin. Our resins are shipped in waxed glassine bags which are more sustainable than our previous packaging. (Balsam of Peru and Storax come in glass vials). Because the labels easily peel off the resin bags, you can transfer them to a glass jar or whatever longterm storage solution you prefer for your resins.

All incenses and resins sold by Alchemy Works are offered for use in spiritual, ritual, meditative and magickal practices, not for medicinal purposes.

There are many more botanicals, including other fragrant woods like red and white sandalwood and cedar, that make excellent natural incense in the herbs section, which now contains both herbs and all of the resins located here. New to loose incense? Wondering the best way to burn it, or how else it can be used? Click here for more information.

Mixing up your own incense? We personally use a large stone mortar and pestle, easily acquired from most kitchen supply shops. The act of grinding and mixing one's own incense by hand can itself be a magical process. A heavy-duty coffee grinder can also be used to break resins up into smaller pieces or powder, but it will become gummed up and fail eventually, and will have trouble  grinding roots or woods. Sugar added to incense makes for extra smoke and sweetens the scent; honey works well for this and as a binder. Bits of dried fruit soaked in wine are nice for binding powdered resins--they contain sugar as well as a scent of their own and are especially good for Venus blends. Wine also tends to be Venus-aligned, although some might consider it more Solar or Dionysian. When working with thick resins like labdanum or storax, heating them slightly will make them more runny. In addition to resins, we sell many herbs that we use in our incense formulations. A complete listing of all of our herbs and resins is found here.