Description
Fresh and intensely aromatic. Palo Santo-Natural Incense Sticks. Bursera Graveolens Sustainably harvested in Peru from fallen and naturally aged branches.
Our last shipment of Palo Santo sticks was, well, a bit blah. We had to remove it it from the shop.
We found a new supplier and I am blown away by the intense fragrance and high quality of this material. Beautiful, heavy, thick and fragrant sticks. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Note that this material is full of essential oils and cut into larger more substantial pieces than earlier shipments.
To use-
Light the tip of the stick.
When it has a good flame and you can see the red of an ember, blow out the flame and it will emit sweet incense smoke for a few minutes.
It will go out on its own and can be relit in this manner multiple times.
Leave a stick in your drawer to scent your clothes for months.
Palo Santo sticks can be shaved or ground to make an excellent material for incense blends for sticks, trailing incense, cones and pastilles.
This is the very best description I know of Palo Santo and I admire the author greatly. If you have an opportunity to take one of his online incense courses you will come out enlightened and enriched in ways you can not now imagine.
Borrowed from the Listening To Incense Program/Northwest school of aromatic medicine.
For the full article and to learn more about courses visit https://aromaticmedicineschool.com/palo-santo-holy-wood/
Palo Santo (Holy Wood) has been used throughout Central America and many northern territories of South America for thousands of years for purification and cleansing of the physical, energetic, and spiritual realms. Its uses are as numerous as the tribes and cultures that call on this sacred tree’s healing and spiritual powers. Its warm, delicately sweet and woodsy aroma that fills people with a sense of peace and tranquility, its powerful presence in ceremonies and spiritual practices, and its vast physical healing powers have sparked much interest in this sacred incense material around the world, giving rise to the popularity of this wise ancient tree.
The heavily essential oil-saturated wood of the Palo Santo tree is found to contain around 112 chemical compounds which make it a strong antibacterial, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, sedative, and insecticide, helping people overcome many sicknesses, colds, allergies, headaches, rheumatic pain, skin infections, and much more. Traditionally it is used as a mosquito repellant in coastal areas and as an air cleanser in the presence of the sick. But perhaps the most important compound found in its smoke, limonene (62.88%) is said to have chemotherapeutic properties and has also made Palo Santo a very effective treatment for depression, anxiety, and stress.
Palo Santo creates a pleasant, fresh-smelling smoke with hints of mint and citrus. It’s uplifting scent raises vibrations in preparation for meditation and ceremony and allows for a deepening of spiritual connections. When people get a first whiff of Palo Santo smoke, they tend to sit up straighter, their eyes-widening. The aroma of this tree seems to often give people a feeling of something ancient, sacred, just beyond their grasp. I tend to describe the feeling it generates within as an ancient ceremonial energy.
In a spiritual sense, Palo Santo is a strong ally to many medicine people, shamans, and healers. It is used to cleanse homes of negative spirits and energies, attract good fortune, communicate with the spirit world, in smudging rituals, as an aid in meditation, clearing the mind and sharpening awareness, and much more. Native cultures say that the spirits of Palo Santo trees materialize themselves in the oil and are responsible for its potency and healing qualities.
According to folk legend, when the world was in its embryonic phase and there were very few human beings, Cosokait, the most handsome and virtuous of men fell in love with a young maid. The young girl didn’t reciprocate his feelings and sadness made him seriously ill. On his deathbed, he called for the young woman several times to see her one last time, but she never came. “Please tell her that I don’t want to die, but Yago (God) is taking my life away. I’ll be always with her, I will ornate her head with perfumed flowers. I will frighten insects away from her. I will give fragrance to the water that her lips drink. I will go to heaven in the aromatic smoke during the Nareg ceremony. And I will be wherever she is and will give her whatever she asks for…” After these words, he was consumed by fever and died invoking her name. Where he was buried, a tree grew. Its wood had a soft fragrance. When it was burned it would release a deep, sweet aroma. It was the Palo Santo tree, the symbol of love and kindness. For its elevated value and nobility, the Toba people consider Palo Santo a sacred tree and call it Cosakait in honor of this legend.
While the growth of the tree is slow owing to hibernation in the dry season, it may live up to 90 years. It is important to note, however, that the wood of Palo Santo is of no use unless the tree has died of natural causes. As if protected by unseen magical forces, when a live tree is cut by human hands, its precious oils will not properly produce. A dead or fallen Palo Santo tree requires at least three years of a natural, alchemical process of decomposition before it fully releases it’s precious oil.
As Palo Santo grows in popularity, its natural populations become more and more strained. Greed and survival lead some harvesters and illegal poachers to overlook traditional harvesting methods. Live trees are cut, too much wood is taken from trees, and irreversible damage is often done. There are many governments in South America doing their part to protect these precious populations. There are also sustainability groups that offer their protection and help to plant new trees in reserves. Regardless, populations are still at risk. It is up to all of us, the consumers and suppliers of this wood, to do our part by knowing our sources. We must always be sure we are not causing harm, but supporting and promoting traditional sustainable efforts and harvesting methods.
Article By – Evan Sylliaasen
https://aromaticmedicineschool.com/palo-santo-holy-wood/
© 2020 The Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine. All Rights Reserved.
Lenora Connelly –
I would only get palo from Dan–I trust his sourcing!
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Retha Bayer –
They smell great out of the package and hope the same when burned. Thanks!
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Maurine Watsica –
I really love this Palo Santo wood. Burns beautifully and the scent is divine. Very happy.
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