Many people have asked us
"how is Spiritual Sky Incense made?" Well, here it
is - our secrets are out J
The History...
Rod Allan has been Spiritual Sky's Master Incense creator for
well over 25
years.
He started learning the basics in Australia, & it was soon discovered he had
a real flair (& nose!) for it. He has always been a great chef, using smell
to find the right herbs & spices, but this time, he was using oils & perfumes! Rod
traveled India & learnt nearly all there was to know about
ancient oils & perfume combinations & soon excelled at his job. When a
managing position became available within Spiritual Sky New Zealand, Rod,
Saila & then 1 year old Lila, moved back to his home town. Years later, Rod now owns
Spiritual Sky & continues to create exquisite Incense, Cones, Oils &
many other products for beautiful places & satisfied customers. It is
amazing to see him at work, either creating delicious new fragrances, or
re-creating old favorites.
How it's done...
Incense
comes to us in bundles of non-perfumed sticks, called Punks. (the tan
colored incense stick without color, closer to Rod's hand) Punks are made with a
stick of bamboo in the center & soft wood pulp around the outside.
Sometimes the wood pulp is made from pure Sandalwood; these are very precious
& can also be dear! We use some pure Sandalwood sticks, but mostly prefer to
use the plain sticks, simply because not all fragrances like being mixed with
Sandalwood! These incense sticks are free from all nasty chemicals &
artificial scents - we burn so much Incense in our Home & we want the Best! J
We source & create the pure oil combinations for each fragrance.
The fragrance goes through rigorous testing methods before being offered to the
public - what a fun job this is! Then we dip the raw Incense punks (as above)
into the oil mixture, leaving them to soak & absorb the beautiful
aromas. 'Jasmine' is being dipped in the above picture.
The Drying Process...
The now delicious-smelling Incense sticks are placed on soft wire racks
& left for at least seven days to dry & mature completely. A
slightly wet incense stick won't have had the chance to breathe, it can be too
strong, or the fragrance immature. Our Incense is designed to mature &
last, otherwise it's not good enough! You can see the bundles of dipped
Incense in the background of this picture, while Rod is holding the now dry
Jasmine sticks. By the way, the workshop this photo is taken in is
situated in the middle of a country farm. Just outside is green grass
& trees, very few neighbors and little noise. However, whenever
visitors come, they always comment on the amazing smells wafting around &
then "the tour" begins! J
The Packaging...
The now dry Jasmine Incense is needed urgently for orders - it
could
even be yours! One bundle is selected, the string is cut & our
expert counter/sorter gets to work. The sticks are counted into bundles of
20 perfect sticks, while the "baddies" are either used in the house or
around the farm, especially for occasions like barbecues.
The 20 sticks are placed (by Lila in this picture) in a see-through plastic bag (see picture), which
"holds" their scent for months & protects the beautiful packaging.
These bags are now inserted into the packets, safely packaged up & sent out
- as simple as that!
We totally enjoy our job - how many get this kind of peaceful living,
with lovely aromas, creativity, & nutty times? J
We hope you've enjoyed the Incense making process, & please feel free to
email us with any queries or comments at: info@spiritualskyincense.com
Thank you!
"The day that you were born, Everyone would have been laughing, and
only you would have been crying. Live your life then in such a way, that
when you die, only you will be laughing, and everyone else will be
crying."
