Incense Business, Update

[trystinn]

Thought folks would get a kick out of how I'm wasting time while I consider business names. I've been inventorying the incense making supplies, organizing the cabinets and crafting a spreadsheet with all sorts of lovely information.

To date:
203 unique ingredients
274 ounces of ingredients
35 ingredients on order (some unique, some upping of stock)
66 additional ounces on order
12 ingredients to be wildcrofted by end of weekend

Among the various and sundry information blocks I've added are favorite suppliers and their prices.

Incense geekery, who knew?

Comments

[winterlion.livejournal.com]

Perfectly justified :)

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

You want true incense geekery, let me offer you the "Galangal was mistakenly translated for Calmus" debate among Abramelin incense/oil makers to confuddle you with.

Now, did Mathers mistranslate the French on purpose or on accident??? And if on accident, why did Crowley continue to use Galangal?

And why don't people realize that Cassia is Cinnamon and so place both on recipes for Abramelin incense/oil? Caveat: Both will burn your skin if not diluted to olive oil or similar suitable carrier oil.

Talk about purists!

[wild-heart.livejournal.com]

I want to come over and just breathe in your atmosphere.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

It almost covers the smell of dual bassets. Almost.

Think there's enough market for Abramelin Oil and Incense?

[dana3.livejournal.com]

The (ten years worth of experienced) accountant in me is properly impressed with your establishing a structure to maintain your costs and inventory. I've had it up to my ya-ya with newagers who have great ideas, great names and squat for records. Oh, and it's the night before taxes are due, of course ...

Cassia/Cinnamon -- not exactly interchangeable. And to people in Crowley's economic bracket, they would be different things. He could go to the sources!! He vacationed with/at the sources!!! Of COURSE he could get real cinnamon. He didn't shop at ShopRite, y'know. (Mathers ditto.)

Acorus calamus is not galangal. What reference are you talking about?

Oh yeah ... the occultist in me really appreciates people who know their stuff. ;D

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I hold an Associates in Accounting, not particularly useful in my former career as an English teacher but has always managed to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. Something the first year of teaching couldn't do - rent or food, not both. Which is why I went back to IT consulting.

The Cassia/Cinnamon statement was facetious. Going through suppliers trying to find Cassia Oil has been ironic and mind-boggling, vendors label it the same as they do Cinnamon Oil: Cinnamomum cassia. Argh. Will keep trying for true Cassia, if it can be found at a reasonable rate. I notice a few OTO Temples are offering $20-$30 per dram of Abramelin Oil, claiming to use true Cassia Oil - which doesn't bode well for reasonable rates. In either case, one would have to heavily dilute with carrier oil given the parts per listed for Cassia & Cinnamon oil, of course.

I've managed to collect almost a dozen recipes for Abramelin Oil - the differences between the pre-Mathers translations (citing Calamus from the original Hebraic) and post-Mathers (Galangal) are rather interesting. In either case, the Crowleyites appear to be evenly divided on which recipe should be used.

I'm experimenting with a recipe for home-made macerated & Hebraic/Abramelin pre-Mathers AO to compare AO from various sources including Lucky Mojo which probably has the most authentic AO at this time, to my knowledge. If you have a pipeline for such, please let me know. :)

To my thought, the Calamus will be much more pleasing to the touch and scent and knowing the Jewish preference for sweet smells - I'll probably go with that formulary.

[man-of-snows.livejournal.com]

You got any Storax lady?

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I've got Storax bark, no resin though. If you're planning to be up on the Island soon I can give you some, otherwise may I recommend www.somaluna.com ?

OT: OMGDRAGONMASTER!

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

You have Dragonmaster icons! I'm the only person I know who ever owned that game! I didn't actually play it all that often, but I used to pretend the cards were Tarot cards, and build all sorts of "magic devices" out of the little interlocking crystals.

Childhood flashback! :-)

Re: OT: OMGDRAGONMASTER!

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Yep, I've played it now with friends a few times and have managed to make the entire deck into icons. You can pick up a copy of the game fairly cheap on Ebay if you play your cards right.

Glad to see you, we've all been chatting about how I have to hire you to make a logo for my new incense website. I'm poor as all blazes, but would be willing to work out a substantial trade in incense if you're of a mind. *WEG*