Harmala Incense

[Prima Materia]

Greetings!

We had a little bit of a discussion regarding this topic in this thread and since it's off topic I have decided to make this one instead.

Recently I have developed interest to start exploring and working with P. harmala seeds as incense. Having put some seeds on to a glowing amber to burn them and fumingate the rooms I was surpised with a quite unpleasant aroma similar to burning of the cannabis seeds, a smell reminiscent of burning something rich with protein and fat. Interestingly I've got only positive experience with roasting P. harmala seeds on a pan so far getting a pleasant nutty and coffee like aroma/taste. Also this is a new batch of seeds which I have not tested in any other way so far, and also it's my first time putting the seeds on a glowing amber. Some members have also expressed a general liking of the P. harmala seeds aroma therefoe I wish to ask:

Should I mix the P. harmala seeds with other incense such as frankincense or something similar to obtain a more tolerable aroma? Maybe I have put to many seeds at once onto an amber? Or I don't quite enjoy the aroma of burning seeds?

I wonder, how do you perceive the P. harmala seeds as incense in terms of aroma descriptors, and how do you generaly like to work with the seeds to obtain a desirable effect regarding this practice of fumingation?

Thank you.

 

[northape]

I use charcoal disks for my incense. The price differs, and once I bought disks meant for Greek churches very cheaply.
When it comes to rue, I powder it together with Palo Santo in a 1:1 ratio. Palo Santo was the incense that I used in my first rue ceremony, so it has a lot of meaning for me.

The smell is not unpleasant, but it's different from common incense. Palo Santo adds its own vibe and notes to the smell. They work very well together for me, but I doubt that many use this combo. Frankincense tends to burn on charcoal, and powdering it makes it a bit easier to work with. I use it sometimes after the rue. Frankincense gives off a very high vibration and connects you with celestial realms. Using incense in medicine ceremonies is a must, imo. It's a tool to cleanse the space, protect it, and welcome spirits. Spirits love clean vibrations and come easier to such a space. Rue is very unique in this regard: it forcefully cleans the space, similar to how curanderos would use tobacco. Its vibration is very high, and everything heavy gets as far away from it as possible. Rue is a family and home plant, so cleansing your house with it gives a very good living environment.

However, if you yourself harbor a lot of heavy energies (guilt, hate, you name it), rue could create a very unstable and shaky space for you. It's trying to balance you and get rid of your demons.

After using rue incense in ceremonies, it has a special place in my heart, so I'd never consider its aroma unpleasant, maybe very potent, but not unpleasant.

Edit: I used to test people depending on how they reacted to rue smoke. If they were okay with it, I'd consider them sane and healthy

 

[dithyramb]

Mixing with frankincense is a very common way to do it.

Rue incense is not about an obviously pleasant aroma. Get to know the energy, the feel, how you feel after inhaling it, or how a room feels when it is fumigated with it. Pharmacological effects and the effect on the energetic field always go parallel to each other. Rue brings lightness and love. It is anti-inflammatory and antidepressant. Very surprising anecdote from me: fumigating my lower back with it actually heals my chronic lower back pain for a while. Anti-inflammatory effects? Fixing the energy body? You choose from which dimension you want to see it. There are traditional healers in Iran who are claimed to heal all illness with rue smoke.

 

[Prima Materia]

@northape @dithyramb Thank you both for taking the time to reply with more explanations, views and experiences. Much appreciated!

However, if you yourself harbor a lot of heavy energies (guilt, hate, you name it), rue could create a very unstable and shaky space for you. It's trying to balance you and get rid of your demons.

I used to test people depending on how they reacted to rue smoke. If they were okay with it, I'd consider them sane and healthy

That's interesting. I guess the Harmala is giving me a nice reality check. For sure I have my issues that need more attention. The space created with the smoke was not shaky or unstable which I take as a good sign.

Very surprising anecdote from me: fumigating my lower back with it actually heals my chronic lower back pain for a while. Anti-inflammatory effects? Fixing the energy body? You choose from which dimension you want to see it. There are traditional healers in Iran who are claimed to heal all illness with rue smoke.

To be honest I find Harmala to be working on so many different levels from gross to subtle therefore I have no doubts of your claims. The experiences of working with Harmala in general so far have been deeply revealing and healing for me, opening me on new levels. The fumingation work is something I'm aware of from the very start of my work with Harmala but have not explored it yet. Extrapolating from my previous experiences is telling me that there is gold in the fumingation as well.


I have been doing a bit of this incense work with seeds since the first post and have found it to be less unpleasant compared to the first time. I have been able to notice different aromas that I'm not yet able to describe. The feeling of produced smoke has not been repulsive, rather a more inviting, teasing me to explore further with deeper concentration. I still get some of the slightly burnt feeling but it has been less. I have been puting less seeds at once to the charcoal with hopes to minimize the burnt feeling. As has been suggested I put some frankincense after the harmala and the results have been great! Further sugestions for combinations are welcome.

I'm looking forward to explore this harmala/frankincense combination with a dose of psilohuasca at home, to hopefully dive further with it.

I'll be reporting more on my experiences with harmala fumingation here and I also welcome others to join in the discussion.

 

[dithyramb]

Harmala + frankincense smoke is wonderful for any medicine work. It will make you feel calm, safe, clean, and at home. Rue is in energy the home plant for me, and it seems there is a very nice cultural symbol that reflects this: in ancient Egypt it is the plant of Bes, the god of home. İt brings the frequency of safety, cosiness, and intimacy.

You can actually notice these vibes in it's aroma as you get familiar with it. A friend told me it reminds him of "grandma's house." Well, a lot of grandmas (including both of mine) traditionally smudge homes with rue while praying and inciting sacred texts, there's that also.

 

[Transform]

As has been suggested I put some frankincense after the harmala and the results have been great!

Nice to hear that you like it, that combo was one that seemed obvious to try from the start once I'd begun burning harmel, if only because I was already a firm fan of frankincense by then.

 

[murklan]

Love the sharing about smell and incense and psychedelics! I've been into smells and the olfactory system for quite some time. And also psychedelics, but with quite little overlap. Strange enough. But I almost always use scents when I'm taking a psychedelic (sage smudge, incense, essential oil). But not with much care, I choose intuitively and don't focus on meaning or further use of scents during the trip.
Well, that is except on stronger psilocybe trips when I can have a hyperactive sense of smell. It's like all habituation on odors gets removed and I can smell how everything 'really smells', including my own smell(s)

I love Rue and use it quite often, but seldom burnt. I will get into that more! I have all needed and are now using embers from the stove under a layer of ashes and then some incense. I have a wonderful incense from japan of sandal wood shavings and others that I use to get when I was traveling (Middle East, East Africa, India, Russia etc.).

Edit: Here is what it is called. Hyperosmia is an increased olfactory acuity (heightened sense of smell) .

 

[ommani]

Well, that is except on stronger psilocybe trips when I can have a hyperactive sense of smell. It's like all habituation on odors gets removed and I can smell how everything 'really smells'

I’ve experienced this too. Back in 2019, when I was living in a city, and semi-regularly taking stronger doses of psilocybin, even lower doses would trigger the smell sensitivity for me. One day, I took around 300mg of mushrooms and walked to the nearby art museum to check out the Monet exhibit that was happening there. After exiting the museum, there was an undeniable smell of sewage that was present everywhere in the vicinity. It was a trippy experience to smell the city, as it really is, which I wasn’t able to do, otherwise…

 

[murklan]

Yes trying to not wander off to far from the thread but I think the sense of smell are otherwise relatively unaffected by psychedelics. It least for me. It's mostly this heightened state, no 'smell hallucinations' that I can remember, also not for the sense of taste. Not that I have played with it a lot..
I wonder why that is, or if its different between people. I been enjoying smells and the power of then quite different of other senses. The olfactory signals reaches the orbitofrontal cortex without a relay through the thalamus, unlike other senses.

 

[TheGreenPhantom]

Reading the last two posts, I just suddenly remembered the time when I was 18, smoked grass and went to the nearby park one sunny Saturday afternoon. At this time, I was pretty much vegan, as I was broke and didn't have the money or even the desire to eat meat. Anyhow, when I got to the park, everyone stank. Kids, grownups, old people – everyone stank of rotting flesh. Even the pretty girl in tight white pants with long, curly brown hair.

I think this is one of the reasons why Buddhist monks are forbidden from eating meat or garlic – it makes your body stink and distracts others and even yourself from accessing a transcendental meditative state.

Odor is an important component of consciousness.

 

[ommani]

This thread has inspired me to order a cast iron incense burner, along with some charcoal, and frankincense. I already have plenty of rue (give thanks) and look forward to exploring this combination.

I presume that the increased smell sensitivity elicited by psilocybin would go well with the medicinal qualities of burnt rue and frankincense, which I look forward to exploring in the near future.

 

[Prima Materia]

Recently I've explored harmala seeds (incense) combined with frankincense on a dose of psilohuasca. On the verge of the peak experience I've prepared the fumingation. The produced smoke and enjoying of it's aroma evoked deep and special feelings in me. There was clarity of thought and mind. The smoke calmed me down even further, evoked a sense of home and safety and enabled me to accept the psilohuasca experience in it's fullness. There was a certain oriental feeling to all of it.

My next psilohuasca exploration will be with the same dose, again employing harmala+frankincense incense combo and most importantly with the intention to relax, focus and immerse in the experience even more.

Greetings to all.

 

[northape]

The smoke calmed me down even further, evoked a sense of home and safety and enabled me to accept the psilohuasca experience in it's fullness. There was a certain oriental feeling to all of it.

That's the feeling. Rue incense fulfills tobacco's role and even more. I used it in extremely sketchy situations, and it gave support even then. I'm so glad that more people are starting to embrace traditional methods. Happy travels

 

[(:Hulius:)]

Hello Nexus,

I too have recently started working with harmel fumigation, and I think that it's the most powerful way of connecting with this ally.

It's lighter on the system compared to ingestion, less side effects and interaction with foods, pharmacologically active in mere seconds.

I have still to wrap my mind around the actual duration of the change of consciousness, as it seems to me that if done in the morning, the feeling lasts all day. I've tried tracking it with spice, a la vaporhuasca, and I've found that changes its effects strongly for the first ~ 6 hours, then slowly spice's effects return normal, but sometimes even the day later they're a bit stretched.

One noticeable side effect that I've encountered is that if the fumigation is too intense or repeated too many times during one day, the following morning my mood is really bad, and I feel nervous and angry. This feeling goes away during the day, but it has to be taken into account if one has difficulty regulating his own mood in a normal mindset.

I've encountered a similar mood swing using oral harmel brews for consecutive days and in my opinion fumigated rue is superior because the "harmel blues" resolves in less time.

I usually pair it with myrrh, sprinkling it on shisha coals, like Northape.
This way the smell takes sweet notes and reminds me of churches and temples, monks, prayers, sacred.
I've tried adding some salvia officinalis too and it diffuses a soothing and calming aroma, opening the airways even more.

The most wonderful gift it gave me is that it tamed a rhinitis that both me and my mother had for most of the past summer. I had almost forgot how tastes and smells feel from june to september.
Only by inhaling the smell coming from the burner calmed all the itching of nose and eyes and stopped the excessive mucous production and made tastes and smell come back!!! After a few days of doing it all the symptoms subsided and now we're breathing normally.

Furthermore I think that it helps cleaning the airways, as I've noticed that some minutes after the fumigation mucous comes from the lungs and my breathing gets better.

I think that it potentiates smell and taste too, as I've found effects similar as those listed by Murklan, leading to hyperosmia.
Not always a positive thing since when I'm in such a permeable state I found that smells hit even harder on emotions.

The smell of fumigated rue remembers me of food, tranquillity, calm, home, kitchen, earthy and warm, loving and hugging with a soft touch. It makes my house feel more like my home. As if there was a big chimney warming it.

Oh what a Wonderful Ally!

 

[Transform]

Hello Nexus,

I too have recently started working with harmel fumigation, and I think that it's the most powerful way of connecting with this ally.

It's lighter on the system compared to ingestion, less side effects and interaction with foods, pharmacologically active in mere seconds.

I have still to wrap my mind around the actual duration of the change of consciousness, as it seems to me that if done in the morning, the feeling lasts all day. I've tried tracking it with spice, a la vaporhuasca, and I've found that changes its effects strongly for the first ~ 6 hours, then slowly spice's effects return normal, but sometimes even the day later they're a bit stretched.

One noticeable side effect that I've encountered is that if the fumigation is too intense or repeated too many times during one day, the following morning my mood is really bad, and I feel nervous and angry. This feeling goes away during the day, but it has to be taken into account if one has difficulty regulating his own mood in a normal mindset.

I've encountered a similar mood swing using oral harmel brews for consecutive days and in my opinion fumigated rue is superior because the "harmel blues" resolves in less time.

I usually pair it with myrrh, sprinkling it on shisha coals, like Northape.
This way the smell takes sweet notes and reminds me of churches and temples, monks, prayers, sacred.
I've tried adding some salvia officinalis too and it diffuses a soothing and calming aroma, opening the airways even more.

The most wonderful gift it gave me is that it tamed a rhinitis that both me and my mother had for most of the past summer. I had almost forgot how tastes and smells feel from june to september.
Only by inhaling the smell coming from the burner calmed all the itching of nose and eyes and stopped the excessive mucous production and made tastes and smell come back!!! After a few days of doing it all the symptoms subsided and now we're breathing normally.

Furthermore I think that it helps cleaning the airways, as I've noticed that some minutes after the fumigation mucous comes from the lungs and my breathing gets better.

I think that it potentiates smell and taste too, as I've found effects similar as those listed by Murklan, leading to hyperosmia.
Not always a positive thing since when I'm in such a permeable state I found that smells hit even harder on emotions.

The smell of fumigated rue remembers me of food, tranquillity, calm, home, kitchen, earthy and warm, loving and hugging with a soft touch. It makes my house feel more like my home. As if there was a big chimney warming it.

Oh what a Wonderful Ally!

Great anecdote about sorting out rhinitis there - I recently sorted out air-pollution induced sinusitis with some rue smoke and a couple of pinches of the powdered seed as snuff. Starting up a regular fumigation practice is now at the top of my list - subject to approval from Mrs. T…

Is there any advantage to having the perforated lid? I only have a small cast iron pan for the moment.

 

[(:Hulius:)]

Hi Transform,

I'm planning on keeping my fumigation practice regular too, as I think it has more secrets to share.

About the perforated lid, it allows a bit of airflow that keeps the coal alight, especially when you move or shake the container.
Most importantly it keeps the hot seeds from jumping all over the place and leaving a mess.

I really like that little burner, I've found it at a thrift shop while I was looking exactly for it. It depicts a rue flower too on its top!!

 

[Transform]

Hi Transform,

I'm planning on keeping my fumigation practice regular too, as I think it has more secrets to share.

About the perforated lid, it allows a bit of airflow that keeps the coal alight, especially when you move or shake the container.
Most importantly it keeps the hot seeds from jumping all over the place and leaving a mess.

I really like that little burner, I've found it at a thrift shop while I was looking exactly for it. It depicts a rue flower too on its top!!

Awesome, I'll have to take a look in the middle eastern shop for something like that, or maybe have a go at making a lid for my
pan since I do have a workshop of sorts. Looks like your lid is brass, at a glance?

 

[(:Hulius:)]

I think that it's made of copper or an alloy of copper and brass.

 

[Transform]

I think that it's made of copper or an alloy of copper and brass.

Brass = copper + zinc
Bronze = copper + tin

Both alloys may contain other metals in lesser quantities to adjust their properties. (Even plain copper for pipes contains additional metals to harden it a bit.)

Your lid is most likely to be brass on grounds of cost, but it might be a low-zinc variety because of the intended use with heat. Then again, if I were to be choosing a material specifically for this purpose, I'd prefer bronze. It makes me wonder in some surprising detail about your object, its history, and the people involved in its manufacture!

 

[(:Hulius:)]

Right hahaha brass is already an alloy, I realized it after posting

As you said it could be low in zinc, the whole burner is made of the same material and the colour is more similar to plain copper than the opaque golden of brass.

Why do you say bronze could be better? less heat generated byproducts?

It is indeed a fascinating object, I often think about who may have owned it before me and if they knew about esphand, or if it was made exactly for the purpose of its fumigation, since the flower on top, if it listened to prayers and what kind of spirituality has it encountered in its existence. Glad to have it with me.