This by far is the most prized of all incense, in its purest form; it is worth more than its weight in gold! It is an evergreen tree growing up to 100 feet high. It bears snow-white flowers, sweetly scented. These trees are native to Northern India, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Anytime from a few months to several years after an Aloes tree has fallen, a fungus begins to grow upon causing a dark resin to form within its heartwood. This permeated heartwood is then harvested for incense and medical uses. Only through a natural death will the resin form, and the older the tree, the greater the prize. The resin created as an immune response makes the most sacred oil on the planet from the decaying heartwood of a tree that has fallen countless centuries ago. As you can see the wood is extremely rare and often very difficult to obtain, as well as being quite expensive.

        Used medicinally, it is a remedy for nervous disorders such as neurosis, obsessive behavior, and exhaustion. Aloes is highly psychoactive and is effective in bringing us into a closer communication with our Spiritual side. Therefore, many religious groups prize it as meditation incense, bringing the energy to the center and calming the mind and spirit. It also has the ability to regress us back to difficult stages in our lives for the purpose of facing our fears and healing old hurts. Aloes is held to be a very powerful aphrodisiac, in many cultures the women would imbue their clothes as well as themselves in the fragrances of it. 
        In Ayurvedic medicine it is used to treat a wide range of mental illness and to drive evil spirits away. In Japan it is used to anoint the dead and serves as a major ingredient in many Buddhist incense mixtures. In Buddhism, it is considered one of the three incenses integral to Buddhist practice, together with Sandalwood and Cloves. It is easy to get caught up in its power just from a small wisp of its extremely enrapturing aroma. The first sensations gradually change from a faint sweet smell to being overcome by this uncontrollable feeling of peace and relaxation. As my Mother said the first time that I burnt a piece for her, "No wonder why you monks are always smiling!"
Article written by: Vajracarya Daijo

• "...Soft, soft I have made my bed, spread it with embroidered tapestries of Egyptian wool; freshly scented is that bower of mine with Myrrh and Aloes and Cinnamon. Come, let us lose ourselves in dalliance, all the night through, let us enjoy the long desired embrace..."
   

• In "The Song of Songs" Solomon says: "What wealth of grace is here...no lack of Spikenard or Saffron, of Calamus or incense tree, of Myrrh...of Aloes or any rarest perfume."
   

• In Psalm 44, verse 9 it says (of the king): "The garments are scented with Myrrh and Aloes and Cassia..."
   

• King Louis XIV of France had his shirts washed in rose water in which Aloes wood had been previously boiled.
   

• The Indian poet Kalidasa once wrote: "Beautiful ladies, preparing themselves for the feast of pleasures, cleanse themselves with the yellow powder of sandal, clear and pure, freshen their breast with pleasant aromas, and suspend their dark hair in the smoke of burning aloes."

"The Incense Road" -- Vajracarya Daijo & David Oller

David Oller

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