Burning incense is an important part of the home and energy cleansing ritual. Whether you’re trying to recenter yourself at home or you simply want to eliminate an unpleasant odor, incense sticks can be put to use by anyone. But between jasmine, lavender, and even lemon, what do each of the incense scents mean and when should you use them?
Here are 36 incense scents and what each represents.
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Individual Incense Scents
Individual scents are scents that only come from one source. Each scent focuses on one main aspect, but it may branch into other sections. Scents can also be open to interpretation.
1. Lavender
Lavender is a cleansing and healing smell. It is potent and because of lavender’s use in sleeping aids, it can be great for use before bed. Aim to burn a quick-burning lavender at night when you’re feeling restless and sleep is hard to come to you.
2. Lemon
Lemon is energizing and meant to help invigorate you. Burning lemon incense in the kitchen is recommended, as it can help give the kitchen that lemony scent that represents a clean kitchen. It can also help motivate you to get through the dishes that may have been piling up.
3. Nag Champa
Nag Champa is the most widely used incense in the world. It is actually a specific type of sandalwood, called Mysore Sandalwood. Nag Champa is meant to help recenter and refocus on what is going on in life. If you have schoolwork or a big work project coming up, burning Nag Champa can help bring you back to where you need to be. Burn the incense wherever you find yourself working the best.
4. Jasmine
Jasmine can be another invigorating scent. But rather than cleaning the dishes, you’ll feel more inclined to create. This can mean painting, a new side project, or whatever the heart feels is right. Let the energies guide you and burn this scent whenever you need a creative boost.
5. Clove
Clove is a cleansing tool for those that need help focusing. Rather than being a scent that directly targets you, it will often target the negative energies associated with the unfocused feeling and move those energies away from you. Burn clove whenever you find that your studying and working space is under attack by negative energies.
6. Amber
Amber is burned to increase sensuality and romance. It is perfect for when you want to fill the air with a sense of love and vitality. Burn Amber when you want to set the mood in your house for a fun night. Burning in the bedroom is recommended.
7. Cedar
Burn Cedar when you find negative energies in the air. If you find that there is negative energy looming over the house, be sure to burn Cedar to open up the air in the house again. Burn wherever you see the negative energy building up the most.
8. Sandalwood
There are other options for Sandalwood beyond Nag Champa. Lighter Sandalwoods can have a more cleansing and erotic scent, compared to the centering effect of Nag Champa. If you’ve experienced something upsetting, burning Sandalwood is a great option to bring peace of mind.
9. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a scent rarely used, but highly effective in the right setting. Those that are starting a new business venture may find that Cinnamon can help with increasing the feeling of success. Burn Cinnamon when you need a boost in optimism.
10. Bergamot
Similar to citrus, Bergamot can be burned to increase alertness in the house. This is perfect for those days where you find yourself with brain fog and unable to dial in on the work that you need to do.
11. Eucalyptus
If you’re finding the air a little dusty and claustrophobic, you should burn Eucalyptus. This scent is meant to help with breathing and decreasing the negative energies that can reside in or on our chest.
12. Frankincense
Another extremely common scent, Frankincense is used for protection and expelling negativity. If you know you have a stressful event coming up that can lead to negative outcomes, burn Frankincense beforehand for extra protection. It is also a potent purifying scent, so feel free to burn it after the stressful event is over as well.
13. Ginger
Ginger is another romantic scent. It can be perfect for the bedroom when you want to increase sensuality. If you find yourself needing an extra boost to get in the mood for you or your partner, consider burning this one if they’ve had a bad day at work.
14. Lemongrass
Lemongrass is great for burning outside, because of its ability to repel certain insects. It is great for those working in an outside environment and want extra help with concentration and remembering all that you’re learning or working on.
15. Myrrh
Myrrh can be used to help reduce strains in friendships and relationships. It is a healing and cleansing scent, so if you’ve found yourself at wit’s end with someone, consider burning this scent before they come over or before you talk to them.
16. Pine
Pine is a seasonal scent, meaning that it works best during the winter and fall compared to summer and spring. It offers a cleansing scent that can also bring warmth to the house. Consider this for setting a homely vibe during the cold months.
17. Patchouli
Patchouli is a strong scent of incense that is burned during meditation. It helps create a calming and peaceful aroma that can take over the home. If your entire family and home feel stressed, try burning some Patchouli.
18. Vanilla
Vanilla is another lustful scent. It is a perfect compliment after a nice dessert or night out to set the mood. Vanilla is also good for feeling safe so if you don’t want to go all out, you can create the perfect cuddling scent.
19. Ylang-Ylang
You should use Ylang-Ylang when you’re feeling down on yourself and need a confidence boost. The scent focuses on the brain and the need to look at the world’s positivity, rather than drowning in sorrow.
20. Coconut
Coconut is a strong scent that should be burned to create a relaxing feeling. It is good to burn before you go on vacation, as the scent also carries protective properties. This can be important when you’re traveling to places you’re not familiar with.
21. Dragon’s Blood
Dragon’s blood incense is a powerful scent that focuses on enpowering and vitality. You may find it’s also suitable for increasing passion in certain areas as well. Burn this incense when you need encouragement to tackle powerful tasks such as working out or having alone time with your partner.
22. Chamomile
Chamomile incense is a purifying incense used to help clear ones mind. People who burn chamomile incense will often burn it before bed to help give them some peace to help fall asleep. Another common reason to chamomile incense is when you’re trying to meditate, as it allows the brain to stop wondering and relax.
23. Green Tea
Similar to the tea you might drink often, green tea incense is used to increase alertness and awareness throughout the day. If you find yourself unable to process information in a day or you’re falling asleep at your desk in your home office, consider burning some green tea incense.
24. White Sage
White sage incense is one of the most powerful negative energy cleansing incense out there. If you have a spiritual space in the home or find your home with a lot of negative auras, it’s best to burn white sage incense. If you can’t handle the abundance of smoke from smudging with white sage, you should also consider burning white sage incense.
25. Palo Santo
Palo Santo incense is a spiritual incense used in ceremonies and rituals. This incense holds quite a bit of value in Central and South American rituals. If you’re looking to cleanse a spirutal room or you’re coming up on an important day in your religion, you might want to burn some Palo Santo incense.
26. Rose
Rose is another incense based around the feelings of love and romance. There’s a reason why you find this scent in the undertones of perfumes everywhere. Beyond the romance scene, people also tend to burn incense when they’re looking to experience certain dreams.
27. Juniper
Juniper is an incense that takes a different approach to healing and purifying. Those who have recetly dealt with bad luck or feeling as if the world’s against them might find juniper incense beneficial for pushing through the negative thoughts and energies that come with these incidents. While it might not break your bad luck streak, you may find yourself with the strength to keep moving forward.
Mixture Incense Scents
Not all incense sticks are made as individual scents. Often, scents compliment each other to create very specific feelings or amplify the notes within each individual scent.
28. Relaxing Combinations
You can try a combination of Patchouli, Cedar, and Myrrh to create a scent ideal for relaxation. The goal is to get everyone in the house chilled out, and with patchouli being great for calming, cedar eliminating negative energies, and Myrrh helping with relationships, it creates a perfect balancing act of relaxation for the home.
29. Meditation Combinations
Trying out combinations like Sandalwood, Lavender, and even Vanilla can bring you back to your center during meditation. The Sandalwood helps with the centering, the Lavender acts as a healing solution, and the Vanilla offers a safe space. All of which come together to help the mind relax and help someone during meditation.
30. Sensuality and Romance Combinations
Vanilla, Amber, and Ginger are great for combining to help set the mood. The Vanilla creates a safe and welcoming environment, the Ginger, incites energy and gets you going, and the Amber is good for comfort afterward.
31. Energising Combinations
Use a combination of Lemongrass, Lemon, and Eucalyptus to give you the energy to get things done around and out of the house. The lemongrass will be used to help focus, the Lemon will be the invigorating scent, and Eucalyptus will give you the endurance you need to get through the day.
32. Refreshing Combinations
Refreshing scents refer to the scents that come together to eliminate odors the best. This combination would include Lemon, Coconut, and Bergamot. They all come together to create a powerful scent that eliminates odors that might be overwhelming the house.
33. Rain Combinations
Rain scents refer to the feeling of rain washing away the negative energies surrounding your life. You’ll find rain scents are lighter and will range from a Patchouli aroma to a Lemongrass aroma. There are multiple rain scents to cater to your specific need, such as First Rain of the season to wash away everything that happened over winter. To Fortune Rain, where you’re looking to strike it big and need a spiritual boost.
Location Incense
Location-based incense are incense that help invoke the feeling of a certain location, such as the forest or the beach. People will use location based incense as the aromas help them achieve a peaceful state, as these areas hold great importance to their souls and spirits.
34. Forest
Forest incense invoke the feeling of being surrounded by trees and greenery. If you love national parks and hiking through mountains and find it brings you peace, you might want to try burning some Forest incense to help your home feel more like the Great Outdoors.
35. Ocean
Ocean incense invoke the feeling of hearing the waves crash and even the sound of seagulls flying up above. If you love staring out into the sea or sitting underneath the sun and smelling the salt from the ocean, you should consider burning some Ocean incense.
36. Rain Forest
The Rain Forest incense combines the cleansing effect of the rain with the tranquility of the forest. If you love the sound of animals scurrying and calling and dew drops falling from leaves, you should consider burning a Rain Forest incense.
Get Creative With Your Scents
Don’t feel like you’re limited to just this list when it comes to scents and their meanings. You can create your own combination that specifically targets and create feelings and emotions.
Whatever you choose, just remember that incense does involve smoke and fires. Be sure to keep them away from anything else that is flammable and to always properly dispose of your ashes when you’re done.
Let us know your favorite scent and combinations in the comments below!