Personal Narrative: I Cleanse My Athame

I decided to cleanse my athame, because I have had it for a long time, and I wanted to get rid of any old energies that it had accumulated. I began by making the incense. I used benzoin, cedar, and rosemary, because these are all good cleansing herbs, according to Scott Cunningham. I wanted to make sure that I included a resin, because I have the best success with incenses that contain some resin. I have a small food processor which I use to grind herbs. I know many people use a mortar and pestle, but I have found that doesn’t work for me, especially when grinding resins. The food processor works very well for grinding resins, though, and it grinds most other herbs as well. I used one part cedar, two parts rosemary, and three parts benzoin. I used less cedar, because I was using powdered cedar wood. Too much wood in incense blends, I have found, makes the end product smell too much like a campfire. I have even accidentally set off my smoke alarm (I combined red sandalwood, cedar, oakmoss, and jasmine flowers—and it took me nearly an hour to clear all of the smoke out of my place). I have found, though, that rosemary burns really well—I think because evergreen needles of all kinds burn well. Most resins don’t really burn at all—they melt. Resins and woods together work in a very complimentary fashion, and adding needles to the mix makes the end product even better.

I have a collection of glass jars I use for herbs, but I have special ones, with corked tops, that I can use for incense. I always label my mixtures as well. I called this one “Cleansing Incense,” and put the date on the label. Before I put the cork in the bottle, I held my hands over the incense and empowered it. I closed my eyes and envisioned a river, the water clean and bright, taking away all negative energy and letting it flow down to the