Since time immemorial, the vast Amazonian jungle has been home to some of the best guarded secrets of popular wisdom.

The indigenous peoples of Amazonia have passed down this knowledge from one generation to another over thousands of years through their rich oral and shamanistic traditions. It is a well-known fact that the Amazonian rain forest possesses a dazzlingly array of fauna and flora, and that the natives have always looked to it for the provision of all their needs. To these inheritors of ancient wisdom, the origins of which are lost in the sands of Time, the Amazonian rain forest continues to provide not only the everyday sustenance of body, mind and soul, but also their healing, medicinal and spiritual needs. The Divine is only revealed to those who seek harmony by profoundly respecting and understanding the delicate balance of life in all its splendour, a concept that the Amazonian Amerindians have always understood and lived by.

This holistic approach to life has only in recent years begun to seep into the psyche of the Westernised World, which has seen fit to undertake the pursuit of happiness through a frenzied and misplaced quest for material well-being, more often than not, with complete disregard for Man’s innate need for spiritual harmony and growth and an intimate relationship with Nature, ultimately, the fundaments of a rich, fulfilling and healthy existence.

Aromatic plants have always been used for medicinal, culinary, spiritual and ritualistic purposes. Over the millennia, generations of shamans have accumulated vast knowledge of aromatic plants and their properties. Very often used in magic and sacred rites, such as healing and smudging, rite of passage and burial ceremonies, over time aromatic plants came to play a pivotal role in everyday life.

Incense was used in the home by our ancestors for protection against plagues and illnesses. This belief was not wholly unfounded.  In the not so distant past, herbal incenses were widely in use for their healing and antiseptic properties. These and other herbs were burned in sickrooms and hospitals before the discovery of antibiotics. Upon burning, natural incense frees molecules of essential oils into the air. These make their way through the olfactory system and the pores of the skin to the brain, where chemical processes take place which induce a sense of well-being and evoke positive emotions and recollections.

The smoke of aromatic plants, in the form of incense, is used to purify and sanctify and helps to relax, stimulate, harmonise and uplift energy levels. As it rises into the air, incense smoke is believed to connect Man to the celestial spheres!