Incense / homeopathy....

Over the years our use of incense in live rituals has often been noted, the ingredients vary, initially the recipe was based on one to invoke Beleth, a demon from the Goetia, as He is a great patron of the arte of musick: “ Bileth is a great king and a terrible, riding on a pale horsse, before whome go trumpets, and all kind of melodious musicke”.  Frankincense was a major ingredient. This was to be used in a church, and I also obtained some pigs blood (not purely gathered in any sense, but as desecration/insult was the object, no matter) which was duly spat upon the altar. I think what I realised was that what began as a simple ‘dirty’ gesture, became more a re-consecration, its own holiness. I instinctively loved the ‘red crystal’ scent of frankincense, pure and resinous, yet with an indescribable tang of animal musk underneath, and this led to the use of two other ingredients that share this quality, red amber and dragons blood. Also our own scents, and those of the animals that we love and belong to (Felis, and Mustiladae) share this ‘flux of unclean cat’ quality, simply we are drawn to them, and them to us.

And it was in this time (2008) that Samantha mixed her ‘Plenilune’ incense, containing her blood, a small amount of which has always been added to the incense used at shows. So as ingredients are added, there has always been a residue from the previous batch, providing a continuity, and as the percent of the original declines, it becomes homeopathic, less obvious, but possibly more powerful,a microcosm that can effect change in the macrocosm, as above, so below (and again this links to the ‘temple within a temple’, maps of Gondal, model villages, baby train layouts, the camera obscura in Powell and Pressburgers ‘a matter of life and death’ (and also their creation of ‘tibet’ in black narcissuss) all obsessive (re)creations of dream kingdoms via symbol, model, ‘token’.)

Further inspiration came from these observations, by the Great Beast, from 777:

For he not only suggests, but shows his way of being suggested ‘upon’ by external stimuli. The opoponax we use came from Mama Creepy in Tennessee, resembles a big bag full of meteoric ore/desert waste and has become a major ingredient in the Musick Ritual. We shall be mixing a big batch soon, using all of the above, and some other choice ingredients (and trace elements), ready for our show, a Cold Spring special night, with Tunnels of Ah, Iron Fist of the Sun and Khost at the Deaf Institute, Manchester on July 23^rd, and to be included as an extra ingredient for the release of a special Stiff Opposition Cdr, entitled ‘Military Temples’ which will be available here, and nowhere else, in the next few weeks. Thank you…