Incense: The ’60s and Beyond
For most of us who grew up in the 1960s, it was an incredible formative period that we will never forget. For those who did not experience the decade themselves, but study it, are inspired by it, and continue to explore the veins of thought and spirit that first opened so many years ago, it was also a wonderful time. The hippie counterculture was born in the mid-1960s and continued to gain momentum until the mid-1970s, by which time it had apparently fizzled out. But the currents of time and popular culture preserved and carried certain accepted truths, belief systems, subcultures, worldviews, and philosophies from the 1960s throughout the years. So much so, that for many the 60s are still very much alive in many ways. One area is the New Age, holistic health movement that is essentially based on values and attitudes born in that magical decade, and one element of that belief system is aromatherapy. Like many of these elements, aromatherapy, the belief that a scent can change human consciousness, was born in the 1960s with the rise in popularity of incense.
A little story:
When the counterculture first flourished on the West Coast in the mid-1960s, incense was a little-known oddity used by some independent religious groups, some advanced folks, and of course the Catholic Church. It wasn’t a common thing to see for sale at any major department store or other commercial outlet, and it wasn’t easy to spot. What brought him to his first stage of early warning was the large number of travelers to the east. The religions and philosophies of India, Japan, Tibet, and China had become fashionable in the new movement, and it was a rite of passage for many to take a trip to the East, wander, and bring back some necessary items. One of these new needs was the incense made in these exotic lands.
Bringing it all back home:
As it became more widely known, frankincense began to appear for sale as an import in accessory stores and clothing stores in areas that had a sizeable hippie population. It was prized for its smell, the pleasure smoke gave when one was in an altered state, but above all for a property for which it had been used since time immemorial, to cover up other undesirable odors. These unwanted odors had in the past been the odors of humans in their massive unwashed forms. This is one of the reasons churches used the sweet-smelling resins that give off voluminous clouds of smoke; Of course, there were also other reasons. But in the 1960s, those who had started smoking marijuana had a problem: Weed smoke was pungent and revealing, and something to be wary of. One way to solve the problem was with strong incense that was imported from abroad. Soon, small brass incense burners and incense cones became part of the necessary equipment in the abode of any self-respecting drug addict. And in this way, frankincense acquired an undeserved and inaccurate image that it has never quite shaken.
What is that smell?
In the decade we call the ’60s, which really lasted into the early ’70s; you could walk into a flagship store, an imported clothing store, a comic book store, and various combinations of these, and enjoy the rich, sweet fragrance of incense. In the popular mind, it became associated with the use of illegal drugs, so much so that there are still those who are not quite sure that smell is not illegal in itself when they smell incense. Fortunately, as the ’70s progressed, the use of incense began to spread into more conventional homes and community spaces, so much of this stigma was lost. Instead, it has been associated with the New Age movement and its various permutations. The growth of aromatherapy allowed the market for incense to grow, and soon the product could be found everywhere, including in popular candle and furniture stores.
Some of the favorite fragrances available in that first decade of popularity were sandalwood, patchouli, jasmine, and lavender. These were the fragrances that floated in stores, apartments, and front porches wherever a group of counterculture followers were found, call them hippies, freaks, or adventurers. At first, these were simple recipes, but in the process of expanding their lines, incense makers like Nag Champ and Gonesh brought out more and more blends and made them available in incense cones and sticks.
What is it for?
As mentioned, one of the oldest uses of frankincense was as a cover-up for other odors. In churches and meeting places where pilgrims and travelers gathered after long periods without access to basic hygiene, it was useful to be able to light a brazier of odoriferous resins and drive away odours. Other uses of incense were symbolic (the smoke rising to the heavens reminded believers of the soul’s eventual ascent to its creator at death) and psychological and medicinal. For a long time it had been observed that fragrances had an effect on the human psyche, and this effect was accentuated in the 1960s with the use of certain psychotropic substances. All of these uses of incense were intensified and raised to a new level during the early years of its resurgence and use in the 1960s.
What has it come to?
These days, incense has largely outgrown its connection to 1960s drug culture, though there are still some lower socioeconomic groups who have that association in mind. Rather, it has become connected to the idea of holistic healing, higher awareness through the senses, and pure pleasure. The variety and quality of incense, both imported and made in the United States, is truly incredible. Along with the growth of online life and communication technologies, a subculture of incense hobbyists has emerged who collect rare and expensive products from around the world and review them alongside their less expensive examples for the many who love to read. About them. The result of the efforts of a few travelers and members of the counterculture in the 1960s to popularize these olfactory delights has been that they are easy to find, are of higher quality and have been divorced from the more negative ones. connotations
