[Help] I can't light incense

[lumineth Realm Lord]

This has been an ongoing issue since I began doing this. Incense just will not light for me. I put it in an incense burner, light it with a lighter, and nothing. I put it on a piece of coal, and light the coal, and there's nothing. I get incense sticks, and they light up when I give an excess of fire. But the ashes dirty the altar mat. I use a bundle of sage, and it lights, but the more it blackens, the harder it is to light again.

I ordered some miniature pieces of wood online. They came today, but were too long. Basically, they were twice the height of my burner. I break a piece in half and lit them. They work, but the fire was too strong, and was really making smoke. So, I had to put it out with a mini extinguisher I keep in my room. My room is airing out right now.

This is very disheartening.

 

[FraterFraxinus]

You must be very unlucky with the stuff you try to ignite i guess. Never had any issues with anything other than bad selfigniting coal.

I also use ~20cm sticks of Palo Santo and i just light them, let them burn for a short time and then let them smoke for a short time. I either hold them in my hand for cleansing me/room or lay them on a piece of castiron deco leaf as incense, they smoke for a maximum of 5 minutes that way. probably waaay shorter, never measured it. You control the amount of smoke produced by the time you let them burn beforehand and how much you light up. i usually just do the top for about .5cm