[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

 

[Rlb2525]

There’s more than one way to imbue the air. Have you tried burning resins over your coals? You could boil a pot of water with whatever inc and let the steam act as your fumigation, you could use an oil lamp, or lamp berger which burns isopropyl with alcohol and then you could infuse that corresponding herbs/essences/essential oils.

When I use coal for incense I light the coal first, then add my incense once the coal is heated throughly. If I use stick incense? I typically use the bottle method, light it, and then hanging the stick upside down inside a glass bottle so all the ash falls inside.

 

[Nagaram]

An Essential Oil diffuser is essentially what @Rlb2525 is talking about with boiling incense. That's really all incense is, a stick of scented oil.

Arguable a scented candle is a two for one depending on your goals. I use that in my portable altar I take with me when I travel.

 

[ashlesha]

I use Japanese stick incense placed in a bowl of salt, which catches all the ashes and just needs a change every 4-6 months. The japanese incense burns lighter, doesn't have the thick smoke, and is usually a little shorter, so maybe that would work better?

My favorite brands are Shoyeido and Morning Star!