Recipe for making incense in the Carmel of Lisieux
Text contemporary with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
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Balms
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Eight days before making the incense, take a jar holding three ounces. Place inside two ounces of storax, one ounce of tolu balsam, balsam of Peru. Fill the jar ¾ full with distilled spirits. Shake it 3 or 4 times every day. When it is well steeped, add an ounce of storax and ½ ounce of tolu and even more of both if the mixture is still too liquid. This mixture should be like very thick syrup. |
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Amber / musk
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Eight days as well before making the incense, take a jar holding about (?) ; place the amber and musk in it; add wine. |
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Galipot
turpentine resin
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Boil 2 pots of water in a saucepan. Gently drop a handful of Galipot in. After boiling for a moment and it begins to form on top of the water, skim off with a ladle what has been purified on top. In general, it’s enough when it forms a foam on top. Throw it in a big earthenware pot of cold water which you prepared in advance. Let it cool and when it can be molded easily with the hands, make it into little flat cakes that you will put to cool and air dry on a paper or a board. The galipot can be prepared the morning of the day it will be used or long time in advance. When you want to make your incense, grind the amount you need in a mortar. |
How to make incense
Put in a big jar :
Red sandalwood------------------------------1 pound
Balm prepared as above --- 2 ragout spoonfuls
Amber and musk as prepared above - 2 teaspoons
Rosemary essential oil-----------------------5 ounces
Crush with a mortar and pestle so that the dampness is even and without lumps.
Add the Galipot prepared as above------------10 ounces
White sugar, ground or put through a sieve---6 ounces
Crush it with a mortar and pestle and add :
Frankincense, ground, in drops----------------2 pounds
Cuscurille in powder-----------------------3 ounces
Benzoin, ground, in drops-----------------------1 pound
Sental citrin -----------------------------------1 ounce
Myrrh in powder--------------------------------12 ounces
Crush it again until it is well mixed.
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Put it all through a sieve with medium sized holes. Place everything that went through the sieve into a pot and spread out the lumps that didn’t go through on a piece of paper. Dry them and when they are well dried, grind them in a mortar. Put them through a sieve and then place them in the pot with the rest. Leave the incense prepared like this for 5 to 6 days in a pot that is hermitically covered so that the balms don’t evaporate. Take care once a day to stir well and knead a little so that it dries without forming little lumps. In about 5 or 6 days, weigh it and put in in jars or paper bags. The glass jars must be well sealed and covered with double paper on top of the cork. The bags must be double bagged and tightly closed. If ingredients are purchased unground that need to be ground, they must be ground and put through a sieve with fine holes before use. Only myrrh can be used that has gone through a large holed sieve, but it must be ground and put through a sieve. |