Читать книгу Aromatherapy and the Mind - Julia Lawless - Страница 16
ОглавлениеThe fire is laid, the fire shines;
The incense is laid on the fire, the incense shines.
Your perfume comes to me, O Incense;
May my perfume come to you, O Incense.
Your perfume comes to me, you Gods;
May my perfume come to you, you Gods.
May I be with you, you Gods;
May you be with me, you Gods …
Utterance 269, Pyramid Texts1
The term ‘incense’ has been used in a variety of different ways throughout history. In its widest sense, it refers to a material which emits fragrant fumes by burning or vaporization. Often it indicates ‘smoke’, but it also implies ‘odour’. In ancient times incense was either composed of a single aromatic substance, notably frankincense, or was compounded of a variety of essential oils, gums, resins and spices. These were usually thrown on a fire in the form of a powder or granules, sprinkled on lighted charcoal to be offered upon an incense altar, or put inside an incense burner or censer, which could be held in the hand. Alternatively, the incense material was mixed with vegetable oils and possibly other ingredients such as honey, wax or fat and shaped into balls or cones which melted when exposed to heat, or applied to a person or the image of a deity directly in the form of an ‘unguent’ or oily perfume. In ancient times, there was in fact little distinction between incense and perfume. Indeed, the word ‘perfume’ is derived from the Latin per fumen, meaning ‘to smoke’. Any real difference between the two only developed, at least with regard to ingredients, as late as the fourteenth century in the West with the discovery of new alcoholic extraction techniques.
