Every resin on the altar is useless until something gives it heat: frankincense, copal and myrrh are just stones until they meet a live coal.
Origin & Traditional Use
Charcoal tablets are compressed discs of charcoal made to light quickly and burn steadily in a censer, a design that comes from church use, where incense is burned in a thurible. Quick-light tablets are impregnated with saltpetre so they catch from a match and spark across their surface before settling to a glow.
Uses by Tradition
Witchcraft & Folk Magick
- Loose incense: burn your own blends of herbs, resins and oils for any working.
- Herb burning: drop dried rosemary, mugwort or bay onto the coal for a quick cleansing smoke.
- Divination: watch the smoke rise for signs while scrying or reading cards.
Ceremonial & Occult Magick
- Planetary fumigations: burn the resin or herb of the planet on its day and hour, as the grimoires direct.
- Consecration: the grimoires call for tools and talismans to be passed through the smoke of a suitable incense before use.
A Simple Working
- Fill a censer or heat-proof bowl with sand or salt.
- Hold a tablet with tongs and light its edge with a match.
- When sparks run across it, set it flat on the sand.
- Wait until it turns grey and glows evenly.
- Add a small pinch of resin, such as frankincense or copal.
- Add more resin as the smoke thins, a little at a time.
- When finished, let the coal burn out and bury the cold ash.
Pairs Well With
- Frankincense tears: the classic resin for the coal.
- A brass censer: to hold and carry the burning tablet.
- Sand: to fill the censer so heat does not reach the base.
- Copal: a bright, clean resin for cleansing smoke.
Lore & History
Censing with charcoal and resin is ancient: Egyptian temple reliefs show priests offering incense from long-handled censers, and the Bible describes Aaron taking a censer full of burning coals to offer incense before the Lord. The swinging thurible used in churches today descends from these.
What You Receive
Round 33 mm quick-light charcoal tablets. Available as Three Kings in a foil roll of 10 or a box of 100, or as Swift Lite in a foil roll of 10 or a box of 80. Each pack is sealed against moisture.
Did You Know?
The Botafumeiro, the giant thurible at Santiago de Compostela cathedral, weighs about 53 kg and swings across the nave at up to 68 km/h.
| Weight | N/A |
|---|---|
| Option | Three Kings, 10 tablets, Three Kings, 100 tablets, Swift Lite, 10 tablets, Swift Lite, 80 tablets |
Related products
