Frankincense siftings resin

How to Use It

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

• Blending: siftings grind easily in a mortar, so they form the base of homemade loose incense blends for sabbats and spellwork.
• Quick smoke: a pinch on charcoal gives fast cleansing smoke before a working when you do not want to wait for a large tear to melt.
• Sachets: add a few grains to mojo bags, sachets and witch bottles for protection and blessing.

Ceremonial & Occult Magick

• Planetary incense: ground siftings mix evenly with other powders when compounding solar or planetary incenses from grimoire recipes.
• Temple purification: burned before and after a ritual to clear and seal the space.

Hoodoo & Rootwork

• Powders and oils: ground frankincense goes into blessing powders and is steeped in carrier oil for holy and blessing oils used to dress candles.
• Psalm work: burned while reading Psalms for blessing, protection or peace in the house.

A Simple Working

• Grind a tablespoon of frankincense siftings in a mortar until coarse.
• Add a pinch of dried rosemary and grind them together.
• Light a disc of charcoal and let it ash over.
• Sprinkle a small pinch of the blend on the charcoal.
• Walk the smoke through each room, opening doors and windows as you go.
• Store the rest of the blend in a labelled jar for future workings.

Pairs Well With

• Charcoal tablets: to burn the siftings on.
• A mortar and pestle: for grinding blends.
• Rosemary: a cleansing herb that blends well with it.
• Frankincense tears: for slower, longer burns.

What You Receive

Frankincense siftings, small granules and pieces of natural resin for burning on charcoal, available in 1/3 oz and 1.5 oz.

Origin & Lore

Siftings are what is left when whole frankincense tears are sorted: smaller fragments and grains of the same Boswellia resin. They burn exactly as tears do but catch faster and spread more evenly, which makes them the working practitioner’s choice for grinding, blending and quick burning. Frankincense itself has been burned in temples and churches for thousands of years to purify and to honour the divine.

The holy incense of the Tabernacle in Exodus was made from four ingredients, and frankincense was the one named “pure”.

Exodus 30:34 gives the recipe for the holy incense of the Tabernacle: stacte, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense in equal parts, and forbids making it for any other use. Siftings are a grade of the trade rather than a different substance; the same resin is sorted by size and colour, with the palest large tears fetching the highest prices.