M
Madaglan
Guest
On burning incense in the home: how exactly does one prepare the charcoal? I bought a set of cylindrical pieces of charcoal. I lit a candle and held the piece of charcoal over the fire for about a minute. Suddenly, the charcoal piece started sparking like a firecracker and making sizzling sounds. I put it in the small censer I have, and about thirty seconds later put a few small chunks of incense on top of it, but the incense didn’t really burn too well. It melted and let some aroma out, but the charcoal piece stopped burning fairly quickly.
I tried again. This time I held another charcoal piece over the flame for several minutes, even after the sparking had stopped. The charcoal piece had turned a gray when I put it in the censer. The incense I placed on this burned and let smoke out, but it was very brief and even this charcoal piece never got hot enough to burn all the incense.
Someone told me that I should get the charcoal hot enough that it actually becomes red on both sides. Is this true? Also, what’s the deal with my charcoal piece suddenly taking hold and sparking? Does this mean that my charcoal piece is sufficiently heated? Or, do I need to hold it over the fire longer?
The censer itself became very hot when the charcoal was hot. The cross on the top of the censer was hot to the touch, as was the handle.
Thanks!
I tried again. This time I held another charcoal piece over the flame for several minutes, even after the sparking had stopped. The charcoal piece had turned a gray when I put it in the censer. The incense I placed on this burned and let smoke out, but it was very brief and even this charcoal piece never got hot enough to burn all the incense.
Someone told me that I should get the charcoal hot enough that it actually becomes red on both sides. Is this true? Also, what’s the deal with my charcoal piece suddenly taking hold and sparking? Does this mean that my charcoal piece is sufficiently heated? Or, do I need to hold it over the fire longer?
The censer itself became very hot when the charcoal was hot. The cross on the top of the censer was hot to the touch, as was the handle.
Thanks!