Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defender of Olympos, father of warlike Nike, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of the righteous men, sceptred King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aither wherein your blazing steeds ever bear you above the third firmament of heaven; hear me, helper of men, giver of dauntless youth! Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul. Restrain also the keen fury of my heart which provokes me to tread the ways of blood-curdling strife. Rather, O blessed one, give you me boldness to abide within the harmless laws of peace, avoiding strife and hatred and the violent fiends of death.

Household shrine to Ares. Onion flowers and peppers from the TAL garden. Ares incense compounded from yarrow, basil, and hyssop from the TAL garden, with dried ginger, myrrh, and dragon’s blood resin.

The plant grows to height of about 7 feet and in spring and early summer contains a milky juice. It is visited by numbers of beetles which puncture the stem and thus cause an exudation, part of which dries on the stem, the rest falling to the ground where it becomes mixed with stones and other impurities found in the gum collected by the natives. The gum resin is found in special cavities in the tissues of the stem, root and petioles of the leaves. The name of the drug is said to be derived from the Temple of Jupiter Ammon in the Libyan Desert where it was collected by the ancients. The gum resin occurs in commerce in two forms, tear ammoniacum and lump or block ammoniacum. The former alone is official in England and consists of pale yellow nodular masses varying in size from a pea to a walnut, brittle when cold but softens on warming, fractured surface, milky white or pale brown in colour. The lump ammoniacum, which is that collected from the ground, is used sometimes but is not official in medicine. The odour of the drug is slight, taste acrid and persistent.
– M. Grieve

Gum ammoniac is ruled by Jupiter (the planet), and is useful in rituals that honor Jupiter (the Sky-God), Zeus or any of his sons, Amun, or Zefs-Ammon. It is very suitable as an offering for any of these deities.

Gum ammoniac is one of the components used in an incense employed in protective magick of a Jupiterean nature: fortification of community and kingdom, benevolent rule, and just law. It can also be employed in rituals that create prosperity through expansion and as a countermeasure to Saturnian works. This resin can be burned to honor all of the archangels, but is sacred to Gabriel in particular.

It has been cited in Coptic texts adjuring the powers of the divine realm against malevolent, demonic forces, particularly during ceremonial evocation and invocation rituals:

Draw the four angels in front of the curtain of the father, while you are wearing a wreath of roses, with a branch of myrtle in your hand, with gum ammoniac in your mouth.

Offering; frankincense, storax, stacte. Nest; slay the six doves. Cinnamon; rose oil, charcoal from white wood; olive wood.
– Di alcuni manoscritti copti

Gum ammoniac is also the traditional adhesive used in gluing parchment and gilding with gold leaf.

Agrippa recommends the following recipe for Mars incense:
For Mars, take ephorbium, bedellium, gum ammoniac, the roots of both hellebores, the loadstones, and a little sulphur; and incorporate them all with the brain of a hart, the blood of a man and the blood of a black cat.

It has a pungent, peculiar aroma when burned on its own, and it sticks with ya.

Pine for the Yule incense.

Lettuce flowers from the TAL garden. Governed by Luna. Used primarily in spellwork that cools tempers and libidos.

I’m my own best guinea pig. As some of you know, I’m quitting smoking for the eleventybillionth time. This is a little something I made to help me push through this: Hojari frankincense, Sumatran benzoin, Argentinian hyssop, wild harvested white sage, and organically grown peppermint leaf, with Indonesian Daemonorops draco, black pepper, and sweet cinnamon from Madagascar because I punch through problems best with FIERY!MARS’ness.

Calimyrna figs soaking in Mavrodafni, forming the base of a Hellenic love and attraction incense. I shaped this recipe around one found in Papyri Graecae Magicae. Guggul gum, white truffles, coriander, tamarisk sap, myrrh, frankincense, rose water, honey, and saffron will be added to the goop.

Because I’m classy like that, I’m just going to tell it like it is: this incense is made for fucking. I don’t even want to use a cutesy word there because ‘fucking’ really is the only one that fits. There’s no romance here, no flowers and candy; this is raw, shameless, bestial bacchanal maenad/satyr sex in a jar. Use it in rituals to increase your libido, to spark and rekindle sexual attraction, to strengthen sexual bonds, and when you just really want to get laid. Outside of ritual work, this incense can be burned in the bedroom to create a tremendously passionate atmosphere.

There is a very strong Earth-Mars influence in this blend. It was created under precise ritual circumstances to further increase the strength of the blend. Only five have been created due to the immense amount of energy it takes to create this incense correctly. (I kept one for myself. Heh.)

Twilight Alchemy Lab’s Arousal 7 incense contains herbs that are organically-grown and pesticide-free, and the oils within the incense are all first distillations from small farms. Several of the components of this incense were grown in the TAL garden.

Cranking the Mercury incense at work today. Helps combat a Muddybrain Monday.

Clearing Incense. Includes hyssop, cedar, sage, angelica root, ginger grass, and frankincense.