Make Your Own Herbal Incense Bundles In 6 Easy Steps

One of my favorite ways of honoring the changing seasons and welcoming good energy into my home is with herbal incense bundles. As leaves start to fall and temperatures cool, it’s the perfect time to clear out the cobwebs and prepare my home for winter by lighting an incense bundle to purify and cleanse my space with its aromatic smoke.

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Smoke/Incense Cleansing

Smoke cleansing is an ancient practice that was used to cleanse and remove negative energies from a space or person.The great news is that this can be done with many kinds of dried herbs and plants!

Cedar, mugwort, and rosemary are all readily available and will do the same job as white sage. Cedar and mugwort are good for healing and protection as well, while rosemary has particularly useful purifying qualities. Try mixing different herbs to make your own personal herbal incense bundles.

Follow along for step-by-step instructions on how to make your own aromatic herbal incense bundles.

What You Need

What you’ll need:

Dried and fresh herbs or any aromatic woody shrubs such as cedar, mugwort, goldenrod, rosemary, thyme, or lavender. How much you use depends on how large you would like your bundle to be.
Cotton string
Scissors or small pruning shears

Instructions for Making Incense Bundles

Step 1

Decide on what herbs and plants you would like for your incense bundles.

Gather your herbs and plant material into a bundle. I went with cedar as the base and added a variety of wildflowers such as mugwort, goldenrod, red clover, black-eyed Susan, and mullein.

Step 2

Tie a secure knot at the base of the bundle using cotton string.

Step 3

For a tidy bundle of herbs, wrap the string toward the top of the bunch in a crisscross pattern and then wrap back down to the base. Be sure to cross tightly, but not so tight that you crush your herbs.

Step 4

Cut off any excess string or leave it a bit longer so attach to add a tag if you’d like. This is a nice touch if you are giving them as a gift.

Step 5

Hang your herbal incense bundle upside down in a cool, dry place for at least one week. This will allow the excess moisture to leave the bundle, ensuring that smoky goodness flows freely when it’s time to burn.

For most people, this means hanging the bundle in a closet or storage area, or any other dry location where there is plenty of air circulation.

Step 6

It’s time to burn your bundle.

A bundle works best when it is completely dry before you burn it, so while you’re waiting for it to dry, why not set an intention for it?

Setting intentions puts you in a positive mindset, which helps you get the most out of this magical practice. Setting an intention can be as simple as saying something like: “As I am about to burn this bundle of herbs, I think about the things in my life that I want to cleanse and release.”

The possibilities for what you can do with your bundle are endless. You can burn incense during rituals, ceremonies, spells and meditations. It can help to set a sacred space for whatever purpose that you have in mind. It can also purify energy within a space such as your home or office.

When your bundle is ready to be used, light one end over a bowl. Let the smoke waft around you for a moment, then put out the flame and enjoy the aromatic cleansing smoke.