Mastic

Mastic is a resin collected from the Pistacia lenstiscus tree, which has been grown on the Greek island of Chios for at least 2500 years. Mastic gum has many traditional uses for healing and wellness, and like most tree gums, it is antiseptic, antibacterial, and stimulating to digestion and metabolism.

Spiritually, Mastic has long been revered as an incense and is also an ingredient in chrism, the holy anointing oil of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the time that we have been working with it, we have come to rely on it for keeping our home and personal space clear of negative energy and entities, and we reach for it as an incense, Initiatic, and Ritual Oil almost every day.

As an Initiatic, Mastic’s clearing effects start with a deep, resonant thrumming sensation, almost the opposite of the clear, high note that the scent creates. A wave builds within the body and moves out, pushing away everything that is not the self. What is left behind is the feeling that everything good is in the immediate sphere of the body, and everything in that space is good.

This feeling of stillness and contentment is quite profound, and the embodied solidity it creates makes it easy to separate the physical and non-physical self for practices such as scrying, astral travel, and magickal action. Syrian Rue would enhance this effect.

At the same time, it’s also possible to sink deeper into the body with the energy, rather than leaving it behind, and here is found a very deep and ancient energy of stone-like stillness. For this direction, our Dragon Bone would be helpful.

This Spagyric is featured in my talk The Spirit in the Smoke: Sacred Resins and Initiatic Alchemy.