Working with Decarabia: herbs, stones, birds, and incense for natural knowledge
Decarabia, herbs, stones, and birds
Decarabia is described in the Grimoire Companion notes as a Marquis who teaches the virtues of herbs and precious stones, and who commands the birds of the air. That is a description rooted in the natural world, and it is worth reading in that way, rather than as an abstract list of powers. Herbs have virtues: properties, uses, seasons, and ways of preparation that can be learned, tested, and recorded. Precious stones have virtues, in the traditional sense, as well: properties attributed to them, uses in workings, and a place in a practitioner's kit that is earned by study, not by purchase alone. Birds of the air are, in the traditional description, commanded, which is to say, in plain terms, that the natural world, in its living, moving form, is part of this work, not separate from it.
Before you light anything, be clear about what natural knowledge you are actually seeking. Are you studying herbs, for a working, for a bath, for an incense, or for general knowledge? Are you studying stones, for a pendant, a ring, or a working tool? Or are you trying to notice, and to learn from, the natural world around you, in a way that is more attentive than ordinary? Those are different petitions, and they should not be blurred together. Write the subject down in one sentence, and write what you already know about it, and what you do not yet know. That plain inventory is the beginning of natural knowledge, and it is the beginning of a Decarabia working that is honest.
Decarabia work, as listed here, is spirit work and spellwork with Decarabia, and this incense is made for that work. That is the specific purpose for this article, not generic spirit work. If you are working in the Goetia system, work from the instructions and teaching you already follow in that system. A general article like this one is not a substitute for proper teaching, and it should not be used to invent a purpose for a spirit you have not studied.
Incense is not background scent, and herbs are not just scent
Incense is not background scent for this work. It is part of the working itself, and for a Decarabia working that point has a second layer: incense is itself made from natural materials, and the herbs and resins in it are part of the subject of the work, not just a pleasant smell. When you light incense for Decarabia work, you are working with a natural preparation, in a room, for a working about natural knowledge. That connection is worth noticing, because it means the incense is not a neutral tool. It is an example, in miniature, of the very thing you are studying: a natural material, prepared by hand, used for a purpose, with an effect you can observe.
When you light incense for spirit work and spellwork with Decarabia, you are changing the room you are working in, and you are changing your own attention along with it. The smoke, the scent, and the act of lighting itself all tell you, in a physical way, that you have begun. That beginning matters, because a working that has no clear beginning often has no clear end either, and it drifts, and a drifting working is a poor place to study anything, natural or otherwise.
So treat the lighting as a step in the work, not as preparation for the work. Do it deliberately, name the purpose in your own words if that is part of your practice, and then give the room a moment to settle before you go on to anything else. Notice the incense itself, too: how it burns, how the scent changes over the working, how the room behaves. Those observations are part of learning the virtues of natural materials, in practice, not in theory alone.
Preparing the room, and preparing yourself
Preparation is most of the work, and with incense that is literally true, because the room is the thing the incense acts on. Clear the space you will use, physically, and set it aside for this purpose. Put away the things that pull your attention elsewhere. If you have a regular working space, use it. If you do not, choose one place and use it consistently for this working, so the place itself starts to carry the association. If your Decarabia work involves herbs or stones, set those out, too, in their proper places, before you light anything, so you are not fumbling for them afterwards.
Ventilation matters, in a practical sense. A room that is completely sealed will fill with smoke quickly, and a room that is wide open will lose the scent before the working is done. Find a balance that works for your space: enough air to breathe comfortably, enough containment that the scent remains present through the working. Open a window a little, or leave a door ajar, and see how your room behaves before the night of the working, not during it. A room that is too closed, or too open, is a poor place to notice subtle changes, and subtle changes are what natural study is made of.
Then prepare yourself. Bathe, or at least wash your hands and face, and change into clothes you do not wear for ordinary errands. This is not about looking a certain way for anyone else. It is about marking, for yourself, that this time is set apart. Eat simply beforehand if you can, and avoid starting a working when you are exhausted, drunk, or already agitated. A clear head is a working tool, just as much as incense or oil is, and a student of herbs and stones needs a clear head, because the differences between similar herbs, and similar stones, are often small, and small differences matter.
Why incense, and why this incense
Incense works in a room in a way that oil alone does not. Oil marks and anoints, and it stays on the skin or on a tool. Incense fills the space itself. It is present whether you are looking at it or not, and it is present for the whole working, not just at the moment you apply it. That presence is useful when a working needs time: time to speak, time to listen, time to sit quietly and notice what changes, and time to study a herb or a stone, in the room, while the incense burns.
The Decarabia incense offered here is hand made in the same way as the other incenses on this site. Each batch is hand made when you order it, unless a batch has just recently been made. The incenses made here are of a quality that Athena uses herself for magical work. They work well enough that she uses them successfully for spirit work, work for clients, as well as her own spellwork.
That made-to-order point matters here, too. It means the incense has not been sitting, opened and closed, through other people's orders. It is made for your order, and then blessed by Athena herself before it is sent out. No promise about what it will do for you is made here, only that it is made by hand, for this work, and not mass produced.
A simple working order, to adapt to your own practice
The following is a general order, not a fixed script. Adapt it to the system you already work in, and to the instructions you already follow for Goetia work. First, prepare the room and yourself, as above, and set out the incense, the burner, and any herb, stone, seal, or tool you will study or use. Second, anoint, if you are using oil, deliberately, naming the purpose in your own words. Third, light the incense and let the space settle. Fourth, speak your petition, clearly and once, rather than repeating it until it loses its shape. Fifth, sit quietly for a time and listen, and study, rather than filling every moment with more words. Sixth, close the working properly, in whatever way your practice requires, and put the tools away in their proper place.
Afterwards, write down what you did, when you did it, and what you noticed. Not what you hoped would happen, but what actually happened, in plain language. That record is what lets you tell, weeks later, whether anything changed, and whether that change had anything to do with the work. Note the natural materials themselves in that record: which herb or stone you studied, what you observed about it, how the incense burned, and how the room behaved. Those practical details are part of learning the virtues of herbs and stones, not a distraction from it.
If you are only burning incense to fumigate a tool or a seal for later use, that is also a recognised use in this kind of work: to start a working, and for fumigating the tools and talismans that will be used in it. Do that fumigation deliberately, too, passing the item through the smoke with the purpose in mind, rather than waving it through quickly and putting it away.
Keeping a record, and knowing when to stop
Keep a short record for each working: date, purpose in one sentence, incense used, herb or stone studied, what you did, and what you noticed afterwards, over days and weeks, not just on the night itself. If nothing changes, that is also information. It may mean the petition was unclear, the timing was wrong, the work was not appropriate, or simply that the subject needs a different approach, a better source, or a teacher.
Do not burn incense in a room where it is unsafe to do so, and do not leave a burner unattended. Use a safe burner, on a heat-proof surface, away from curtains, papers, and anything that could catch, and stay with it for the whole working. If you have sensitivities to smoke, test carefully, ventilate well, or choose a different form of working.
Do not repeat the same working endlessly in the hope that repetition alone will force a result. Do the work properly, once, observe, and then decide, calmly, whether a second working, a different approach, or no further working is the right next step. Repetition without reflection is not persistence. It is noise. Natural knowledge, like any knowledge, is learned by observation and record, over time, not by repetition alone.
Decarabia Goetia incense
I hand make Decarabia incense myself, in small batches, when you order, and I bless it myself before it is sent out. It is incense I use myself for spirit work and spellwork with Decarabia, not a bulk incense relabelled for the purpose. I make no promise about what it will do for you, only that it is made by hand, for this work.
If you want the incense for that work, this is the one I offer: Decarabia Goetia incense, $44 CAD. View the product
For the same work with Decarabia, I also make a matching bath, $44 CAD. The incense is for the room and the working itself. The bath prepares you before the working.
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