HIGH DESERT ESSENTIALSWELCOME TO THE HIGH DESERT (this page is under construction) (more pictures coming)
Inhale the enchanted dry infusion of desert and air into your soul while your eyes embrace the wide open vistas dotted with islands of sprag juniper, surrounded by cascading sage, and crowned by majestic pinon. The landscape is an artist’s easel painted of mystical earth tones from a living, breathing brush. The sky appears as the creation of a desert goddess who lofted into the heavens pure fire and blue ice. Drifting from morning to dusk, season to season. Mild winters marked by an occasional white, clumpy frosting on the tapestry of the land. Warm summer days that gracefully surrender to the cool, crisp nights. Massaging the inhabitants, both creature and vegetation. A land so vibrant it rears children of the same soul. The plants and trees of the high desert are distinct in their way. Sage blankets the desert with its velvet green mass. Nothing empties the cognitive mind as a walk through a misty sage field after a rain soaking storm. Pinon extends its limbs and cones as an offering to mother earth. Its sweet fragrance permeates the air and kindles questions. Juniper flaunts its sacred purple fruits from its knotty green fingers. Pungent and awakening, it stirs life. HIGH DESERT ESSENTIALS CREATES INCENSE FROM THREE DESERT DWELLERS. PINON, DESERT SAGE, AND JUNIPER. TOGETHER THEY BRING FORTH AN AROMA ONLY FOUND IN NIRVANA. HAND GATHERED 100% NATURAL INGREDIENTS. GROUND PINON RESIN, JUNIPER NEEDLES, AND SAGE LEAFS. I PLACED THEIR ESSENCE IN A FORM THAT YOU CAN ENJOY IN YOUR OWN ABODE. I CHOSE TO PRESENT OUR INCENSE TO BE BURNT IN A BOWL WITH A RICE ASH BED, AN ANCIENT TIBETAN STYLE. THE FAMILY Pinon (pinus edulis) eatable pine. It is recognized by its needles that appear in twos joined at their base. A ten foot tall tree may be 80 to 100 years old. These beautiful dark green pines live long lives, possibly 800 years. In ancient times the nuts were collected by cultures as a food staple and are prized today by gourmet chefs. With the nuts taking three years to mature pinon trees usually produce a good crop every 5 to 7 years. A single nut may contain 20 calories made up of 50%fat,25% carbohydrates, and 25% protein. The tree releases a enchanted resin when it is attacked by bugs or cut. Just a amazingly sweet pine scent that is very distinct. This sticky substance is collected for incense and salves. In 1962 Kirk Douglas starred in “Lonely are the Brave”. One scene finds Kirk contemplating his next move and resting his horse under a pinon tree while he eats a few pinon nuts out of a cone. Pinon is the only tree to have a bird name after it, the Pinon Jay. High Desert Sage (artemesia tridentata) Three tooth sage. This sage is a low brush bearing a three “toothed” leaf. Desert sage covers much of the high plateau of the western United States. Sage is burnt in “smudges” to purify and drive out bad spirits. Native cultures believed that objects wrapped in sage were purified. Sage is burnt in “smudges” to purify and drive out bad spirits. This sage has a vibrant, colorful smell that sings when the warm rains of summer come. This isn’t the sage your mother cooked with. Artemesia is named after the Greek goddess Diana, who oversees the hunt and whose symbol is the moon. Juniper (juniperous scopuiorum) A magnificent tree with dark green needles and a stragled bark that appears to cling to its mother. It can be found as a desert hermit or mingling with pinon trees, sometime their trunks intertwined. They are the perfect desert dwellers since their leaves (needles), which they retain all year, are reduced to tiny, waxy scales covering their twigs and small branches. Their fruits, fleshy purple or blue cones that resemble berries but are actually cones, have one or several seeds inside, and are coated with water-retaining wax. The cones ripen in their second season, so two generations of cones may occur on the same tree. Juniper berries are what give gin its distinctive taste. Beginning 2,000 years ago the Anasazi created a civilization with these trees. They built homes, fed, clothed, and warmed themselves with Juniper. Slow growing, rot-resistant and pleasantly fragrant, junipers' twisted wood is used for everything from fence posts to firewood. Native Americans use the juniper needles and berries for medicinal purposes. The berries are strung to make ghost bead necklaces and bracelets, which are worn to keep evil spirits at bay. Pungent juniper is burnt during ceremonies THE STORY One winter I was mountain biking in the desert since the snow was low and the rattlesnakes were hibernating. Tan, vast and fast, the desert was inviting. Mesas and vistas with sage, yucca, cacti, roadrunners, and occasional coyote. Subconsciously each adventure was speckled with the thought of dots of “scrubby” shrubs whose solitary lives were rooted in the arid desert sand. One day I rode up to one of those shrubs, a bit curious about the humble nomad and discovered a tethered, twisted trunk supporting green, pungent needles that were reaching out to me. Purple “berries” embedded in its branches with their curvy white lines appeared like tropical fish swimming amongst the coral. I rubbed a few of the needles between my hands and an aroma burst forth that opened another world for me. That Juniper tree (which appears in the picture at the top of this page) presented me with a few of her needles and berries as a reminder of my experience. That winter of 2005 I, creator and owner of Sandia Soap took those gifts and stirred the desert air. I searched the high desert for her essence and found it in juniper, desert sage and pinon. Then the journey took me on a quest to find an honorable way to present her to the world. My incense is that present. A pure natural gem that carries the essence of the high desert with each use. I also captured its brothers in four soap bars and a sage mist. You can find them with the incense on my web store page. I hope you will find one of my creations that will quench your heart’s “thirst“ for the desert. HIGH DESERT ESSENTIALS was born from an unconscious thought. Probably one that seeps into the dreams of anyone who has journeyed into this paradise. |
