The scent of the pre-Christmas season

At Christmas time, incense burning is on everyone’s lips. Many incense seminars are now being offered, and for some this has become an interesting and profitable business…

Here on the farm we also burn incense, not only during the Rauhnächte in the Christmas season. So it can happen, when the postman Markus comes or guests arrive, that a small cloud of smoke and special scents can be noticed in the Zittrauerhof and people smile. The herb witch Katharina is on the move…. Guests usually find it very pleasant and enjoy these special scents.

During the year I love the scent of rose incense or mixtures from the local forest – fir, juniper, mountain pine or other woods. Or in Advent even peppercorns, vanilla pod or dried orange peel as a special fragrance note. When someone is ill or guests arrive already sick or a flu wave is approaching, I do a weekly cleansing incense burning with juniper and sage, also burning the corners of the room, let the incense scent “draw” for some time with the window closed, and afterwards the windows and doors are opened completely and the “bad energy” moves (hopefully) out.

At an incense seminar by Naturgeladen in Bad Hofgastein, you can obtain excellent, high-quality herbal blends that you might not have in stock yourself.
Christmas time also means baking cookies—one of my favorite recipes here in my farmhouse stories—for those who are in the mood for a new type of cookie.
The Nutella cookies—good luck with the baking and have a lovely 3rd Sunday of Advent evening.

Katharina Schwaiger from Zittrauerhof