Frankincense
Emotional Qualities:
Frankincense (serrata) is for clarity in the presence of feeling, not relief from it. The opening is sharp enough to cut through; the dry-down stays long without ever sweetening. It does not soften a difficult feeling or make a hard truth easier, but it does not push the feeling away either. Some people find it suits the moments when a feeling needs to be held steady rather than dissolved, when a question can be held without rushing toward an answer. Contemplative without being precious about it, the scent steadies the emotional climate of a room rather than easing it.
Comparison with Similar Scents:
Frankincense vs. Myrrh
Myrrh is heavier and moves more slowly, with a bitter and earthy body and a slight animalic undertone in the heart. Frankincense is lighter at every stage: the opening sharper, the heart cooler, the dry-down drier. Myrrh sits in a room; Frankincense clears the air above it. Myrrh is for the room that holds an old weight. Frankincense is for the room that has just been cleared.
The two share a clean-wood character in their dry-downs, but they arrive there from different places. Cedarwood opens warm in the wood with a forest-floor earthiness, builds into a sweeter resin at the heart, and settles slowly. Frankincense opens sharp at the pine-citrus top, stays dry through the heart without sweetening, and only arrives at the wood at the end. Cedarwood holds its character throughout. Frankincense sharpens, then cools, then clears. Cedarwood suits the room that has settled; Frankincense suits the room still in the act of settling.