Satya Tree of Life: woody sandal incense from India
Tree of Life is one of the newer scents from Satya, the house that became known for Nag Champa. It leans on sandalwood: woody, dry and quiet, without the floral sweetness running through many of the other Satya boxes. That makes it easy to live with. It registers without taking over a room, and once a stick has burned down the woody note hangs around for hours.
Sandalwood plays a double role in these sticks. Ground sandalwood forms part of the masala paste that gets wound around the bamboo stick, and it is also the scent you end up smelling. Because that paste is applied by hand and then dried slowly, the fragrance comes out of the stick itself rather than from a film of oil sprayed on afterwards. A box weighs 15 grams and holds around 15 sticks.
Where this scent works best
Woody incense behaves differently from floral incense. It makes less of an entrance in a small room, but it holds its own where something else is already in the air: a kitchen after cooking, a study, a hallway full of coats. Plenty of people burn sandalwood in the evening or during meditation and yoga, precisely because it does not push itself forward. If you want something sweeter next to this box, Aastha or Jasmine sit well beside it; if you would rather stay with wood, Satya Sandalwood is the closest neighbour.
About Satya
Satya is the brand of Shrinivas Sugandhalaya from India, known worldwide for Nag Champa and still rolling every stick by hand. Light the tip, let the flame catch for a couple of seconds and blow it out so the stick glows quietly. Stand it in an incense holder or a small pot of sand, on a surface that can take falling ash, keep the room lightly ventilated and never leave a burning stick unattended. Alongside Tree of Life, Avalon Magic Plants stocks Satya scents such as Sandalwood, Palo Santo, White Sage, Jasmine and Aastha, plus holders to stand them in.
