Guest guest Posted May 10, 2002 Report Share Posted May 10, 2002 I have been reading the posts about Nag Champa and I think a little clarification is in order regarding the origins of this fragrance. The fragrance sold by various FO suppliers as " Nag Champa " is based on one particular, highly popular brand of incense from India, " Sai Baba Nag Champa Incense " . (India, of course, having a tradition dating from antiquity of burning incense for devotional purposes.) Sai Baba (aka Satya Sai Baba) is an Indian Guru with a large international following. It would seem to be fair to say that his movement is a Cult with a capital C. The incense is the only commercial product to which he has lent his name. {Here ( www.global-perspectives.com/aroma/nag/ ) it is stated: " This product, besides being the largest selling incense in the world, is the only commercial product that the living Avatar, Sai Baba has ever lent his name to. " Another site ( http://www.1sticknagchampa.com/ ) also claims it is the world's most popular incense: " Original Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa Incense, made with all-natural resins, gums, flowers, and oils. Simply the most popular incense in the world! Handmade in Bangalore, India. " } You will never see a list of ingredients on the original incense, as it is highly proprietary information. Champaca flower surely has to do with how it got its name, but its scent is far more resinous than floral. It would be hard to duplicate with the EO's available to us in the West, as there are so many exotic oils that are never exported from that part of the world. I witnessed some of the Sai Baba phenomenon first hand while I was in India, where many Westerners travel to pay homage to him, but it only takes a simple Google search to reveal some of the controversy surrounding this self-proclaimed reincarnation of God on earth, the least of which are faked " miracles " over many decades, and more serious being many decades worth of allegations of sexual abuse and pedophilia, similar to the allegations facing the Catholic priesthood at this time. For further reading about these issues, visit: http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2001/07/25/baba/ and http://www.uni-giessen.de/~gk1415/sai-baba.htm (warning, this is somewhat disturbing/explicit news reporting.) Here's a look at the Guru himself and some of the movement's official info: (http://members.aol.com/introsai/) Sorry to be so pedantic, but I'm sharing this info. simply so that if anyone is offering Nag Champa FO scented products, they understand and are able to answer any questions about its origins. Sai Baba is certainly an unsavory character, as far as I'm concerned, but that doesn't necessarily mean that duplications of the scent of his incense shouldn't be enjoyed... -- Gillian Re:nag champa At 12:19 AM 5/6/02 +0000, you wrote: >Yesterday I bought some Nag Champa incense from a local store that has >nothing to do with toiletries. I loved this scent even more than the >fragrance oil. Nag Champa is (as I understand it) sort of a 'descriptive name " rather like " Rain " ...a lot of companies sell Rain fo's...all slightly different... if you have a list of the components, you might just try blending your own until you achieve a blend that you love.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 10, 2002 Report Share Posted May 10, 2002 In a message dated 5/10/2002 11:49:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, nan@... writes: > but sure don't want to feed any money to the cult! > why is it considered a cult? The pope has many followers that perform rituals and incense burning.......are the catholics also a cult? Just wondering. Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 10, 2002 Report Share Posted May 10, 2002 Have been following this thread with interest -- sincerely appreciate the detailed update about this fragrance I'm now dying to try..., but sure don't want to feed any money to the cult! thanks bunches! ~nan in kansas Re: Nag Champa, its Cult origins ... I have been reading the posts about Nag Champa and I think a little clarification is in order regarding the origins of this fragrance... >>>>>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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