Submission Call: Spiritual Scents Anthology (Incense Alternatives)

[herald_mari]

Spiritual Scents, an anthology of incense alternatives

Theme: Alternatives to incense or scented candles for spiritual working.
Length: up to 7500 words
Deadline: November 1, 2011
Published: February 16, 2012
Format: Electronic and Print
Payment: A token advance of $10 per article. Once advance is paid out, our regular royalty rates will be split among all contributors. (Please see our regular guidelines for regular royalty rates.)
Rights: Print and electronic publication rights.
Reprints: Reprints are okay provided the author can prove all rights have returned to him or her. The work cannot have been published anywhere within the ninety days prior to submission.

From the practical concerns about fire hazards to health or allergy issues, there are many reasons why individuals cannot use incense or candles during spiritual practices. Since scent is such a powerful sense and one that can conjure up memories faster than any other, it’s important that this sense is involved in spiritual practice. There are plenty of ways to do this, which don’t involve the traditional incense and candles. I’m looking for essays ranging from first person accounts of working with alternatives to “how to” articles about creating your own variations on incense and candles in ritual.

It is my hope that the articles and essays contained within this volume will help those who cannot use incense or candles for a variety of reasons with a focus on allergies and health concerns, for themselves or their family members, including pets. (For example: Parrots have very sensitive respiratory systems and it’s best not to burn scented candles or incense around them, so in order to respect and help our feathered family members, we need to choose alternatives for incense and candles.)