About

Botafumeiro

The Thurible

There are two kinds of reality: that that is objectively true, and everything else, i.e., that which resides in the eye of the beholder. But how can that be? How is it that different eyes – or minds – behold different realities given the same set of data? And when benefited by objective truth, why does one often adopt the attitude, to wit: “Don’t confuse me with facts – my mind is made up?”

A thurible (also known as a censer) is a vessel, inside of which is a bed of hot coals onto which incense is placed, the smoldering of which generates a fragrant smoke. Traditionally, incense has been variously used by eastern and western religions for thousands of years for purification, reverence, and to symbolize the rising of one’s thoughts or prayers. The modernist uses of incense are manifold and include aroma “therapy,” because it smells nice, to mask the odors of failed culinary efforts (or socks), and as a tacit indictment of normal metabolic processes.

Here, The Thurible will serve as a vessel onto whose hot coals I will place data that permeates the ether in manifold permutations. The smoke that rises therefrom will be real. The topics addressed herein will be those that reside within the extremes of the mundane to the spiritual that I randomly captured at any given moment. The Thurible will not be a source of recurrent refrains, themes, or debates; it is not a social medium.

Consider, learn, and enjoy.