this sacred wood spent three years on a forest floor in northwestern Peru before it reached you. that's not a supply chain detail. that's what makes it what it is. the Incas burned this. shamans in the Andes still do. in Quechua, the language of these lands, they called it Sisaya, flower opening. the Spanish called it Palo Santo. sacred wood. both names hold truth. we gather only from branches that have fallen on their own, from the dry forests of Piura, ancient hills between the Pacific coast and the Andes. as the wood rests, the resin slowly crystallizes, forming the amber and gold veins you can see running through each stick. the deeper the veins, the richer the burn. this cannot be hurried. most Palo Santo on the market is harvested too young or from the wrong species entirely. Bursera graveolens belongs to the same botanical family as frankincense and myrrh. ours isn't a shortcut. light it when you need to come back to yourself.
