Palo Santo Sticks (3)

Palo Santo is Bursera graveolens, a tree of the torchwood family. Its aged heartwood is rich in limonene and alpha-terpineol, giving the sweet, resinous scent released when burned.

• Palo santo was considered a holy tree by the Incas and other Indigenous peoples of South America, as Paige Vanderbeck records in Green Witchcraft.
• Tradition holds that the tree gives its gift only after death, since the fragrant oils develop as fallen wood rests for years on the forest floor.
• Folk belief credits palo santo smoke with banishing troublesome spirits while welcoming good fortune into the home.