70 – Sacred Scents
A weekly blog of Creative Ideas for Leading Worship
Sacred Scents
Creating Prayer Stations with Everyday Aromas
We are used to seeing and hearing in church. We occasionally taste at Communion. Sometimes we touch water, oil, or fabric. But we almost never focus on the sense of smell.
That’s a missed opportunity.
Scent is immediate. It bypasses conscious thought and goes straight to memory, emotion, and embodiment. One whiff of cinnamon can take you to childhood kitchens. A trace of eucalyptus can clear your head and sharpen your thinking. Used thoughtfully, scent can deepen prayer without adding a single extra word.
Here is a simple, practical idea: create four prayer stations around the church, each built around two or three easily obtained spices or essential oils. Keep it gentle. One dominant scent per station is enough.
Label clearly the name of each spice or oil and what it symbolises so people understand the theological intention.
Station One – Lament and Honesty
Use: Frankincense, Myrrh, Cloves
Place a small bowl of resin or a diffuser with diluted oil. Add a short printed prayer of lament from the Psalms.
Frankincense symbolises sacred space and the prayers of the people rising. Myrrh carries the weight of suffering and mortality. Cloves add depth and gravity.
Invite people to sit, breathe slowly, and name what feels heavy: personal grief, global injustice, unanswered questions.
This station says that sorrow belongs in worship. It has a smell. It has substance. It is not rushed away.
Station Two – Repentance and Renewal
Use: Eucalyptus, Rosemary
These are easy to find in supermarkets or pharmacies.
Eucalyptus symbolises cleansing and fresh air. It clears the head and lungs, just as repentance clears the heart. Rosemary traditionally symbolises remembrance. It invites us to remember who we are meant to be.
Provide a small branch of freshly cut rosemary. Invite people to pick one or two small leaves and crush them between their palms. Breathe in the smell and pray: “Create in me a clean heart.”
This station is about reset. It smells like starting again.
Station Three – Creation and Grounded Faith
Use: Patchouli, Coriander seed, Ginger
These earthy, root-based scents remind us we are creatures of soil and breath.
Patchouli symbolises the richness of the earth. Coriander carries a warm, citrus lift, suggesting biodiversity and abundance. Ginger brings energy and life.
Place a small pot of soil or native plant beside the spices. Invite people to pray for rivers, forests, farms, oceans. In Aotearoa, this could include specific local ecosystems.
Let the smell remind us that theology is not just abstract but earthed in our land.
Station Four – Celebration and Resurrection Hope
Use: Lemon, Sweet Orange, Lavender
These are bright and accessible oils.
Lemon symbolises new beginnings and clarity. Orange carries joy and generosity. Lavender softens and calms, suggesting peace at the heart of celebration.
This station works beautifully near a window or candle. Invite people to give thanks for signs of life: reconciled relationships, community projects, personal breakthroughs.
It smells like morning.
Notes
Don’t mix too many competing aromas in one space.
Connect each scent clearly to prayer. Without interpretation, it is just a nice fragrance. With intention, it becomes embodied theology.
We worship with our bodies, not just our minds.
Let’s breathe in that truth.
Ngā mihi
Philip