The legalization of cannabis has led to a surge in the number of head shops in the Rocky Mountain State as well as in California, Oregon and many other places. If you own a head or smoke shop however, it can be difficult to decide what to stock other than the obvious cannabis products and various vehicles for consuming them; including rolling papers, bongs, vaporizers and the like. But there is one other thing that goes with cannabis use like flowers go with a spring day: incense. Aficionados of the herb love incense the way they love salty snacks. So if you want to provide the customers in your shop a chance to make some impulse purchases nothing outside the buds themselves is likely to move faster than the wholesale incense burners you purchase from Paykoc.

Incense Burners: a Brief History

The oldest incense burners date back to China in the first millennium BC. Over time they came to be known a “hill censers” and were comprised of a shallow pan that had a container to hold incense at its center. There was a removable lid that was perforated to allow the incense vapors to escape and the entire thing was intended as a kind of compact representation of Daoist Islands of Immortality.

Over time the censer evolved into what we would more readily recognize today as an incense burner. That being a pot-like device without the plate under it and a lid that allowed the burning incense to drift out into the space. But at the same time the censer was taking on a more standardized form artisans also got busy taking the incense burner in new creative directions that included animal and plant motifs in the design. Among those motifs was the dragon, which our wholesale incense burners are the direct descendants of. Certainly by the time of the Yuan Dynasty the dragon motif had become a staple of incense burner design.

The Ancients

Perhaps not coincidentally the spread of the incense burner correlates roughly with the use of cannabis as a means of obtaining a pleasant “high”. Indeed there is evidence that about the same time Chinese artisans were crafting their hill censers others in China were burning hemp seeds presumably for its mildly intoxicating effects. And they weren’t alone.

It was also at about the same time that ancient Greek scholars were writing about how the Scythians - ancient Persian nomads with loose connections to the people of the Mongolian steppe and northern China - used cannabis for recreational purposes. The Scythians were also known to enjoy incense. And indeed burners for incense have been found in many of the graves of the Scythian upper crust. So where they, like the Chinese, some of the earliest cannabis fans to discover that weed and incense went together like peas in a pod?

The Influence of the Church

Certainly in the West incense was historically most closely associated with church rituals rather than with those seeking a way to augment their buzz with some righteous atmosphere. But as recreational marijuana use became widespread during the 1960s and 1970s incense sales along with sales of incense burners also increased. And indeed one would have to be blind not to recognize the pseudo religious, almost sacramental aspects that accompany much recreational marijuana use today. So it’s only natural that the two would accompany each other into the brave new world of legal cannabis.

Incense as Mask

In the past the US market for wholesale incense burners had more to do with the purported ability of incense to serve as a mask for the otherwise very distinctive musky smell of high quality cannabis. People would spark up a doobie and spark up some incense at the same time. This way neighbors, the landlord or even parents would be blissfully unaware that someone was imbibing in a bit of the bud.

At least that was the theory. In reality, parents and neighbors caught onto the attempted misdirection about 3 days after it was tried for the first time. But the practice persisted for so long that it reinforced the already historic relationship between hemp/cannabis and incense. Today, even though folks in 10 US states including Colorado no longer need to burn incense to cover up their activities they burn it anyway because the two just go together like burgers and fries.

Don’t Bogart That Incense Burner My Friend

Buying incense burners wholesale from Paykoc for your head shop or smoke shop is a common sense decision. As common sense as making sure your burger joint offers fries as well. Incense burners have been part of cannabis culture for some three thousand years and it’s an association that isn’t going to end any time soon. Maybe it’s because incense, like cannabis, has a communal component to it. Maybe it’s because there’s a kind of aromatic kinship between the two. Or maybe it’s all been one big coincidence.

The fact is that stocking your smoke shop or head shop with some of our beautiful, hand crafted dragon themed wholesale incense burners is a smart business decision that’s right in tune with the times. They’re artfully crafted, exquisitely detailed, have a boatload of cultural lineage behind them and make great conversation starters or objects of wonder for folks to ponder while enjoying their favorite herb. Give us a call today on (888) 657-2881 to find out more about stocking your shop with dragon themed wholesale incense burners from Paykoc.