Tin Can Thuribles

This past weekend was Bushwick Open Studios.  In celebration there was a Parade of Art on Saturday.  Franciscan Brother Max Kolbe pointed out to me that tin cans can be used to make thuribles (portable incense burners used in blessings) which paraders could swing to billow incense as they marched.

So Saturday morning, I went down to Bushwick with a bunch of cans and set up shop on a street corner! 

The construction is pretty simple:  1) Punch holes in the side of an empty tin can.  2) Attach a wire handle.  3) Place a wire screen over the top and clip it with cloths pins (this allows you to open and add charcoal/incense even after the can is hot).  4) Tie a rope to the handle.  5) Place charcoal in the can and light it.  6) Put indirect-burning incense on the charcoal. 7) Swing the thurible.

Somehow I completely missed the parade.  But I met a bunch of folks, and a handful of them even made thuribles with which to wander around spreading sweet perfume and blessing the world!