Bible Mysteries: What Does It Mean To Suddenly Smell Incense When None is Burning?

I. Introduction: The Lingering Question of a Sacred Scent

A. Setting the Scene: An Unexpected Aroma

Have you ever been going about your day, maybe at home, at work, or even outside, and suddenly, a clear smell of incense fills the air? It might be that sweet, rich scent of frankincense, or an aroma that reminds you so much of a church service. But when you look around, there’s no incense burning, no open censer, nothing to explain where that beautiful fragrance is coming from! This can be a puzzling moment, and for those of us who believe in God, it often makes us wonder: what could this mean?

The fact that you’re even asking this question shows a heart full of wonder! You’re looking to connect a personal, perhaps amazing or even slightly surprising, experience with your precious faith. It’s the suddenness of that smell, and the fact that there’s no source for it, that lifts it from just a pleasant scent to something that feels truly important. It’s like a little interruption in your ordinary day that can open your mind and heart to what God might be showing you.

B. Why This Matters to Christian Readers

For Christians, smells can be powerful, especially those linked to our sacred traditions and the Bible. Incense has such a rich, ancient history in our worship and is talked about many times in God’s Word.¹ So, if you suddenly smell it out of nowhere, it can feel like a big deal, prompting you to search for its meaning. When you experience this, you’re often hoping to understand if it’s a “sign,” a spiritual touch, or maybe even a hint that God, His angels, or the saints are near or trying to communicate.

C. Purpose and Scope of the Article

This article is here to help you explore this “Bible Mystery” of smelling incense when none is actually burning. We’re going to look at what the Bible, our Church traditions, and godly wisdom can tell us about such an experience. We’ll talk about how incense has always been used, what it symbolizes, its importance in the Bible, what the early Church leaders taught about spiritual experiences, different ways to understand it spiritually, how to wisely figure out its meaning, and some good things to think about if this has happened to you.

II. Incense in Christian Life: A story of Prayer and Presence

A. The Ancient Roots and Enduring Symbolism of Incense

Using incense in worship isn’t just a Christian thing; it’s ancient, going way back to practices even before our faith, including those in the Old Testament.¹ For ages, people have used burning incense to bring their senses into worship and to represent deeper spiritual truths. In Christianity, some key meanings have always stood strong:

• Prayers Ascending to God: This is probably the one we all think of first. That rising smoke from incense is such a beautiful, visible picture of our prayers going up to heaven, right to God’s throne.¹ Psalm 141:2 says it perfectly: “Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight: the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice”.¹ This verse is a cornerstone for understanding incense in our worship.
• God’s Presence: That cloud of sweet-smelling smoke can also represent the mysterious, holy, and sometimes overwhelming presence of God Himself.⁵ Think about the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple – the altar of incense was right before the veil to the Most Holy Place, the very spot where God promised to meet His people. This shows its deep connection to God’s nearness.⁵
• Reverence and Worship: We traditionally use incense to show honor and deep respect to sacred people and things. This includes censing the altar (which stands for Christ), the Gospels, the bread and wine for Communion, the consecrated Eucharist itself, our clergy, and even all of us in the congregation.³ It’s an act of recognizing what is holy and giving God the honor He deserves.
• Purification and Sanctification: Incense often has a part in rituals of cleansing. The smoke is seen as purifying the sacred space, the items used in worship, and us, the worshippers, getting us ready to meet with the Holy One.¹ It’s interesting that frankincense, a main ingredient in church incense, actually has natural antiseptic qualities!12
• An Offering: Burning incense can also be seen as a symbolic gift or sacrifice to God, something precious and pleasing to Him.¹

B. Incense in the Bible: Divine Instructions and Heavenly Visions

The Bible gives us specific ways incense was used and what it meant, showing just how important it is in our relationship with God.

1. Old Testament Mandates:

The Old Testament gives very clear instructions about incense, highlighting its deep holiness and its direct link to how God wanted to be worshipped. God told Moses to build a special altar just for burning incense (Exodus 30:1-10) and even gave a specific recipe for the sacred incense. This blend was to be seen as “most holy” and used only for worshipping Him (Exodus 30:34-38).² It wasn’t something to be copied for personal perfume.

The high priest had the job of burning this sacred incense every day, morning and evening.⁶ Incense was also vital on the Day of Atonement, the most holy day of the Jewish year. On this day, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies with a censer of burning incense. The smoke would create a protective cloud over the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant, shielding him from God’s direct, awesome presence.⁶

How seriously God took the proper use of incense is clear from the harsh punishments for misusing it. For example, Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, were struck down when they offered “unauthorized fire” or “strange incense” before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2).⁶ These strict rules and solemn uses are part of why smelling incense unexpectedly can feel so spiritually major to those who know these Bible stories.

1. New Testament Significance:

The importance of incense carries right into the New Testament, connecting our worship on earth with the realities of heaven.

Frankincense was famously one of the three gifts the Magi brought to baby Jesus (Matthew 2:11). This gift is often seen as recognizing Jesus’s divinity and His role as our great High Priest.²

But perhaps the most powerful New Testament picture of incense comes from the Book of Revelation, which describes worship in heaven. Here, incense is clearly and repeatedly linked to “the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4).¹ For instance, Revelation 8:3-4 tells us: “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” What a vision! This solidifies our understanding of incense as a symbol of prayer rising to God and shows its part in heavenly worship.

This shift in meaning, from the physical Temple worship in the Old Testament to the New Testament’s picture of incense in heaven linked with the prayers of all believers, suggests that its meaning has become more spiritual and universal. It’s not just for one earthly place anymore but is tied to the spiritual truth of prayer and being close to God. This change helps us understand why experiencing its fragrance outside a church might be a spiritual event. The consistent Bible theme of incense representing prayer is a big reason why smelling unexplained incense often leads believers to think about its connection to prayer—maybe their own prayers being heard, the prayers of others, or even God calling them to pray.

C. Incense in Various Christian Traditions Today

Many Christian denominations still use incense today, especially those with liturgical services. The Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox Churches, many Anglican and Lutheran churches, and even some Methodist churches use incense in their services, particularly during important celebrations like the Eucharist, special prayer times, funerals, and consecrations.¹ Even in Christian traditions that don’t use incense in their group worship, the rich biblical meaning of incense as prayer and God’s presence is still relevant and can help a believer understand its significance.¹⁵

III. A Whiff of Heaven? Potential Spiritual Meanings of Phantom Incense

When the scent of incense appears without any physical source, many Christians wonder if it could be a sign from the spiritual world. The deep-rooted symbolism of incense in Christian thought naturally leads to such questions.

A. Sign of God’s Presence or the Holy Spirit?

One of the first thoughts is that an unexplained smell of incense could be a personal experience of God’s closeness or a gentle sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence.⁴ This fits with the traditional meaning of incense creating a sacred atmosphere and signaling the divine.⁷ Some people describe the Holy Spirit’s presence as coming with a sweet or distinct smell, sometimes like frankincense or the holy anointing oil from Exodus.¹⁹ The Bible itself talks about a “fragrance of Christ” or a “sweet-smelling aroma” connected with God’s work and love (Ephesians 5:1-2).²⁰ For example, one writer shared that deep worship and surrender can bring you into the Holy Spirit’s presence so strongly that His fragrance can sometimes be smelled.²⁰

B. The Presence of Angels or Saints?

Another common thought involves the presence of angels or saints. The Book of Revelation clearly shows angels offering incense with the prayers of the saints before God’s throne (Revelation 8:3-4).² This Bible image directly links angels with the aroma of incense in heaven. So, if a Christian knows this passage, smelling unexplained incense might reasonably make them think of angels being near, perhaps in connection with their prayers or the prayers of others.

Also, in Catholic and Orthodox traditions, there’s something called the “odor of sanctity” or osmogenesia.²² This is the belief that an unusually sweet smell, often like flowers (roses, for example) or incense, can come from the bodies of exceptionally holy people (saints), or from their relics, either Although they were alive or after they passed.²² This is seen as a physical sign of their deep holiness, spiritual greatness, or state of grace.²² There are stories about saints like St. Teresa of Ávila, whose room reportedly filled with a rose scent when she died, St. Thérèse of Lisieux (also linked with roses), and Padre Pio, whose stigmata were said to smell like flowers.²² This tradition strengthens the connection between sacred scents and the presence or prayers of saints.

C. What did the Church Fathers Teach About Spiritual Senses and Unexplained Divine Fragrances?

The idea that we can sense spiritual things in ways beyond our normal physical senses isn’t new in Christian thinking. Early Christian leaders, known as the Church Fathers, talked about “spiritual senses”—a kind of inner ability of our soul, often awakened by God’s grace, to perceive divine realities.¹⁸ This ancient wisdom can help us understand experiences like smelling unexplained incense. It suggests these might not just be odd things happening maybe our spiritual senses at work, something our tradition has recognized for a long, long time.

• Origen (c. 185-c.254): A very important early thinker, Origen taught that for every physical sense we have, there’s a matching “divine sense of the inner man”.²⁹ He specifically wrote about “smelling … with no sensible organs of perception” when talking about spiritual things, like sensing the “sweet savour of Christ” that St. Paul mentioned (2 Corinthians 2:15).²⁹
• St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-c. 395): This influential Church Father described the “scent of the divine perfumes” not as something smelled by our physical nose by “a certain intelligible and immaterial faculty that inhales the sweet smell of Christ by sucking in the Spirit”.¹⁸ For St. Gregory, fragrance was like a metaphor for how we experience God’s presence—you can’t touch it it’s profoundly real, like a perfume whose source you can’t see but whose effect you clearly feel in your soul.¹⁸
• St. Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-c. 386): In his teachings, St. Cyril used the image of fragrance to describe the gentle, refreshing, and enlightening work of the Holy Spirit. He said, “His (Holy Spirit) coming is gentle; the perception of Him is fragrant…” 18, setting it apart from more unsettling spiritual influences.
• Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-c. 662): This later Church Father linked our physical sense of smell to what he called the “incensive faculty.” He believed this faculty, when tuned to the spirit, leads to discernment and spiritual insight and is strongly connected to the Holy Spirit.³¹
• Theodore the Great Ascetic (9th Century): He spoke of the “fragrance of a holy soul,” comparing it to a precious oil whose scent spreads all around, showing the inner holiness of that person to those who sense it.²⁹

These teachings from respected early Christian figures show a long-standing understanding that spiritual things can sometimes be perceived in ways similar to our physical senses, including smell.¹⁸ Although the “odor of sanctity” is a very specific thing often linked to the physical remains or amazing holiness of recognized saints 22, the broader idea of spiritual fragrances—like the “fragrance of His knowledge” (2 Corinthians 2:14) 20 or the Holy Spirit having a “sweet smell” 19—allows for a more general understanding. So, an unexplained smell of incense might not mean a saint’s relic is literally nearby could be a more general sign of God’s grace, presence, or work.

IV. Discerning the Source: Wisdom in Interpretation

When you encounter an unexplained smell of incense, it’s wise to approach it with an open heart but also with careful thought. Our Christian tradition gives us guidance on how to discern, or figure out, the nature and source of such experiences. This means being balanced, considering natural reasons while also being open to possible spiritual meaning.

A. Considering Natural and Medical Explanations: Phantosmia

Before we jump to spiritual conclusions, it’s important and responsible to think about natural or medical reasons for smelling something that isn’t physically there. The medical term for this is phantosmia, which means an olfactory hallucination, or smelling a “phantom” odor.³²

Phantosmia can be caused by several things, like:

• Nose issues such as infections, swelling (sinusitis), or nasal polyps.
• Dental problems.
• Nerve-related conditions like migraines, head injuries, seizures (especially temporal lobe seizures), strokes, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or brain tumors.
• Side effects from certain medicines.
• Exposure to some chemicals or radiation treatment to the head or neck.³²

It’s good to know that sometimes, experiencing brief phantom smells can be normal for some people and might go away on its own without any serious issue.³² One study even showed that about 4.9% of older adults surveyed reported phantom smells.³³

A gentle word of advice: if these phantom smells keep happening, especially if they’re unpleasant (though incense usually smells good), upsetting, or come with other worrying symptoms, it’s always a good idea to see a doctor. This helps make sure any underlying medical conditions are found and taken care of, which is just good stewardship of the health God has given you.³²

B. Christian Guidelines for Spiritual Discernment

If natural or medical reasons don’t seem likely or have been checked out, then we as Christians can turn to the principles of spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment is that prayerful journey of trying to figure out where a spiritual experience or influence is coming from—whether it’s from God, from our own spirit or imagination, or from another spiritual source (either good or not so good).¹⁶ Here are some key things to keep in mind:

1. Prayer: the very first and most important step is to pray. Ask God for wisdom, clarity, understanding, and His guidance about what you experienced.²¹
2. Scripture: Think about whether the experience and what it might mean lines up with what the Bible teaches about God, His character, how He interacts with us, and the nature of spiritual things. As we’ve talked about, incense has overwhelmingly positive and sacred meaning in the Bible.⁶
3. The Fruits of the Spirit: Pay attention to how you feel spiritually or emotionally during or after the smell. Does it bring feelings of peace, comfort, joy, a stronger desire to pray, a sense of holiness, or more love for God and others (see Galatians 5:22-23)? Or, does it cause fear, anxiety, confusion, or distress? St. Cyril of Jerusalem said the Holy Spirit’s coming is “gentle” and the perception “fragrant” 18, which is different from foul or disturbing smells sometimes linked to negative spiritual presences.³⁵
4. Wise Counsel: Talking about what you experienced with a mature and trusted Christian your pastor, priest, or a spiritual mentor can give you valuable perspective and help you understand its meaning.²¹ Our Christian faith is a journey we take together, and even if an experience is personal, understanding it can often be helped by the wisdom of our church family.
5. Context: Think about what was going on around you when it happened. Did it happen during prayer, worship, or a time you were really seeking God? Was it connected to a certain thought, event, or person? Or did it seem to come completely out of nowhere?³⁴ The situation can sometimes give clues.
6. Humility and Openness: Approach this process of discernment with humility, knowing that we don’t always get immediate or complete answers. Be open to different possibilities, including the idea that it might just remain a wonderful mystery that you won’t fully understand this side of heaven.³⁹

C. The “Gift of Discerning of Spirits”

Some Christian traditions recognize a special spiritual gift mentioned by St. Paul: the “discerning of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10). This is understood as a special, supernatural ability given by the Holy Spirit to sense what’s happening in the spiritual realm and to tell the difference between the influence of the Holy Spirit, human spirits, or other spiritual beings (angelic or demonic).³⁵

People who have this gift sometimes say it involves their spiritual senses, including a spiritual sense of smell. They might perceive the fragrance of Christ or the Holy Spirit, or, on the other hand, foul odors linked to negative spiritual presences.¹⁶ For example, some have described Jesus as having a distinct spiritual aroma, or unclean spirits having a musty or foul smell.³⁸ While this specific gift might be given to some, the general principles of discernment are important and for all believers.¹⁶

D. A Note of Caution: Avoiding Misinterpretation or “Strange Fire”

Although the smell of incense has mostly positive and sacred meanings in our Christian symbolism, it’s important to keep a balanced view. Our goal shouldn’t be to look for supernatural signs just for the sake of it, or to become superstitious.¹⁴ The main focus of our Christian faith and life should always be on God Himself—His Word, His love, and our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ—rather than only on spiritual experiences, no matter how amazing they might seem.⁴⁰

That Old Testament story of Nadab and Abihu, who offered “unauthorized fire” before the Lord and faced terrible consequences (Leviticus 10:1-2), is a serious reminder to approach God with reverence, humility, and according to His revealed will.⁶ While this story is about offering worship rather than smelling something, it highlights how sacred our interaction with God is and the importance of having a heart that’s right with His truth.

Table: Interpreting an Unexplained Smell of Incense: A Summary

What Could It Mean?	What God Might Be Saying	Bible Truths & Church Wisdom	Questions to Ask Your Heart
Bible’s Wisdom	Your prayers rising up; God’s holy presence near; showing honor; making things pure; a gift to God.	Psalm 141:2; Exodus 30; Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4.	Does this make me want to pray more or feel God’s holiness?
God’s Presence	A feeling of God being close; the Holy Spirit showing up; the “fragrance of Christ.”	Ephesians 5:1-2; 2 Corinthians 2:14; writings of Church Fathers; personal stories.	Does this smell bring peace, comfort, or a spiritual lift? Does it feel like God’s loving nature?
Angels/Saints Near	Angels present (especially with prayer); “Odor of Sanctity” (saints present or praying for you).	Revelation 8:3-4; Catholic/Orthodox tradition of Osmogenesia (e.g., St. Thérèse, St. Teresa of Ávila).	Was I praying for something specific? Does it make me feel heavenly support or connected to all believers?
Spiritual Senses	Sensing God’s truth with an inner, spiritual ability, like the Church Fathers (Origen) talked about.	Origen, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Maximus the Confessor.	Does this feel like something beyond my normal senses, giving me spiritual insight or awareness?
Natural/Medical	Phantosmia (smelling things not there) due to medical or other physical reasons.	Medical understanding; conditions like sinus issues, migraines, nerve issues.	Does the smell keep happening? Are there other physical symptoms? Should I see a doctor if it’s worrying me?
Personal Meaning	A personal call to pray; encouragement in hard times; a reminder of faith; a moment of spiritual comfort.	Your own spiritual journey; what’s happening in your life.	What was going on in my life or thoughts when I smelled this? What message of hope or encouragement might it have for me?
Gift of Discernment	For some, it might be the spiritual gift of discerning spirits, sensing spiritual things through smell.	1 Corinthians 12:10; stories from those with this gift.	(If you feel you have this gift) What spiritual presence or atmosphere does this scent suggest to me, based on my spiritual sensitivity?

This table, is just a way to help you think through the different aspects when you experience an unexplained smell of incense. It’s to help organize your thoughts and guide you in a prayerful way to understand it.

Final Thought: A Fragrance of Hope

that sudden, unexplained smell of incense can be seen as a gentle nudge from beyond the ordinary, a reminder of the unseen spiritual realities all around us. When you approach it with a discerning heart and a spirit of faith, such an experience, whatever its exact origin, can serve as a fragrance of hope. It might be a subtle call to prayer, a moment of comfort, or a renewed awareness of God’s amazing love and the powerful mystery of faith that invites us ever deeper into a relationship with Him. You are blessed!