Incense, the compound of the vegetation of our earth, can be used to invoke and engage the earth's energies in our prayers in three very powerful ways: It can be used to bring sweet smells into our prayer place. It can be used, as it was in ancient times, to send "smoke signal" messages to God. Its smoke can be used, as the mystics suggested, as a visual aid to help us see our way up the sefirot on our journey to God.
The burning of incense is not just for adherents of Eastern religions or New Age practitioners.
— Wayne Dosick, Soul Judaism