It requires a lot to process it, and now it is under some form of rationing. Each factor adds up to force the price higher. I'd recommend finding alternatives when possible, but sometimes nothing else will do. Besides, the people who work with it for a living still deserve our support. R itual and fixative herbs are botanicals with a specific range of uses.
Ritual herbs are botanicals used by people in a diverse number of ways.
Sometimes they're burned as incense to help set the mood for meditation or other spiritual work, or to cleanse the energies of a location. All people have some form of ritual herb use, usually associated with the older Deities from their cultures. The gifts of the Magi, Frankincense and Myrrh resins, were herbs used by spiritual adepts of a much older culture before the Christians started using them. Many people now burn Nag Champa from the Tibetan Buddhists. My favorites are the Native American herbs.