Is the incense produced at the Greek Orthodox spiritual center Mount Athos tainted with adrenochrome extracted from abducted children? No, that's not true. This claim stems from a debunked conspiracy theory circulated by QAnon, suggesting that adrenochrome is harvested from trafficked and kidnapped children.
The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) published by @lubomirabubeto on November 5, 2023.
The Bulgarian text visible in the center of the video reads:
Mount Athos, the peninsula of Adrenochrome.
The 1-minute and 25-second video begins with a male voice speaking in Bulgarian, translated into English by Lead Stories staff. The narrator claims:
Nowadays, the best incense for temples is made on Mount Athos. They are made in secluded monasteries according to secret recipes, and no one has been able to surpass them as a quality. Mount Athos is a restricted peninsula to which many children are secretly taken, and none of them return. But who knows about that, and who knows how incense is produced? No one. The production of incense is not controlled in any way and is not checked by anyone.
This is the biggest secret. This is a very large-scale and serious business. In which many politics are involved. Law enforcement and almost all the leadership of various religions. All this is a multi-billion dollar business. And there is enough money for everyone. Because it was and is the most expensive and profitable product. Children who are stolen are not so expensive to sell.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Nov 27 11:06:59 2023 UTC)
The information in the video, presented in Bulgarian and superimposed as a translation on Russian audio, contains a contradiction. According to the claim, this is a huge multi-billion-dollar business with many involved politicians, law enforcement agencies, as well as numerous spiritual and religious leaders. However, according to the same claim, no one knows how the product is made.
The widely discredited conspiracy theory propagated by QAnon and its supporters, falsely claims the extraction of adrenochrome from abducted children. Lead Stories, thoroughly debunks the unfounded claim that adrenochrome is harvested from living children. The article offers a comprehensive explanation of the conspiracy theories surrounding the alleged demand for adrenochrome among the rich and famous.
According to a McGill University publication on the subject, "Adrenochrome can be readily synthesized and is available to researchers from chemical suppliers" and has no rejuvenating effects.
A Forbes article called the adrenochrome conspiracy theory "baseless." The article traces the roots of this theory to the old false antisemitic myth called blood libel, according to which Jews are associated with blood rituals. The article also traces the beginning and emergence of this conspiracy theory on social networks.
There is no evidence that incense from Mount Athos contains аdrenochrome. According to a document published by Princeton University on June 16, 2016, on "Incense in the Orthodox Church," -- "Most incense used in Orthodox churches is made in the Athonite style. This approach, practiced by the monks of Mount Athos, uses frankincense, various resins (galbanum), and aromatic oils (stacte)."
Another article from March 16, 2023, found on the "Incense Junction" website, details the formulation of the incense crafted within the monasteries of Mount Athos:
The incense is created by blending pure frankincense resin, aromatic wood resins, and fragrant oils.
According to information from the Mount Athos Center, a pilgrimage visit to Mount Athos is allowed only to "adult men and males under the age of 18 accompanied by their fathers," for which visas and the relevant documents and permits are required.
More Lead Stories fact checks debunking claims related to Adrenochrome can be found here and here.
