Frankincense And Myrrh
Author: Carolyn Donnelly

Many associate frankincense and myrrh with the biblical story
of the three wise men bringing gifts in honor of the birth of
the baby Jesus. However, frankincense and myrrh were sacred
scents to many cultures around the world long before the advent
of Christianity. Originating in Arabia and Africa, the valuable
properties of these scents have been recognized and utilized for
both religious and non religious purposes for at least 5000
years. Modern science is only just beginning to investigate the
health and medicinal benefits of frankincense and myrrh that
have been documented in ancient medical texts from Egypt, Europe
and India.

What is Frankincense and Myrrh?

Frankincense and myrrh are both aromatic resins that are
collected to make perfume and incense. A resin is simply dried
tree sap. Frankincense resin comes from trees of the genus
Boswellia and Myrrh from the genus Commiphora. Both of these
trees are found in eastern Africa, mostly Somalia and in
Southern Arabia. Myrrh is a reddish colored resin with an oily
consistency and a bitter taste. Frankincense has a yellow color
and has a sweet taste.

The word 'incense' describes the aroma released with the smoke
of any odoriferous substance when burnt. Frankincense is a
French word meaning 'pure incense'.

How are these incenses made?

Resin is collected by cutting or peeling back the tree's bark.
This causes the sap of the tree to ooze out from the cut. The
sap emerges slowly and is allowed to dry on the tree where it
hardens into yellow colored 'tears'. It takes around three
months for the resin to acquire the right consistency. When
ready, the `tears' are scraped off the trunk of the tree. The
resin is collected from the younger trees as they exude the most
valuable resin. The trees probably produce the resins as a
response to trauma, with the resin acting as a temporary
dressing for damaged bark. A single tree may yield several
kilograms of resin each year.

India and the Far East have always been the biggest exporters
of the resins, and Europeans once referred to frankincense as
'Indian incense'.

History

Both frankincense and myrrh have been prized by most of the
great ancient civilizations around the world. The resin of both
of these incenses has been collected for over 5000 years.
Frankincense and myrrh were both once ranked along with gold,
ivory, spices and textiles as valuable commodities for trade,
reflecting the scarcity of these resins.

Both frankincense and myrrh were important resins for use in
ceremony, religious and non-religious, as well as for use in
medicine, beauty, and to warm and scent the home. The first
documented use of these resins is from Egypt where both
frankincense and myrrh were used for purification, which was
achieved by standing over the burning incense. However, both
resins were also used by the Chinese, Hindu, Bantu and Bactrian
cultures where the incenses had religious significance.

Egyptian women used frankincense to enhance their beauty. They
painted their eyelids with the black kohl made from charred
frankincense. This resin was also melted and used as a hair
removal product. Combined with other ingredients in a paste,
frankincense was used as a perfume. In cold weather, the
Egyptians burnt frankincense in a brazier (large metal
container) to warm their rooms.

Early Egyptian legend describes frankincense as the 'tears of
Horus', the god of the Sun and Moon. It is thought that the
Egyptians came by both land and sea to collect these resins
before 2000 BC and trade reached as far as Rome and China.
Descriptions of this trade are detailed in later scripts of
Greek, Roman and Indian authors. With domestication of the camel
in 1100 BC, trade in frankincense and myrrh greatly increased as
the camels could take the odiferous resins across the Arabian
landscape.

Great quantities of these incenses were burnt at ceremonies.
During the Roman rule these resins were demanded in tax from the
people of Arabia for use in Roman ceremonies. In Jewish
ceremony, frankincense is one of four 'sweet scents,' and formed
part of the meet offering. It was also presented with the
shew-bread every Sabbath day. Religious use of incense was also
common in ancient Persia, Babylon and Assyria. The incense was
brought by the Arabs every year as a tribute to Darius, the King
of Persia in the 5th Century. The Parsis, who fled Persia to
escape persecution at the hands of Arab conquerors in the 8th
Century, brought the resin with them to India. Modern Parsis of
Western India still preserve the ritual of burning the incense.
Christian churches adopted various uses for the incenses from
preceding cultures.

Medicinal Uses

Frankincense and myrrh were commonly used throughout history as
medicine. The Papyrus Ebers, the oldest preserved medical
document that comes from Egypt around 1550, describes how the
resins were used for mummification and for treating wounds and
skin sores.

Historically, frankincense was taken orally as a stimulant.
Early century healers used it as a cure for hemlock poisoning,
tumors, ulcers, vomiting, dysentery and fevers. In China it is
used for leprosy. Celsus, the author, presumed Roman, who lived
around the turn of the current era compiled the most extensive
medical encyclopedia of this time. His records recommend
frankincense for treating wounds, bleeding, bruising and as a
possible antidote to poisoning by hemlock.

During the 17th century, distillates of the resin, called the
'oils of olibanum', were popular among the surgeons,
apothecaries and alchemists. Frankincense was used at this time
to treat stomach ulcers and as an ointment for bruising. In
India, people applied it to wounds and used it to treat
rheumatism. Chinese healers incorporated it into remedies for
bruises and infected sores, including those caused by leprosy.
It was used in Kenya for dressing wounds and as a treatment for
worms. English alchemists recommended frankincense to live a
longer life.

Myrrh has been a versatile treatment for a variety of medical
uses throughout history. The Indian myrrh, known as guggulu, is
described in the ancient Ayurvedic texts as a medicine to ease
the symptoms of coughs and chest infections and as an aid in
weight loss. It was also used to treat rotten teeth by the early
Sumerians and infections of the mouth teeth and eyes by the
Greeks. The Greeks also suggested that myrrh could stop bad
breath and protect against the plague. Myrrh was believed to
have preservative qualities and was used to extend the shelf
life of wine.

Turkish healers recommend myrrh as an aphrodisiac, and both
frankincense and myrrh were recommended as protection against
sorcery. Arabic doctors mixed myrrh with vinegar as a cure for
baldness.

Use of myrrh for health and medical purposes in Europe goes
back to the Celtic 'leechdoms', or healers, who recommended
myrrh for healing wounds and coughs. In medieval times in
England myrrh was used for nausea and diarrhea and to treat
thrush. Myrrh was included as an ingredient in the Elixir of
Vitriiol on all navy ships until 1795 to treat scurvy and was
also used to treat hemorrhage. Myrrh and borax were also mixed
together to produce a toothpaste during Victorian times.

Modern Uses

Incense is still used in churches around the world as part of
religious ceremony. Christian churches in England use
frankincense and myrrh mixed with additional ingredients to
produce the desired scent.  Pure frankincense and myrrh is
presented by the Queen to commemorate the manifestation of
Christ. The Parsees of northern India still use the resins in
religious ceremonies: myrrh symbolizing self-denial,
frankincense representing spirituality, and gold the wealth of
humankind.

Many of the ancient traditions involving these incenses still
exist. Frankincense and myrrh are still used by some modern
Pagans in ritual and ceremony for purification and
intensification of energies during meditation and ritual as well
as for healing. The traditional medieval tradition of blessing a
new bell by burning both myrrh and frankincense inside it still
occurs today. Frankincense is still used in toiletries as a
perfuming and hardening agent and myrrh is still used widely in
throat lozenges and cough mixtures as well as in perfume.

Modern science has found that both frankincense and myrrh do
indeed have many of the medicinal qualities that ancient
traditions espoused. Biochemists have found myrrh contains a
number of compounds that help to reduce inflammation and enhance
the immune response. Eating resin or oil from guggulu has been
found to lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the
blood supporting the ancient belief that myrrh can assist in
weight loss and perhaps extend the length of your life.

Frankincense and myrrh have both been found to have antiseptic,
antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties and so they make
valuable dressings. Inhalation of steam laden with the oils of
these resins has been found to result in dilation of the
bronchii of the lungs. This may support the ancient
recommendation that these resins can relieve the symptoms of
bronchitis and other chest infections.

As with many of the ancient natural and herbal remedies, the
application of which was once widespread, frankincense and myrrh
is fairly absent on the prescription list of most modern
doctors. This could be changing as the medicinal qualities of
these two resins, like so many other natural remedies, are being
explored by todays medical researchers. This wisdom, that has
been handed down from our forefathers (and foremothers) and has
continued in the realms of natural therapy and new age practices
could soon become revived for mainstream medicine.


About The Author: Carolyn runs Placid Moon, an online new age
shop. Placid Moon features popular incense resins including,
Frankincense and Myrrh, either together or separately, as well
as cone and stick incense in a range of scents and some stunning
incense burners. Visit us http://www.placidmoon.com