By Lorraine Kiefer I love to read and write about two very ancient herbs frankincense and myrrh. It is usually only at this time of the year that we hear about them. You may wonder why they are mentioned in a garden column since most people think of them as something in a carol and or holiday cards. However,...
By Lorraine Kiefer
I love to read and write about two very ancient herbs frankincense and myrrh. It is usually only at this time of the year that we hear about them. You may wonder why they are mentioned in a garden column since most people think of them as something in a carol and or holiday cards. However, both frankincense and myrrh are derived from the gummy sap that oozes out of the Boswellia and Commiphora trees when their bark is cut.
The sap or resin seeps out and hardens. It is usually scraped off the trunk. It can be edible and may be chewed like gum. More often these fragrant 'tears' of harden sap are burned, with frankincense giving off a sweet, citrusy scent and myrrh producing a piney, bitter odor. Both frankincense and myrrh are the saps or resins from real plants that grow in the Middle East and Africa. They grow in very harsh dry climates and will not adapt to our area or I would grow them.
The Magi or Kings 'from afar' brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Infant Jesus on Jan. 6. Epiphany or "little Christmas" as my Babci called this day. It often goes unnoticed by many modern people, but just a few generations ago people visited and partied from Christmas until this day in January. Most churches still observe Epiphany and leave their decorations up until after Epiphany.
I wouldn't think of taking mine down until mid January, but then I put them up after Thanksgiving not before. We have long had an Epiphany party the weekend nearest this day. The best part of the party is having the incense of frankincense and myrrh burning all along my front walkway to the house. I love this ancient scent and am glad when it is used at holiday masses. Unfortunately the fire alarms in many churches prohibit its use now. It is such an ancient custom that is linked to the first Christmas season.
Frankincense comes from the first cuts of a thorny bark of a shrubby plant called Boswellia carteri that grows in the Arabian Peninsula. When the resin or sap comes from the stems it hardens into tears or small pebbles that are often powdered to use in incense. It has a somewhat piney scent. Frankincense was used by ancient Israelites when they burned it with their offerings of lamb and the first fruits of the harvest. Early Christians also used it to celebrate Jesus as the Lamb of God. The idea is that the fragrant smoke used in rites and ceremonies is said to sanctify and carry praise and prayer to heaven. This smoke is also thought to clear the air for higher thinking or meditation.
Myrrh is the other biblical resin used in early incense and also brought by the kings or wise men. It comes from a plant called Commiphora myrrha, a native of Arabia, Ethiopia, and most of northern Africa. In Arabic the word murr means bitter. This refers to the taste not the smell. The smell is considered by some to be deep and haunting. It is rarely used alone, but usually paired with frankincense. (Myrrh is used in toothpaste and mouthwash as it is said to heal gums.
Both frankincense and myrrh have been traded in the Middle East and North Africa for at least 5,000 years. Most readings about these herbs confirm that the ancient Egyptians bought entire boatloads of the resins from the Phoenicians, using them in incense, insect repellent, perfume and salves for wounds and sores as in the embalming process. Myrrh oil was said to have been used by ancients for a rejuvenating facial treatment.
According to the Bible, frankincense and myrrh were in the incense burned in Jerusalem's temples during ancient times. The Greeks and Romans also imported massive amounts of the resins, which they burned during cremations. These ancients also used them medically as an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic medicine. It is said that myrrh appears with more frequency than any other plant substance in the writings of the Greek physician Hippocrates, in the 3rd and 4th century B.C. I love to read about these in my old herb books.
At the time Jesus was born, frankincense and myrrh may have been worth more than gold. The advent of modern medicine did much to cut the demand for frankincense and myrrh, but some alternative practitioners continue to prize the resins for their healing properties.
If you would like to experience the magic of these ancient herbs one of the best ways to use frankincense and myrrh is to burn the crude resin on hot coals as the ancients did. This will release a distinctive aroma and mysterious trails of fragrant incense. Although the curling tendrils of burning frankincense and myrrh have been with us since antiquity, many find them much to strong to burn in the average home. Ancient temples and cathedrals had enormously high ceilings for the smoke to reach, thus diluting the fragrance. So you may want to be cautious and only burn a couple of tears at first or do so on a porch.
Jewish, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Rites and some other religions still use incense mixtures during some masses and prayer services. I am always disappointed when I attend a mass and the incense is one of the "new" fake rose or cinnamon incenses. For the most part these are made from synthetic oils and smell nasty, often causing allergic reactions. There is nothing as sacred as the smell of real incense when one enters a church. I feel that it "sets the stage" so to speak and evokes a feeling or link to the past and all eternity.
So in summary, the resin of the two scrubby little shrubs of the East that have been immortalized in our Christmas carols and cards look like nothing more than brown or while pebbles when one holds them in a palm of a hand. I like to put them in little bags with a touch of gold glitter and tied with gold ribbon to present as Epiphany presents. On Jan. 6, drop some real frankincense and myrrh on a burning coal, wood stove or hot skillet and you bring the world of the ancients kings alive by the magic of fragrance.
Triple Oaks sells real frankincense and myrrh tears and the charcoal disc on which to burn the resin. When we mix the two together we call it Holy Smoke!
Lorraine Kiefer is the owner and operator of Triple Oaks Nursery in Franklinville. She can also be reached by e-mail at Lorraine@tripleoaks.
