aromatherpy

The Second Gift of Myrrh

Last week's blog was about the three gifts the wide men brought to the baby Jesus. The three most precious commodities of the day were the essential oils frankincense and myrrh, and the element of gold. Myrrh comes from the same family of plants as frankincense; Burseraceae which means dry fire. Myrrh is a gum that it produced in Libya and Iran which is then distilled into an oil with a pleasant balsamic camphor-like, musty, incense smell. Like frankincense, myrrh was a precious oil used in fumigations, embalming, unctions and liturgical practices. The Egyptian papyrus, the Vedas, the Bible and the Koran mention numerous uses of Myrrh in perfumery, ceremonies and medicine. Myrrh was an ingredient in many unguents, elixirs and other multi purpose antidotes. More…