Frankincense

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FRANKINCENSE (Boswellia Thurifora) (Odour intensity 7)

Frankincense is actually a gum which is bled from trees which grow in Ethiopia or Saudi Arabia. The odour is fresh, piney, fruity and woody. I have rarely found anyone who does not like the lovely fresh odour of Frankincense, and for me it is a joy to blend in and use with other oils for a massage. It does amplify most other oils, but it is particularly useful when mixed with Basil, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Jasmine, Rose, Rosemary, Sandalwood and Teatree. Its toxicity rating is D which renders it quite mild.

The main property of this oil is for rejuvenation (strange this, I hear you say, as it was used to mummify dead bodies). Well, yes, but for the living it is very good for any chronic complaints, is cytophelactic (helps cell growth) and may be used for cancer as is comforting. It is also useful for catarrhal conditions of the head, lungs, stomach and intestines. It has astringent properties and is valuable for indolent wounds, i.e. ulcers. Use it directly on the ulcer or on a compress.

As usual, I have a tale to tell. Whilst on an Aromatherapy "Update Weekend", there was a lady who was going to give us a lecture based on the oils Frankincense and Myrrh. When I saw the lady, my heart sank (she looked very "homespun") and I thought "Oh God this is going to be really boring", but when she started to speak it was as if the whole world disappeared and she was talking only to me. She started to tell us of her journeys around the world to wild and lonely places, all alone, without a camera, and with very little luggage. Bearing in mind that this lady was around 5O/6O years old I thought she was very adventurous. She then related how she got a visa to visit the Oman and fell in love with the country and its people, and now visits just as often as her visa allows. Her reasons for carrying very little baggage and her lack of western consumer holiday accoutrements were that she wanted to know the people as a person, not as a tourist, and this happened for her.

She told of being invited into a harem of a very rich man and being impressed at how happy all the women were. When she entered this very large room there were approximately 2O women all dressed in their black voluminous dresses with, what looked like steam emerging from cuffs and collar and any other open space. Apparently this was a normal pastime for the ladies where they placed incense, on the floor, beneath their frocks to drench their bodies with a healing aroma suitable for them at that time. A whole tray of various incense was brought for her to inspect and she was told of the benefits of each one and when they should be used, as each incense had a different property and were used on ceremonial occasions. The ladies whilst in the harem wore beautiful western designer clothes most of the time and only wore purdah when they went outside.

Another story was of when she travelled on a camel, with a man she had never met before, to the coast of the Arabian Sea to see where Frankincense trees and Myrrh bushes grew. She told us of this most amazing sight of hills covered in yellow and purple where these trees/bushes grew, as described in the Bible, and where the sea hit the rocks and sand and immediately turned into steam, hissing as the sea pounded onto the red hot sand. This apparently was a necessary factor to produce the right growing conditions for the trees/bushes.

Frankincense is produced by making a cut in the trunk of the tree to allow the gum to exude slowly into a receptacle. This apparently is a very precise process and not for the uninitiated. The gum then hardens to a colour and appearance like amber, and is transported in special bags which hang each side of a camel. Apparently a very common site is to see a "caravan" of camels being led across the desert with a peculiar puff of dust being forced from each bag as the camels walk, so that they leave behind them a trail of the perfume of Frankincense. Unfortunately the Frankincense produced in the Oman is never sold out of their Country, and never has been, and is reputed to be the Frankincense that was offered to the baby Jesus.

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