Myrrh: Sensuousness of the earth
In addition to frankincense resin, the camels of the caravan of the distant past also carried a far more precious resin.
Ancient people were just as enthusiastic about myrrh as they were about frankincense. Sometimes, myrrh resin resin was twice as expensive as frankincense resin. Together with frankincense, people considered myrrh to be “the divine fragrance”. Frankincense symbolizes masculinity, while myrrh symbolizes the sensuousness femininity. They assigned frankincense to the spirit in the heavens; myrrh to that of earth. They believed myrrh and its fragrance symbolized the sensuousness of earth. For the sake of comparison, if we held a piece of each, we would notice that, in two pieces the same size, the myrrh is heavier. The resin of the frankincense is light, yellow, and often clear, while that of the myrrh is dark brown to caramel-coloured and is usually not transparent.
In concentration form, myrrh contains the energy of the earth. For that reason, myrrh resin serves to ground, calm, contract, and condense. Burning myrrh is ideal when we want to get our feet solidly back on the ground and to calm a confused or exhausted spirit. Many ancient cultures considered myrrh, called “the fragrance of the earth”, a symbol for the cradle of the earth and feminine sensuality. Ancient Egyptians believed that burning myrrh would create a sensuous mood in women. In Israel, prospective brides prepared themselves for marriage by massaging their skin with myrrh oil for a whole year prior to the wedding. When burning incense for sensuous purposes, people mixed myrrh with other substances such as sandalwood, benzoin, cassia and aloe. Ancient people believed that myrrh could be an initiation to feminine divinity and could connect people to this energy. It is the resin of the ancient goddess.
Since antiquity, myrrh has been a well known and highly valued medicinal substance. Some considered it as valuable as gold. It is less well known in the West. Myrrh has healing, tissue-strengthening and scab building properties. Therefore, myrrh is a very common remedy for wounds. Myrrh tincture strengthens gums, prevents gingivitis, and disinfects the oral cavity. Myrrh preparations are an effective way to deal with acne. For this purpose, women in Asia once bathed in the smoke of myrrh resin. The fragrant substances contained in the smoke also help cure bronchitis.
The burning of Myrrh seems to give a lift to feelings of weakness, apathy and lack of incentive. However also said to have a cooling effect on heated emotions. A number of scientific studies have shown that myrrh resin can slow down tumor development in the human body. It is assumed that this effect is connected to the sesquiterpene-lac-tone content in the plant.
The taste is what gave the tree its name: in Arabic, murr means “bitter”. Each myrrh tree produced about 4kg of resin each year.
