The aroma of Frankincense Essential oil is also highly uplifting and invigorating and is fantastic in massage.

Frankincense is used extensively in skincare products, especially products designed to aid mature skin.

Did you know?

No aromatic commodity has a more interesting history than Frankincense. To begin with the names: Frankincense is derived from the Old French meaning 'real incense'. Olibanum is a corruption through the classical languages of the Arabic luban, which strictly means 'gum' but, in practice, is always applied to this commodity.

Queen Hatshepsut, a Pharoah of 18th dynasty Egypt, prized Frankincense so highly that she sent an expedition to the land of Punt, present day Somalia, in order to bring back huge quantities of the gum and the living trees. The expedition, led by one San An Mut took three years and is accredited with being the foundation of the priestly gardens in which medicinal and fragrant plants were studied and used for the next thousand years or more.

At Tel El Amarna, the capital of the heretic king Akhnaten, vast quantities of Frankincense were burned in the streets to ward off pestilence and to perfume the air.

The medicinal effects of Frankincense were appreciated early in the history of Egypt (as they are to a certain extent today) and it was also used to an extent in the mummification process but its most important function by far was to carry the supplications of the priests to the gods. This particular use was almost certainly suggested by the contemplative effect of the drug and for its continued use in churches, mosques and other places of worship.

The Hebrews learned about incense making from the Egyptians and formulas for their incenses and anointing oils (which rely heavily on Frankincense) are to be found in Exodus. The use of the commodities so compounded was strictly forbidden for any use other than intercourse with the god.
Frankincense was at the centre of world trade in pre-classical times and was one of the most precious commodities conceivable. Much of the trade passed through Arabia where high duties were imposed. One theory suggests that this explains the prefix saudi which means 'happy'.

The high cost of Frankincense is the exoteric reason for its inclusion among the gifts of the magi. The esoteric explanation is more concerned with priestly ideas of Frankincense, its inclusion in the myth of Christ's nativity demonstrating that the child would grow up to be as important as the priest kings of Egypt.

Traditionally, Frankincense is burned on heated metal trays, coal or charcoal but all these methods tend to leave a slightly acrid aftersmell because of the impurities in the gum. It is better by far to evaporate the oil (which contains no such impurities), especially during meditation, since it helps to calm and regulate the current of the breath. Production of the oil was first recorded in the drug ordinance of Berlin in 1587.