Anointing with oil
Following in the Ancient Footsteps...to anoint with oil
What does it mean to 'anoint with oil'? Does it mean a drop of olive oil, or a pitcher of some sort of oil - or could it mean oil mixed with species and herbs?
We will delve into that subject and find out just what the scriptures can teach us about anointing with oil.
Stay tuned!
Frankincense and Myrrh Anointing Oil
In Ancient Footsteps offers a quality blend (not the cheap stuff!) of Frankincesne and Myrrh Essential Oil Anointing Oil blend that can be used for a variety of purposes.
The most common use for our specialty blend is for anointing oneself or another for purification purposes. Many have also used it for anointing to deepen your experience when meditating on scripture due to its aromatic perfume that wafts up as a sweet savor.
Matthew 2:11 - And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
From earliest history until today, fragrant, alluring smells have been regarded as essential elements of civilized relationships. Exotic plant odors and the scents that could be utilized for body application have inspired explorers, aristocrats, writers, poets, merchants and priests, and they have been of fundamental relevance to religious practices and to courtship. Many societies have felt that the burning of fragrant woods provides an ideal, ethereal token of appreciation to their gods. The liberation of incense smoke was a source of perfume: this word comes from the Latin per fumum, 'by smoke'. Incense is a word that means 'that which is lit'. The main incense fragrances were frankincense and myrrh.
The most important ancient fragrances were frankincense and myrrh. The Arabs used the milky sap of the frankincense tree, and called it al lubn, from the word for milk. (The same word gave rise to the name of Lebanon, whose mountains were always capped by milky snow). Al lubn became anglicized to olibanum, which is another name for frankincense; the latter name refers to the pre-eminence of this resin, the true or frank incense. Myrrh is a resin that has a bitter taste; its name is derived from Hebrew murr or maror, meaning bitter. Frankincense came mainly from the Dhofari region of Oman, and the best of this fragrant oleoresin source still characterizes this remote region. Myrrh traditionally came from Punt; this area was probably in Somalia, Ethiopia or Eritrea, but it may have been in Yemen, Oman or Southern Arabia. The domestication of the camel around 1200 BC stimulated the growth of the incense trade with Egypt and eventually with Greece and Rome.
Resins do not decay, and the resins of myrrh and similar agents are bacteriostatic. Myr
rh continues to be used for this purpose in mouthwashes and toothpastes.
Medicinal Action and Uses---It is stimulant, but seldom used now internally, though formerly was in great repute . Pliny mentions it as an antidote to hemlock. Avicenna (tenth century) recommends it for tumours, ulcers, vomiting, dysentery and fevers. In China it is used for leprosy.
Its principal use now is in the manufacture of incense and pastilles. It is also used in plasters and might be substituted for Balsam of Peru or Balsam or Tolu. The inhalation of steam laden with the volatile portion of the drug is said to relieve bronchitis and laryngitis.
The ceremonial incense of the scriptures was compounded of four 'sweet scents,' of which pure Frankincense was one, pounded together in equal proportion. It is frequently mentioned in the Pentateuch. Pure Frankincense formed part of the meet offering and was also presented with the show-bread every Sabbath day. With other spices, it was stored in a great chamber of the House of God at Jerusalem.
According to Herodotus, Frankincense to the amount of 1,000 talents weight was offered every year, during the feast of Baal, on the great altar of his temple in Babylon. The religious use of incense was as common in ancient Persia as in Babylon and Assyria. Herodotus states that the Arabs brought every year to Darius as tribute 1,000 talents of Frankincense, and the modern Parsis of Western India still preserve the ritual of incense.
Frankincense, though the most common, never became the only kind of incense offered to the gods among the Greeks. According to Pliny, it was not sacrificially employed in Trojan times. Among the Romans, the use of Frankincense (alluded to as mascula thura by Virgil in the Eclogues) was not confined to religious ceremonials. It was also used on state occasions, and in domestic life.
The kohl, or black powder with which the Egyptian women paint their eyelids, is made of charred Frankincense, or other odoriferous resin mixed with Frankincense. Frankincense is also melted to make a depilatory, and it is made into a paste with other ingredients to perfume the hands. A similar practice is described by Herodotus as having been practiced by the women of Scythia and is alluded to in Judith x. 3 and 4. In cold weather, the Egyptians warm their rooms with a brazier whereon incense is burnt, Frankincense, Benzoin and Aloe wood being chiefly used for the purpose.
The word 'incense,' meaning originally the aroma given off with the smoke of any odoriferous substance when burnt, has been gradually restricted almost exclusively to Frankincense, which has always been obtainable in Europe in greater quantity than any other of the aromatics imported from the East.
There is no fixed formula for the incense now used in the Christian churches of Europe, but it is recommended that Frankincense should enter as largely as possible intoits composition. In Rome, Olibanum alone is employed: in the Russian church, Benzoin is chiefly employed.
Order your Ancient Wisdom Anointing Oil
$15.00 per 2 oz bottle
Ancient Wisdom Anointing Oil
Frankincense & Myrrh in a base of Organic Olive Oil
