Believe it or not, for Easter, I have been reading the gospel of John. Only chapters 11and 12 on the family of Lazarus, Martha and Mary whom Jesus loved and the strange anointment of Jesus. Did you know that Mary used spikenard, a very rare and expensive oil to wash (perhaps massage) the feet of Jesus?
It was an herb from the Himalayas. It is, to me, very interesting that after breaking the alabaster jar, why (1) Mary poured the spikenard on the feet, not the head; (2) where and how she got the oil is not mentioned. I do not think anybody has asked. But I was not surprised because the New Testament gospels have many inconsistent versions of various episodes that Christians overlook. The nard herb is mentioned in the Song of Songs involving bride and groom. Later in the story, Mary brought herbs to ”prepare” Jesus’ body at the grave. Read John if you have the time.There are many speculations about the relationship of Mary and Jesus. I thought she was rich and educated woman who travelled with Jesus and supported his ministry. She knew the ritual of anointing, apparently she learned herbs, and she was close to Jesus’ family but I haven’t seen or heard anybody ask how she got to know about herbs and where she studied them. Since she was cast as a sinful woman in a sermon by Pope Gregory 1 in 591 CE, she has been maligned as a prostitute. In her book “Miracles and Wonder” Elaine Pagels, the Biblical scholar, says that even when Pope Paul VI “officially retracted Gregory’s denigration of Mary … in 1969” the label stuck. Although she is the most prominent woman in the New Testament and considered “Apostle of the Apostles,” she is just a “prostitute” in the public perception. The Gnostic Bible (most discovered in a cave in Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945) tells a very interesting and controversial story about her. Sadly, the sequel did not find its way into the Bible. I’ll write about it later when I have the time to put together the materials on the subject.
Two of the herbs I use in the treatment of muscle, tendon and joint problems are myrrh and frankincense. I have bottles of the essential oils that I received from Lolit when she and I took a cruise on the Nile. Even now spikenard is rather expensive: a small bottle costs about $300. Vicky, my brother Roland’s wife, gave me a bottle of anointing oil from Israel; it contains myrrh, frankincense and spikenard. My Egyptian friend Amirah Snaith gifted me with an alabaster jar and a silver ankh when she visited her daughter Aiten in Florida.
Here is the information about myrrh and frankincense from the herbal text used in acupuncture school:
Frankincense and Myrrh
Chinese name: Ru xiang
Pharmaceutical name: Gummi Olibsnum
Botanical name: Bonwellia carterii
Literal English translation: “fragrant milk”
Actions and Indications:
*Invigorates blood and promotes the movement of qi: for traumatic pain arising from blood stasis, as well as the early stages of carbuncles, sores, swellings, and pain.
* Relaxes the sinews, invigorates the channels, and alleviates pain: for wind-dampness painful obstruction, rigidity and spasms
*Reduces swelling and generates flesh: applied topically as an ointment or powder to reduce swelling, generate flesh, alleviate pain, and promote healing in sores, carbuncles and traumatic injury
Chinese name: Mo yao
Pharmaceutical name: myrrha
Botanical name: Commophora myrrha
Actions and Indications:
Invigorates the blood and dispels blood stasis, reduces swelling and alleviates pain: for problems due to blood stasis, including pain from trauma, sores carbuncles, swellings, immobile masses, painful obstruction, chest pain, abdominal pain .
*Promotes healing: used topically to promote the healing of chronic nonhealing sores.
Materia Medica by Bensky and Gamble