Three wise gifts and the miracleof nature

Fiann Ó Nualláin takes a closer look at the healing properties of those generous offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

In the Christian calendar, tomorrow is Little Christmas, or the Epiphany.

It is the celebration or reminder of the arrival of the three wise men to the manger and their generous gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Three gifts from the natural world and two of them from the resinous sap of trees. Perhaps this event is the true backbone of the modern Christmas — presents, but there is more to them than meets the eye and a bit of a reminder to the miracle of nature whatever about other miracles.

I have always loved this particular feast day. Okay, any day with cake is a good day — it was a rich fruit cake or pineapple roll in our house not quite Galette des Rois but a very close second. In truth, I think it wasfinally being allowed to move the camels up to the crib that made it special and later in adulthood when I began to study botanical medicines and healing therapies there was another epiphany in those three gifts.

Let’s take a closer look at what the wise men brought.

Gold has a long history of use in healing, initially in the same manner as healing crystals — it was one of the metal ores utilised in purification rituals and in the amplification of vibrational frequencies to ward off negativity and ill health — also to balance the heart chakra. It’s symbolism as health and wellbeing brought it into jewellery and trade and into art and artefact and so eventually into our modern connotation of gold as wealth.

In recent years there has been a few very expensive gold-infused alcoholic tipples come on the market some of the world’s most exclusive restaurants and hotels utilise gold flake or gold leaf in their cuisine — perhaps inspired by the wealth of 2,000 years ago when Egyptian pharaohs ritually ate bread with monotonic (powdered) gold baked in, to harness the power of ‘all knowing’ and improve longevity.

The Egyptian practice later inspired the alchemists who were looking for eternal life and how to make synthetic gold — it didn’t happen for them but their experiments laid the foundation of quite a lot of modern chemistry and even today gold particles have inspired nanotechnology in medicine — where gold is increasing its presence in the diagnosis and treatment of many serious illnesses via its ability to deliver target drugs and in improving bioimaging technologies.

Frankincense is the dried resin or its ground powder, collected from stems and trunk of Boswellia trees — distilled into an oil version too. It has been around longer than Christmas as a medicinal agent and incense. It is one of the oldest incenses — which originally were used not to perfume the air but to purify the space and remove negative energy as well as open up channels to spiritual awareness.

In aromatherapeutic terms, it is utilised to lift mood, ease anxiety and calm stress/agitation. Perhaps just what is needed at Christmas and to get through the first week of new year resolutions. The infused oil also has a role in helping to relieve asthma, bronchitis, colds and flu and as a massage oil to alleviate depression and insomnia and act as an immunostimulant.

There are several types but the resin of Boswellia serrata is most commonly used for internal medicine - where it has a history of use in treating joint pain, bursitis and tendonitis and in conditions such as abdominal pain — from painful menstruation to ulcerative colitis. You would need to consult a professional herbalist as is it may counter some medications but certainly, as a bath additive or aromatherapy, it’s a lovely treat. Boswellia serrata is most commonly used for medicine. Indian frankincense is used for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, joint pain (rheumatism), bursitis, and tendonitis.

Other uses include ulcerative colitis, abdominal pain, asthma, hay fever, sore throat, syphilis, painful menstruation, pimples, and cancer. Indian frankincense is also used as a stimulant, to increase urine flow, and for stimulating menstrual flow. Boswellia serrata is most commonly used for medicine.

Myrrh also has a long lineage as a healing resin. Back at the time of the wise men it was a feature of embalming but also for cleaning wounds and treating sores and internally as a pain relief — we have much better medications for pain today but the topical use is still very relevant and myrrh features in a few cosmetic products on the shelves today.

It has astringent, antiseptic, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties — helpful with a whole array of skin complaints from healing tissue damage, fading blemishes and scars, remedying dry skin, and bringing circulating back to ageing or injured skin. It’s easy to add to a night serum or massage oil or even in the bath.

It is interesting that the three gifts while all valuable commodities in their own right, all of them have a deeper rooted history in the healing arts. And now in the early enthusiasm of the new year as we all resolve to be better people or at least skinnier and fitter, now is the perfect time to resolve to get a bit more natural with how we approach our health.

Start with a walk, a woodland walk – we won’t find the tears of myrrh or frankincense glistening on our native trees but we will find a soul-lifting beauty and many deep breaths of the freshest air — that’s worth more than gold. So dust off the appropriate footwear and go find your own revelation.

In truth, the greatest gift you can give yourself is to find your own natural self — your defences dropped, happy self. I find it looking at a view of the natural world or working in the garden and I recommend it.

Hippocrates the father of modern medicine had a rule of diagnosis. When someone visited with no matter what, he would prescribe a walk, then if they returned to him after that still unwell he looked for the cause.

A walk may not cure all ills but it gives a break from stress and preoccupation. It brings clarity to the mind and clearing of cobwebs from the body. Whatever your choice, to toil in the garden or climb a hill, to go look at the ocean or skim stones in the canal, tomorrow brings more than cake, it brings real sustenance.