Matt Verges

Was reminded of this today — oddly, by an article in Mother Jones. I sure do love it, especially Revelation (natch).

I explained this oil to a friend in email a few weeks back, and well… I can’t really improve upon the description I wrote, so here it is:

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The Anointing Oil that I’m sending over is based on Exodus 30 23-29, ignoring the “Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people” bit, cuz that’s how I roll:

~ Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. ~

I’m aware that Mathers probably substituted galangal for the calamus in order to circumvent the admonition, but whatevs. I’m not Mathers. The anointing oil contains steam-distilled Ethiopian myrrh, steam-distilled Ceylon cinnamon, calamus root essential oil, Chinese cassia essential oil extracted from leaves, twigs, and bark, and olive oil imported from the Convent of the Sisters of Bethlehem in Israel. I’m almost out of the olive oil, and they don’t seem to want to sell it to me anymore (lawl), so this batch might be the last of what I can make specific to this recipe.

Don’t let the anointing oil get on any sensitive areas, and don’t drink it. Not that I’m saying you would. Cassia burns like a motherfucker, and calamus is a liver toxin, is all.

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Our Anointing Oil is used to purify and sanctify ritual spaces and items prior to spiritual working.

“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
What will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the desolation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners,
And they shall fall among the slain.”

For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.