The plant grows to height of about 7 feet and in spring and early summer contains a milky juice. It is visited by numbers of beetles which puncture the stem and thus cause an exudation, part of which dries on the stem, the rest falling to the ground where it becomes mixed with stones and other impurities found in the gum collected by the natives. The gum resin is found in special cavities in the tissues of the stem, root and petioles of the leaves. The name of the drug is said to be derived from the Temple of Jupiter Ammon in the Libyan Desert where it was collected by the ancients. The gum resin occurs in commerce in two forms, tear ammoniacum and lump or block ammoniacum. The former alone is official in England and consists of pale yellow nodular masses varying in size from a pea to a walnut, brittle when cold but softens on warming, fractured surface, milky white or pale brown in colour. The lump ammoniacum, which is that collected from the ground, is used sometimes but is not official in medicine. The odour of the drug is slight, taste acrid and persistent.
– M. Grieve

Gum ammoniac is ruled by Jupiter (the planet), and is useful in rituals that honor Jupiter (the Sky-God), Zeus or any of his sons, Amun, or Zefs-Ammon. It is very suitable as an offering for any of these deities.

Gum ammoniac is one of the components used in an incense employed in protective magick of a Jupiterean nature: fortification of community and kingdom, benevolent rule, and just law. It can also be employed in rituals that create prosperity through expansion and as a countermeasure to Saturnian works. This resin can be burned to honor all of the archangels, but is sacred to Gabriel in particular.

It has been cited in Coptic texts adjuring the powers of the divine realm against malevolent, demonic forces, particularly during ceremonial evocation and invocation rituals:

Draw the four angels in front of the curtain of the father, while you are wearing a wreath of roses, with a branch of myrtle in your hand, with gum ammoniac in your mouth.

Offering; frankincense, storax, stacte. Nest; slay the six doves. Cinnamon; rose oil, charcoal from white wood; olive wood.
– Di alcuni manoscritti copti

Gum ammoniac is also the traditional adhesive used in gluing parchment and gilding with gold leaf.

Agrippa recommends the following recipe for Mars incense:
For Mars, take ephorbium, bedellium, gum ammoniac, the roots of both hellebores, the loadstones, and a little sulphur; and incorporate them all with the brain of a hart, the blood of a man and the blood of a black cat.

It has a pungent, peculiar aroma when burned on its own, and it sticks with ya.

“Shortly after completing the Barnes Foundation Arboretum School Program in 2005 and during the planning of my own native plant garden I became inspired to start this project. The mission of this work is to record and document what’s become of the plants in our modern culture by contrasting their past and present life histories.

I like to think of my work as contemporary natural history specimens that are influenced by the traditions of specimen mounting and botanical illustration. I combine images with words and create visual narratives that reveal the science, history, and beauty of my subjects. I’m interested in many aspects of plants; from the relationship that people have with them to their ecology, mythology, and medicinal uses.

Original pieces are produced in small editions on 100% watercolor paper. I use a variety of media including: collage, digital imaging, gouache, acrylics, and pen and ink. Some of my inspirations are: Medieval Herbals and manuscripts, Traditional Chinese Medicine (I study it), Pop Art and Surrealism.”

Via the Santa Fe Botanical Garden.

Lemon blossom from the TAL garden. Depending on who you’re speaking to, lemon is considered either a plant of Sol or Luna. Lemon blossoms, lemon peel, and lemon juice are all used in works of purification, longevity, friendship, joy, and clarity.

Herbs from the TAL garden. Used to make bath teas, incense, oil extractions, and hydrosols.

I received two samples of steam-distilled Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens) last week, one from Peru and one from Ecuador, and I finally had a chance to test them today. The quality of both samples is unsurpassed. The scent of Palo Santo is distinctive, complex, and unique: rich, woody, almost anise-like in a way, with a pungent citrus top due to the high content of limonene present in the oil. It is of the utmost importance to Black Phoenix that none of the components that we utilize in our products negatively impact the environment. Both of the oils that we received have been sustainably harvested, one under the supervision of the Peruvian government, and the other by ecologically minded local distillers that collect the wood from the Parque Nacional Machalilla. The palo santo trees drop their branches, and the oil is harvested from this gathered wood. Oil can be harvested from saplings, but the highest quality oil comes from the heartwood.

Palo Santo belongs to Bursera family, and shares some of the qualities of its cousins, frankincense and myrrh, both spiritually and medicinally. Palo Santo has been widely used in spiritual practices and folk remedies throughout history. The wood is considered a boon of good fortune, and is believed to banish misfortune and negativity. In aromatherapy, Palo Santo is used to induce a meditative state, help control panic attacks and anxiety, and to arouse creativity and spark inspiration. Medicinally, Palo Santo has been utilized for hormone regulation, as a respiratory remedy, to speed the healing of musculoskeletal injuries, and to break fevers and fight infections. Palo Santo oil also possesses tremendously high levels of D-Limonene and Monotropenes, which may prove to be chemopreventive and effective in treating some forms of cancer. Palo Santo is a fascinating, multi-faceted plant, and I look forward to working with it more often in the future.

In other news, I read a nifty article today in my Reuters feed: Victorian-Era pressed flowers are helping scientists study climate change.

(As always, the Disclaimer. Has to be said; we don’t want any drama.)

From the Codex Anicia Juliana, AD 512