I bet you didn’t know that the word Incense was derived from the Greek word for Frankincense.

Boom. Mind blown.

Okay, so maybe you did know, but I didn’t! See, I’m learning right alongside of you. So, let’s learn together about one of the most holy of essential oils in existence.

There are two kinds of Frankincense, regular Frankincense and Sacred Frankincense. And it comes in two different forms, resin and essential oil. Naturally, the EO form is distilled from the resin form. In order to get the resin, it takes a one to two week process that can only be done twice a year, in Spring and in Fall. First you have to go and cut the tree bark in several places and allow the sap to ooze out. Once it comes in contact with the air, it begins to harden. Once its harden enough, than you have to take an axe and chop the crystals from the tree. Now to make the EO form, the resin is ground into powder, given an oil bath and steam distilled into an EO. And there’s 5 different grades of Frankincense. The lowest being the brownish colored kind that is the most common, because it contains lots of bark particles. The most pure, the whitest form is called Hojari, which is what they reserved for the Kings and Queens, and no doubt was the grade gifted to our King of Kings.

Both can be used aromatically. The resin can be burned in a special resin burner and the oil in an atomizing diffuser. Now the biggest difference between the two is regular Frankincense is for regular use, topically, internally, and aromatically. Sacred Frankincense, on the other hand, is specifically for aromatic use. I’ll explain why later. It’s super cool.

Regular Frankincense is fantastic for everyday life. Not only does it’s smell bring about feelings of reverence, as it was one of the gifts given to Jesus himself, but it’s great for so many of our everyday needs. Let’s explore!

First, ladies…. Put a drop of Frankincense EO in your moisturizer and you can thank me 5 mins later. It is one of the best EOs for your skin. It has powerful astringent properties, allowing it to help clear acne, shrink large pores and lift and tighten your skin. Especially under your eyes and your jowls. You can even rub it on the skin across your abdomen to help lift and tighten there!

Next, its antiseptic properties work fantastically for fighting off tooth decay, cavities, bad breath, etc. Mix a drop with some baking soda for a homemade toothpaste or mix a few drops in a small amount of water for a mouth rinse. It also works great as a household spray for disinfecting surfaces and the air. Consider diffusing some when you have lingering odors and it will help purify and deodorize.

Frankincense is also excellent for indigestion. It helps the body speed up the digestive process by quickening the secretion of gastric juices. And it stimulates the peristaltic movement of the intestines to move things along quicker.

Now, Sacred Frankincense. It is truly special. The biggest difference between Sacred and Regular Frankincense is its chemical composition. It is the variety reserved for use for many centuries during the meditation time of the Jewish Rabbis with God. It contains one of the highest levels of Monoterpenes in all of the EOs, 93%. Monoterpenes are present in almost all of the EOs in varying levels.

Let’s do a quick chemistry lesson. Phenolics clean the receptor sites of cells allowing sesquiterpenes to do their work. Sesquiterpenes delete the bad information in the cellular memory allowing the Monoterpenes to do their thing. Monoterpenes inhibit the accumulation of toxins and they actually restore the correct information in the DNA of the cell once the sesquiterpenes and phenolics have done their job. That’s why it’s so important to have an atomizing diffuser. It allows the EOs to be broken down into their molecular form, allowing us to inhale those chemical compounds into our olfactory bulb. And then passing through to our limbic system, our emotional center, building a sense of reverence along the way, then passing through the blood brain barrier to finally oxygenate our pineal and pituitary glands. And the pineal gland is considered our third eye or spiritual center. The place where we are thought to subconsciously connect with God. Isn’t that amazing?! God told us in the bible to use Frankincense on the altars during times of worship and meditation. And now we have scientifically proven why! I just love when science proves what God has been telling us all this time.

So, go put some frankincense in your diffuser and get your bible. Sit down and give thanks to God for showing us how miraculously wonderful he truly is. He never ceases to amaze me everyday with His attention to detail. Happy Oiling!