Benefits include, as information shows, effects including antibacterial, anticatarrhal, antidepressive, cicatrizant (scars, ulcers, wounds), immunostimulant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory uses. As with our Eucalyptus oils, Frankincense is especially helpful in creating your own joint pain and swelling relief oil blend.

Other suggested oils to include in this blend include Peppermint (because menthol helps penetrate below the skin layers to reach nerves and shuttle the analgesic compounds in), plus Basil (either Holy or Tropical versions), Bay (St. Thomas), Birch (Sweet), Cajeput, Chamomile (German), Juniper Berry, Manuka (20%), and Wintergreen.

Historical Uses

Harvesting of frankincense requires a deep longitudinal incision to be made in the trunk of the tree and below that a narrow strip of bark 5 inches in length is peeled off. In response to the incision, the tree releases a milk-like substance; oleo resin, which hardens due to exposure to the air.
The incision is then deepened to encourage further release of the resin. Through further processes, the resin can be steam-distilled into an essential oil.

A very distinctive aromatic, Frankincense was once prized above gold. One of the gifts of the three Magi, it has been traded as a precious commodity for more than 5,000 years. It has been used through the ages in perfuming, aromatic medicine, skincare and cosmetics, embalming, as a mosquito repellent and most extensively for anointing and as an incense offering in religious ceremonies spanning cultures and centuries. The use of Frankincense is so interconnected through the millennia as a religious offering that is has taken on sacred connotations.

The twirling smoke of burning incense was believed to carry prayers or divinations upwards; a magnificent present to the divine Gods. In fact, fragrance was a characteristic sign of the presence of a deity in antiquity. Frankincense was burnt in censers at front doors in times past, believed to purify the air of contaminating miasmic influences of bad luck, evil spirits or illness. The use of Frankincense to enhance spirituality, prayer or meditation, and to awaken higher consciousness, still continues to this day.