This is True Spikenard, the Biblical Spikenard, a strong sedative related to Valerian. Traditionally used in India for relaxing mental stimulation, promoting sleep and calming the mind. Used as an infusion, a tea, or as a thick boiled decoction. In India the roots are a well know tranquilizer and may be used alone or along with Valeriana jatamansi (V. wallichi). An infusion of the root is given in hysteria, palpitation of heart, menopause, and various nervous diseases - ammonia, camphor, or cinammon (Cinnamomum verum) may be added to the infusion (tea). A thick boiled decoction of the root is just that much more powerful. For the treatment of indigestion, a compound preparation consisting of cinnamon, fennel (Foeniculun vulgare), ginger (Zingiber officinalie) and sugar in addition to jatamansi is used. The essential oil from the rhizome is used in perfumery and has a tranquilizing effect when massaged on head or burned as incense. 'And Jesus being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she brake the box, and poured the ointment on his head' (Mark 14:3). Spikenard was transported to the Holy Land in sealed alabaster boxes all the way from the Himalayan mountains. When a distinguished guest came visiting, the master of the house showed honor by breaking open the spikenard and anointing the guest. The Hebrew and the Romans used spikenard in the burial of their dead. This is why Jesus said of the woman who poured the precious spikenard oil on Him, 'She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying'(Mark 14:8). Spikenard helps to soothe and nourish the skin. An Essene Christian comment: 'Christians always regard the spikenard as a perfume, even though it is described correctly as an ointment, and so fail to realize that it is for the leper not for Jesus. In fact nard is an oil from the plant Nardostachys jatamansi which is a member of the valerian family. Its active constituents include camphor and patchouli. Certainly it is used as a deodorant but is also used medicinally and in aromatherapy. It was used as a vapour for depression and as a sedative, and externally for skin conditionsârashes, boils, abscesses, fungal skin infections like ringworm, acne, weeping eczema, cold sores and impetigoâin other words the conditions considered in those days to be leprosy!' During the age of the Roman emperor Claudius in about AD 40, a Greek merchant named Hippalus discovered the full power of the vast wind systems of the Indian Ocean, the monsoons, observing that they reversed their direction twice a year. The southwest monsoon prevailed between April and October, favorable for the trip from Egypt to India, and the northeast monsoon, between October and April, favoring the return voyage from the Orient. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture26/r_26-1l.html The word monsoon is derived from the Arabic mawsi |
