Frankincense

What this is

Frankincense (Boswellia sacra). Olibanum, the pure incense of the temple, the Sun-resin of Leo carried to the Christ-child and burned before the gods of Egypt, Babylon, and Rome. Tears of a desert tree that turn, on the coal, to a clean and rising smoke. The reference incense of solar work.

What it governs

Frankincense answers to Sun and the element of Fire. Its seat in the zodiac is Leo, and its day is Sunday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the full moon. In the old practice its office is plain: The reference incense. A grain on the charcoal opens any Solar work.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning frankincense is warm and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the resin. Its working colour follows Sun, gold and solar yellow; its metal is gold, its stones are amber, topaz, its number 6, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Tiphareth. It is a herb of scent, working through the nose as much as the hand, it carries well on the body, kept in a pocket or a small sachet, and it is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

Consecration everywhere: the dawn temple-smoke offered to Ra in Egypt; the swinging censer at the Catholic altar; the conjure-smoke that clears a room and lifts a working. To purify a place and raise the prayer, one rising column from Thebes to the cathedral.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Frankincense on Today's Herb, Scent of the Hour, Angelic Herb, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its one office: the reference incense. A grain on the charcoal opens any Solar work. As the Scent of the Hour its message arrives through the nose, so let its smoke or its smell set the temper of the hour. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Michael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with solar warmth and the will to shine. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while the full moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Frankincense consecrates and raises. Its whole nature is to set the lowest things down and lift the highest up. It asks you to clear your ground first, then aim your intention as high as it will go.

Correspondences

planet

Sun

element

Fire

zodiac

Leo

number

6

sephirah

Tiphareth

day

Sunday

colour

gold, solar yellow

metal

gold

stone

amber, topaz

tarot

The Sun