Myrrh

What this is

Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha). The bitter resin of the desert tree, wept from a wound in its bark, burned since the oldest temples to purify and to consecrate. The mourning incense, brought to a birth and to a burial alike, it is Saturn's deep cleansing made into smoke.

What it governs

Myrrh answers to Saturn and the element of Earth, with a second hand from Moon. Its seat in the zodiac is Capricorn, and its day is Saturday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with waning moon and balsamic. In the old practice its office is plain: Burned at All Souls or at any memorial — the consecration of sorrow.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning myrrh 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 Saturn, black and indigo; its metal is lead, its stones are jet, malachite, its number 3, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Binah. It is a herb of scent, working through the nose as much as the hand and it is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

One smoke in many sanctuaries: the Egyptians embalmed with myrrh and burned it at noon to the sun; the Magi brought it to a manger; the Hebrews compounded it into the holy anointing oil. Birth, death and the altar share the one resin, because to consecrate and to mourn are the same act of setting a thing apart as sacred.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Myrrh on Today's Herb, Scent of the Hour, Angelic Herb, Moon's Companion, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its office: Burned at All Souls or at any memorial — the consecration of sorrow. 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 Cassiel; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with Saturn's patience, depth and binding. As the Moon's Companion it walks with the night, marking a dream, a tide of feeling, or a thing best done by moonlight. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while waning and balsamic moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Myrrh consecrates and cleanses to the depth. Its bitterness clears what shallower things cannot, the grief that clings, the place gone stale, the threshold that must be made holy. It asks you to honour an ending properly so a true beginning can stand on cleared ground.

Correspondences

planet

Saturn

element

Earth

zodiac

Capricorn

number

3

sephirah

Binah

day

Saturday

colour

black, indigo

metal

lead

stone

jet, malachite

tarot

Death