Did You Know?

	Like gold and jewels, these Fragrances were a measure of wealth in Ancient times
	Ancient clay tablets discovered in the Middle East testify to the fact that colossal fortunes were paid to Priests, Magi, and perfume makers who provided these divine Essences to the rich and famous in Ancient times.
	In Ancient times, almost every royal court guarded amongst its treasures jars of Frankincense, Cinnamon, and precious oil of Nard and Myrrh. Some aromatic resins were even treated as precious stones.
	It is believed that the Hebrews learned the apothecary art and application of aromatic essential oils from the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians were without a doubt the perfume specialists of the Fertile Crescent during Ancient times. Workers in Ancient Egypt were even paid with anointing oil, scented balms, perfumes, herbs and spices.
	The Pharaoh, Seti I, issued a ration of perfumed oils to his armies in 1300 B.C. His son Ramses II offered 1,933,766 measures of Frankincense to the gods during his reign as Pharaoh.
	A thousand years after Ramses II, Roman emperor Nero exhausted the entire supply of incense from Africa in a single offering at the funeral of his wife, Poppaea.
	The use of perfumes reached its high point when Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, drenched the sails of her ships with the most exquisite aromatic Essences so that their fragrance would herald her approach along the banks of the Nile.
	The name of Christ (from the Greek ³Christos²) means the ³Anointed One.² In times past, it was the mark left by the unction at the ordination sacrament which entitled the priest alone, in celebrating the Eucharist, to touch the transubstantiated matter with his hands without sacrilege.
	Anointing with essential oils and the burning of incense during times of worship are ancient and widespread practices among every major nation and religion.
	Probably the oldest known Biblical reference to divine Essences is Adam¹s burning of a sweet perfume of spices, incense, Galbanum, Onycha, and Storax, in the morning at sunrise to God Almighty.
	Not only did God give Moses specific instructions for combining these Essences for Holy anointing oil, but also for combining them into a pure and Holy confection to be burned as incense as a testimony in a tabernacle of the congregation before the presence of the Almighty One.
	The three Magi, or Wise Men, were kings in their own right and were often portrayed as symbols of revelation of the divine message and birth of the Son of God. After following the star of prophesy, their long journey depicts them offering gifts at the feet of baby Jesus, the Holy Child. Melchior lays gold at His feet -- ³For he is King²; Balthasar gives Frankincense ­ ³For He is God²; And Gaspar offers Myrrh ­ ³For He is the incarnation of Mortal Man.² It is of no small significance that two of the three offerings as gifts to the Son of God at his birth were the divine Essences Frankincense and Myrrh.
	The ORIGINAL meaning of the word ³incense² was Frankincense. Only in recent times has it come to mean a general word for burning other fragrances.
	To this day, Holy Men around the world including the Pope burn Frankincense and Myrrh when praying to God.