A Brief History of Frankincense | Hacker News Reader

A Brief History of Frankincense

laphamsquarterly.org

53 pointsVigier19 comments

Oman's pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020 is "a tribute to frankincense." I learned more about frankincense than I thought I'd ever know.

https://www.expo2020dubai.com/en/understanding-expo/particip...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1975621/middle-east

I don't think the formula for religious services is as formalized or rigid as the last paragraph claims? Or is that just for catholics?

In orthodox churches for sure it varies church to church and also I think by time of year and maybe other factors. I don't think there's a set recipe.

as I recall in the bible there are more than a couple of recipes for mixtures of incense, resins, and ointments

example: https://www.laparola.net/testo.php?riferimento=Esodo30%2C23-...

(Es.30, 23-25)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+30&versi...

The only restriction I know for Catholics is the main candles must be beeswax - other decorative ones apparently can be little flickering LEDs.

I think the article could be improved with some images of frankincense and the different forms, as well as images of the tree, wood and resin. Currently there aren't any, and words are used to describe it, which is still good, but pictures would make it better.

As a related aside:

The word “magi” is plural for “magus” which means “astrologer”. In the Bible, God condemned all forms of astrology or similar “fortune telling” (e.g. see Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Thus, these astrologers were not some sort of God-ordained “wise men” as many believe. The “star” the astrologers initially followed was for the purpose of leading them and the child to King Herod, who planned to kill the child. God eventually intervened though to foil what was initially an evil plan.

> The word “magi” is plural for “magus” which means “astrologer”

congratulations for this reductionist review of words without references !

It’s a very brief summary. Rather than complaining you would do better to elaborate and and educate.

From the encyclopaedia Britanica it says:

> magus, plural Magi, member of an ancient Persian clan specializing in cultic activities. The name is the Latinized form of magoi (e.g., in Herodotus 1:101), the ancient Greek transliteration of the Iranian original. From it the word magic is derived.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Magus

But I’d love to hear more.

The Biblical “magi” are not the same as the “Persian clan” referenced in your source. The Biblical word is simply a generic term for “astrologers” or “magicians” but which is rooted in the Persian meaning. In fact, the singular “magus” is used in reference to a Jew who practiced some form of magic in Acts 13:6-8.

perhaps look this way

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire#/media/File:...

I don’t understand. You can literally just look it up in any dictionary. What exactly do you think my explanation was lacking?

The article explains why I can’t seem to buy frankincense in any form other than a burnable incense stick.

You can easily, it's available on Amazon and eBay.

Yes, burnable Frankincense incense sticks are common on Amazon, but no candle or mist forms.

Notably, however, there can be ethical or sustainability issues with how incense resins are harvested, so being choosy about finding a seller may be worthwhile.

You can find it locally often enough, too. Look for 'occult' or 'new age' shops and if they don't have it in, they may be able to get it in from a reputable source. There are at least two shops local to me I know of where I can buy multiple varieties (if they exist) of frankincense, myrrh, dragon's blood, copal, and almost any other I've looked for.

With Amazon I’d expect it to be fake. You don’t want to risk ending up like Nadab and Abihu.

Surprisingly cheap, too. $15 for a one pound bag, according to the first listing I found.

Also, from the bullet-pointed list of features:

  - Smells like Church

Get it from sites that sell christian paraphernalia like icons and prayer beads. A lot of them are run by monasteries and have wonderfully out of date ecommerce platforms and weird design, that's a good sign in this case.

There will usually be mostly blends that include frankincense in different amounts so read carefully. The good sites will have at least a couple pure frankincense options though, usually differentiated by origin like coffee.

https://www.google.com/search?q=grade+a+frankincense

There seem to be a lot of hits for the resin.

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