Aloeswood / Lignum Aloes (Aquilaria malaccensis) This
has nothing to do with the aloes that most of us are familiar with.
Instead, it comes from a knot that is formed by an evergreen tree when
it is infected by a particular fungus. The tree produces a wonderfully
scented resin, usually considered a Jupiter
herb, as part of its immune response, and this resin permeates the
wood. This substance is a classic in ceremonial magick. It has a very
psychoactive scent. Chinese medicine uses aloeswood for obsessive
thinking, nervousness, and exhaustion. In Ayurveda, it drives away evil
spirits and helps clear mental illness. An aphrodisiac, when it is
mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, which gave it its name (from ahalim), it
is in connection with sexuality, whether actual or spiritual--see the
highly erotic Song of Solomon, for instance. Unfortunately, the
harvesting of this type of wood has been so driven by greed that not
only is the price absurd but many of the actual trees are gone. My
Chinese supplier for the powder is no longer able to get any decent
supply. The harvesting of aloeswood from other than government
regulated plantations in Vietnam or the Philippines is the
equivalent of strip mining, and I do not want to participate in that
sort of trade, not to mention that such trade is illegal. |
I have not yet made up my mind whether I want to continue to sell this substance, given the enormous amount of clear-cutting that is going on in ALL countries that have ANY aloeswood trees.
Protection
Spells © 2006, 2016 Harold A. Roth; No reproduction without permission |