Mystical systems
Frankincense
Direct answer
Frankincense is the fragrant resin of Boswellia trees of southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa, burned as incense in temples and churches since antiquity.
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At a glance
- Also called
- olibanum
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- Myrrh, Altar of Incense, Magical Correspondences, Smudging
Frankincense is the fragrant resin of Boswellia trees of southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa, burned as incense in temples and churches since antiquity.
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What is frankincense?
Frankincense is a gum resin. Harvesters cut the bark of Boswellia trees, small trees of dry, rocky country in Oman, Yemen, Somalia and Ethiopia, and collect the pale drops, called tears, that harden on the wound. Laid on hot charcoal the tears give a white, sweet, resinous smoke.
That smoke has been offered in worship for some four thousand years, in Egypt, in the Temple at Jerusalem, in Greek and Roman rites and in Christian churches to this day. It has stood for prayer rising and for the presence of the divine, and in the story of the Magi it is the gift that befits a god.
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What sets Frankincense apart
Frankincense is a wound that pays. The tree gives resin only when its bark is cut, and the best grades come from the later cuts of a season, pale and almost translucent. The trees will not be farmed easily: they grow on cliffs and in gravel where little else lives, which kept the supply in a few hands for millennia. Its smoke is white where most incense smoke is grey, one reason it became the picture of prayer made visible.
- Source: Boswellia trees, chiefly Boswellia sacra and Boswellia papyrifera
- Homeland: Oman, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan
- Older name: olibanum
- Word: Old French franc encens, pure or noble incense
- In scripture: Exodus 30:34, the Temple incense; Matthew 2:11, the gift of the Magi
- Traditional planet: the Sun, in Ficino and in Agrippa
Often mistaken for something else: Myrrh comes from a different tree and smells dark and bitter; frankincense is pale, sweet and bright. They were traded together and are paired in almost every list.
The story behind Frankincense
Caravans carried frankincense north from Arabia along what is called the Incense Route, and Pliny wrote that the trade made the Arabians the richest people on earth. Exodus lists it among the ingredients of the Temple incense, and Matthew names it among the gifts of the Magi. The English word comes from Old French franc encens, pure incense; its older name is olibanum. Researchers warned in 2019 that the trees are failing to renew themselves over much of their range.
Why Frankincense matters
Frankincense is the incense by which the others are measured, and the one most deeply woven into scripture and liturgy.
How to read Frankincense
It is burned on charcoal in worship and at home, and named in tables of correspondences as a thing of the Sun.
Frankincense in practice: an example
A single tear of frankincense set unlit in a dish on a shelf can stand, as it did for Ficino, for the Sun.
Where readings of Frankincense go wrong
Frankincense is for burning with a window open, never for swallowing; its smoke is still smoke, and it is kept from children and pets.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- frankincense meaning, olibanum, frankincense incense, what is frankincense, frankincense in the bible
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What is frankincense?
It is the hardened resin of Boswellia trees from Arabia and the Horn of Africa. It is burned as incense and gives a sweet, resinous white smoke.
What does frankincense symbolise?
Prayer rising to heaven and the presence of the holy. In Christian tradition the frankincense of the Magi is read as a sign of divinity, beside gold for kingship and myrrh for death.
Why was frankincense so valuable?
It grows only in a few dry regions and was in demand in every temple of the ancient world, so it travelled far by caravan and ship and was taxed at each stage.
