Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great refernce book.Highly reccomended., March 10, 1999
By A Customer
A great refernce book for enthusiats of ancient cultures and those interested in the beginings of aromatherapy and the use of incense. This book charts out and goes into great depth about the ancient spice routes and how each culture(Egyptian and Mesopotamian) viewed and used Frankincense & Myrrh. The book also includes ancient and modern recipes for medicinal used of both resins.
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
An unfortunate disappointment., August 22, 2001
In my opinion, this book is overpriced, and does not deliver anything near what I would consider to be a complete guide to the use of frankincense and myrrh in herbalism, and/or aromatherapy. Although there are some interesting recipes included in this work, there is little or no discussion regarding the teqniques of preparation, except for making a crude tincture (soaking the resin in a 95% grain alcohol solution)-there is really no discussion of the technique of doing even that; this is entirely unacceptible from the standpoint of an aromatherapist. There are many great historical references in this book, but there are some conflicts as to the actual timeline which they refer to time and again. This is especially true when dealing with ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Summerian civilizations. Perhapps this is due to poor research, edditing, or misprints; or even disagreements amoung Historians regarding ancient histories timetable (I do want to be fair, here). Irregardless of what caused such inaccuracies, it is frustrating to run accross them in the text in the middle of an interesting passage. The historical section of the book is only one of two sections in this book worth anything (again, this is purely my OPINION). The botany section of the book is also good, but falls short in that it fails to give such information as heat, and rainfall requirements, as well as, specific climatic conditions as seasonal temperature ranges, average rainfall, and specific soil (ie- nutrient) requirements. If this information is known, I gues we are left to look it up ourselves. This section could have been greatly expanded with the help of a botanist, and should have been. Another critique I have is that although the authors extol the healing abilities of both frankincense and myrrh, this is at times "watered down," -at some places to the piont of being almost appologetic. They also seem to discourage the use of essential oils of these resins, in favor of tinctures (alcohol based solutions in which the whole resin has been soaked for a period of at least two weeks), to which I somewhat disagree. Tinctures are great, but I do not believe that they can replace the essential oils of these gum/resins. I also understand the need to C.Y.A. in the face of a skeptical, and at times hostile medical community, but the authors let it get the better of them in this text, unfortunately. All in all, this is the only book published regarding frankincense and myrrh, so I have to give the authors credit for their efforts. Never the less, the shortcommings of the book cannot be overlooked. This book is worth reading, but not the price I paid for it. The authors also use it as a vehicle to sell only their products. That is fine to advertise as it is their work, but it is not why I purchased it. Coupled with the price, it detracts from my final rating. I would hope for a much needed and expanded next eddition.
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by Jeanne Rose
