Spikenard

Medicinal Uses

Recent studies have demonstrated Spikenard Root’s ability to stimulate the antibacterial action of white blood cells and the increase of interferon production.

Spikenard oil can be effective for tension, stress, migraine, nervous indigestion and insomnia.It seems to have rejuvenating qualities especially for the mature skin, and can help with allergies, skin inflammations and rashes. It is rejuvenating for the skin.

Spikenard is used to shorten labor and to ease childbirth, reduces uric acid, and is often used in cough syrups.

It is anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and fungicidal. It is also a laxative and a sedative. It is non-toxic, non irritant and non sensitising.
Medically it´s part of the Ayurveda, and is traditionally considered to calm the nerves and promote awareness and strengthen the mind

Spikenard Root has been used for its expectorant qualities in cold relief and for its blood purifying action. It has also gained recent repute for its ability to stimulate phagocytosis in white blood cells while increasing interferon levels, which can lead to a stronger immune system.

History

Native Americans were the first to discover the medicinal properties of Spikenard Root. They used it in a poultice for broken bones and burned the root bark for incense. It was also used as a tonic to speed labor in the last days of pregnancy. Spikenard Root has also been used to treat cold symptoms, especially cough.The oil was known in ancient times and was part of the Ayurvedic herbal tradition of India. It was obtained as a luxury in ancient Egypt, the Near East, and Rome, where it was the main ingredient of the perfume nardinium.

The therapeutic properties of spikenard oil are anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, antiseptic, calmative, sedative, laxative and tonic

Spikenard's warm and earthy scent has a calming
effect on the mind, soothing deeply-held anxiety
and instilling a profound sense of peace and inner
balance.
Spikenard was the oil used by Mary Magdalene to
anoint the feet of Jesus. It is one of the most
ancient aromatics, considered precious to early
Egyptian, Hebrew, and Hindu civilizations for
ritual purposes. Its fragrance is calming and so is often incorporated into meditation oils (for some it can be strongly sedating).

Scripture References

The King James Version (Authorized)
So 1:12
While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
 
So 4:13
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

So 4:14
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

Mr 14:3
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

Biblical References

In John's account the woman is identified as Mary, the sister of Lazarus.
"Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment."
"Then saith one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray Him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein."

"Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death" (John 12:1-10 KJV)
In Mark's account the woman is unnamed, and she anointed Christ's head with the spikenard, rather than His feet as in the above account by John. In this incident more than one person complained that it was a "waste of money," while in John's only Judas Iscariot is said to have complained. The accounts also indicate that John's occurred at the house of Martha and Mary, while Mark's occurred at the house of Simon the leper. Overall, the differences strongly indicate not Biblical contradictions, but two somewhat similar, but different, anointings.
"After two days was the Feast of the Passover, and of Unleavened Bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not on the Feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people."
"And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on His head."
"And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her."
"And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." (Mark 14:1-9 KJV)