Spikenard: What is it and where you may have heard about it?

Spikenard

What is it and where you may have heard about it?

It will probably be of not much help if I were to tell you it belongs to the Genus species Nardostachys Jatamonsi and it is used in Catholic iconography to represent Saint Joseph and is indeed pictured on the Coat of Aram worn by current Pope Francis.  As you may have already gathered it is expensive spiced oil that is connected to both Judaism and Christianity and, to lesser extent, Islam.  Spikenard grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India at altitudes of between 3,000 to 5,000 meters.  It got its name from the spike like shape of the root and spiny stem of the herb plant.  The Greeks and the Romans loved the smell and willingly paid the expense involved in shipping it long distance from the Himalayan Mountains through India in sealed alabaster boxes, costly containers that were open only on special occasions.  The cost of the perfume was three hundred denarii at a time when a worker wage for a day was one denarii.  

In other words, a vial of Spikenard would cost almost a year wage. 

Religious Significance of Spikenard  

Proverbs 27:9 states: “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel”.  

Matthew 26:6-13 states: “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and pour it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.  When Jesus understood it he said unto them: Why trouble ye the woman? For she had wrought good work upon me. For ye hath the poor always with you but me you ye have not always. For in that she had poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.  Verily I say to you wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her”.

John 12:3 states: “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 odour of the ointment”.

One should note that contrary to the other three Gospels, only the gospel of John names the woman as Mary.  This act by a woman made all twelve disciples livid and may have indeed being a significant factor in Judas reason for betraying Jesus at the Last Supper.   The literal meaning of the word “Messiah” is “Anointed One” in first century Judaism any and all references to the “Anointed One” is reference to the King of the Jews whom God would raise at the end of times.

It is worthwhile noting that a newly born baby is capable of detecting and identifying some ten thousand different scents and that the receptors that receptors that allow that detection to take place are much more sophisticated than those of vision and hearing. In fact the first of the twelve cranial nerves is the olfactory nerve which directly connects to the brain compared to the optic nerve, and the auditory branch of the trigeminal nerve.

It is also worthwhile noting the significance of smell as a survival factor in Darwinian evolutionary sense viz:

Smell is the principle factor that a sperm makes its way towards an egg and at the same noting that in the process sperms are competing with each other and the fastest sperm is the successful one.  Smell is the principal factor a newly born finds its mother nipple.  Likewise smell is the principle reason how a mother that has just given birth finds her newly born from other newly born in a hospital maternity ward.  Needless to say smell is equals to if not greater factor in dating between the sexes and it is no wonder that the multi billion dollars perfume industry is in constant search for the equivalent to and perhaps the ultimate Spikenard.

In Part II of this Spikenard Blog I will discuss the aromas that are now used in alters of synagogues and churches and the significance of incense and other offerings prior to and during mass.  I will also discuss the significance of smell in tribal cultures in fending off evil spirits.

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