By Liliana Usvat
Blog 332-365
Copal trees, or Pom (Maya), Protium copal, Burseraceae family of torchwood trees. Maya people highly value the Copal tree resin as a sacred incense in all their mystical ceremonies and sacred rituals. Before harvesting the Copal resin, the Maya celebrate Mayan rituals for the Aluxes (small supernatural creatures who live in and guard the Mayan forest). Mayan J-Men bless with great reverence their valuable copal resin, a highly combustible sap that hardens as it dries in golden milky amber-quartz like chunks.
Copal is a name given to tree resin that is particularly identified with the aromatic resins used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and other purposes.
To the pre-Columbian Maya and contemporary Maya peoples it is known in the various Mayan languages as pom (or a close variation thereof)
Copal is still used by a number of indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America as an incense, during sweat lodge ceremonies and Sacred Mushroom ceremonies ..
Copal is from the Nahuatl language and the word is derived from “copalli,” which means incense; Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs. In Belize, copal is used as incense and can be found in most market places in the country; they are sold in one pound blocks of resin in its most natural form, with complimentary pieces of dried bark, leaves and drunken baymen, wrapped in leaf parcels.
The Maya and Latino people of Toledo, pieces of copal on coals for spiritual cleansing. Copal has been used in ancient Maya and Aztec ceremony as a ritual offering to the gods. The secondary and less well-known use of copal is as medicine.
The concept of “evil eye” and “spiritual cleansing” so people use of copal for these purpose.
Medicinal Uses
History
Copal is the name given to the aromatic resin derived from the sap or “blood” of certain trees from the Torchwood family that hardens when in contact with the air.
A process of tree selection is done by “copaleros” or experts on discriminating whether the tree is robust and healthy enough for it to flow well throughout the harvesting season.
Traditionally, cuts are done on the bark of the copal tree and a maguey stalk is placed underneath to receive the resin that will turn into the aromatic, sacred incense.
The uses of copal in ancient Mexico and amongst native cultures nowadays can be divided into four functions: adivinatory, preventive, therapeutic, and divine offerings.
The Otomi people “read” the copal’s smoke with the aid of a candle to diagnose disease; copal smudging is one of the most common preventive and therapeutic practices in traditional medicine;
the Lacandon people craft receptacles dedicated to a particular god(des) in which copal is burned, thus “feeding” the divine abode of such deities.
Copal’s importance was such that not only survived the arrival of the Spaniards but was adopted by them, becoming a common element in Church services.
Links
http://maya-archaeology.org/pre-Columbian_Mesoamerican_Mayan_ethnobotany_Mayan_iconography_archaeology_anthropology_research/copal_pom_Maya_incense_religious_ceremonies.php
https://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/copal.htm
http://teomatisacredcopal.com/copals-history/
Blog 332-365
Copal trees, or Pom (Maya), Protium copal, Burseraceae family of torchwood trees. Maya people highly value the Copal tree resin as a sacred incense in all their mystical ceremonies and sacred rituals. Before harvesting the Copal resin, the Maya celebrate Mayan rituals for the Aluxes (small supernatural creatures who live in and guard the Mayan forest). Mayan J-Men bless with great reverence their valuable copal resin, a highly combustible sap that hardens as it dries in golden milky amber-quartz like chunks.
Copal is a name given to tree resin that is particularly identified with the aromatic resins used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and other purposes.
To the pre-Columbian Maya and contemporary Maya peoples it is known in the various Mayan languages as pom (or a close variation thereof)
Copal is still used by a number of indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America as an incense, during sweat lodge ceremonies and Sacred Mushroom ceremonies ..
Copal is from the Nahuatl language and the word is derived from “copalli,” which means incense; Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs. In Belize, copal is used as incense and can be found in most market places in the country; they are sold in one pound blocks of resin in its most natural form, with complimentary pieces of dried bark, leaves and drunken baymen, wrapped in leaf parcels.
The Maya and Latino people of Toledo, pieces of copal on coals for spiritual cleansing. Copal has been used in ancient Maya and Aztec ceremony as a ritual offering to the gods. The secondary and less well-known use of copal is as medicine.
The concept of “evil eye” and “spiritual cleansing” so people use of copal for these purpose.
Medicinal Uses
- Copal was used in its raw, unrefined form and was used especially for skin infections (bark, leaves, dead flies and all!).
- the resin has been used to plug tooth cavities,
- as an expectorant and
- in the treatment of muscular aches and pains.
- copal’s white smoke helps with headaches and relieves diseases associated with cold and humidity.
- the resin is used in tea to treat bronchitis and applied locally for coughs and rheumatism.
- antiseptic (both externally and internally) and
- anti-rheumatic properties
The gum [resin] is boiled, shaped into hard pellets, burned with live coals in incense burners, and the fumes allowed to
pass over the body to cure various illnesses, to protect oneself
against sorcery, sickness, and misfortune, and to cleanse the body
after contact with the ritually unclean, especially sick persons and
corpses.
A tea of the bark is taken to relieve
dysentery. A type of sandal is carved from the wood, to be worn on muddy
trails. The wax [resin] is burned in the houses to drive away insects and when freshly made serves as an all-purpose solder or
glue.
This is used to mend leaks in all non-cooking containers, to
plug the mouth end of flutes, to tip drum sticks, to glue wood especially in the manufacture of the TUN drum, fiddles, and guitars, and for glueing the leather straps to tool
handles. It is burned in incense burners at nearly all the religious ceremonies, and the Catholic churches of the area are said to use it exclusively.
History
Copal is the name given to the aromatic resin derived from the sap or “blood” of certain trees from the Torchwood family that hardens when in contact with the air.
A process of tree selection is done by “copaleros” or experts on discriminating whether the tree is robust and healthy enough for it to flow well throughout the harvesting season.
Traditionally, cuts are done on the bark of the copal tree and a maguey stalk is placed underneath to receive the resin that will turn into the aromatic, sacred incense.
The uses of copal in ancient Mexico and amongst native cultures nowadays can be divided into four functions: adivinatory, preventive, therapeutic, and divine offerings.
The Otomi people “read” the copal’s smoke with the aid of a candle to diagnose disease; copal smudging is one of the most common preventive and therapeutic practices in traditional medicine;
the Lacandon people craft receptacles dedicated to a particular god(des) in which copal is burned, thus “feeding” the divine abode of such deities.
Copal’s importance was such that not only survived the arrival of the Spaniards but was adopted by them, becoming a common element in Church services.
Links
http://maya-archaeology.org/pre-Columbian_Mesoamerican_Mayan_ethnobotany_Mayan_iconography_archaeology_anthropology_research/copal_pom_Maya_incense_religious_ceremonies.php
https://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/copal.htm
http://teomatisacredcopal.com/copals-history/
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