The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Myrrh

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Today we discuss an herbal resin that was once more valuable than gold.  Myrrh was considered a virtual cure-all in the ancient world and is still very useful. Also, I am back on Youtube Please subscribe to my channel: @judsoncarroll5902   Judson Carroll - YouTubeEmail: [e-mail] a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/southern-appalachian-herbs--4697544/supportRead about The Spring Foraging Cookbook: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R54Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTHandConfirmation, an Autobiography of Faithhttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNKVisit my Substack and sign up for my free newsletter:https://judsoncarroll.substack.com/Read about my new other books:Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPSThe Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6andGrowing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Elsehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/04/growing-your-survival-herb-garden-for.htmlhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9RThe Encyclopedia of Medicinal Bitter Herbs: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-encyclopedia-of-bitter-medicina.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5MYJ35RandChristian Medicine, History and Practice: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTBHerbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.htmlAlso available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25Podcast:  https://www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbsBlog: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/Free Video Lessons: Herbal Medicine 101 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7QS6b0lQqEclaO9AB-kOkkvlHr4tqAbsBECOME A SUPPORTER FOR AD FREE PODCASTS, EARLY ACCESS & TONS OF MEMBERS ONLY CONTENT!Red Beacon Ready OUR PREPAREDNESS SHOPThe Prepper's Medical Handbook Build Your Medical Cache – Welcome PBN FamilySupport PBN with a Donation Join the Prepper Broadcasting Network for expert insights on #Survival, #Prepping, #SelfReliance, #OffGridLiving, #Homesteading, #Homestead building, #SelfSufficiency, #Permaculture, #OffGrid solutions, and #SHTF preparedness. With diverse hosts and shows, get practical tips to thrive independently – subscribe now!Newsletter – Welcome PBN FamilyGet Your Free Copy of 50 MUST READ BOOKS TO SURVIVE DOOMSDAY

Hey y'all. Welcome to this week's show. Today we're going to talk about a really interesting herb, and it is actually an herb. It's a tree resin. And it's kind of strange to think that myrrh and its close relative frankincense were herbs once more valuable than gold. When the Magi had bought those gifts to the Christ Child, they're presenting the most precious commodities in the ancient world. the Mur was both a suitable Let me try that again Mur was both a suitable offering rich and religious and cultural tradition but it was also the same powerfully medicinal herb that we can purchase

relatively inexpensively today By cleaning the elders' time it was the trade of that had made the Arab spice trade, obviously not space, man I'm just stumbling over everything today the Arab spice trade the source of tremendous wealth

long before that however Mur was used in everything from Egyptian perfumes and fumigants to the Hebrew anointing of Levitical priests now it's most often used in the incense burned in many Catholic churches at Mass however

Mur is still a potent and important medicinal herb in the apothecary but why was this incense as we think of it now so esteemed in the Middle East well first Well, the answer is kind of obvious. It was a hot place to live with scarce water, poor hygiene, and sanitation.

And people and their surroundings often smelled very foul. I mean, open sewers, a whole bit, and no bathing. The heavy scent of myrrh was surely a relief to anybody could afford it. But beyond that, though, consider the common maladies. of the day, lips cracked from sun and wind, cuts and scratches that could easily become infected, boils, toothaches, infections of the gums, mouth and throat, various digestive complaints and issues, and insect bites, you know, insect bites that could easily become infected, and myr was a variable panacea for those really most common maladies of the time.

According to the physician's desk reference verbal medicine, Murr is stated to possess. antimicrobial, astringent, carminative, that means settles an upset stomach. Expectorant, anti-cataral, that means clears congestion. I'm going to try to define anything that I see that you may not be familiar with.

Antiseptic and vulnerability, or wound healing properties. Traditionally has been used for apis ulcers, pharyngitis or laryngitis, respiratory, catterer, or congestion, common cold wounds and abrasions, and especially for mouth ulcers, gingivitis, and other issues like that, sore throats and such. MERS' local astringent, disinfectant, and granulation-promoting effects are a result of its essential oil, consisting mainly of sesquiturpenes and amyroids.

In folk medicine, Murr is occasionally used internally as a carmenative for nonspecific intestinal infections, and also as an expectant for coughs. Fult medicine uses have also included stimulating the appetite and the flow of digestive juices. In Chinese medicine, uses include carbuncles, furuncles, wounds as a stiptic, aminorrhea, and abdominal tumor. So mainly skin issues, but also some menstrual issues.

In Indian medicine, among its uses in Indian medicine, are menstrual disorders, stomach complaints, wounds, ulcers, and inflammations of the skin and mouth. This is the physician's desk reference, so it's going to give you contraind addictions, not to be used during pregnancy. Absolutely not to be used during pregnancy. It could cause miscarriage, cause a lot of damage to mother and child,

not to be used while breastfeeding. No health hazards or side effects are known in conjunction with the proper administration of designated therapeutic doses. And I am getting a foot cramp. Got to get straightened up in this chair here. There we go. So what is Mur? Well, okay.

Mur comes from the Arabic word M-U-R-R-R, meaning bitter. And Mur, of course, is M-Y-R-H. So very closely related words. Bitter-tasting, agreeably aromatic, yellow-to-reddish-brown, oleosinousinous gum obtained from various small, thorny flowering trees of the genus Camaphora, of the incense tree family, that's Bursarachia, The two main varieties of myrrh are Arabal and Bicebal.

Arabol Mur is obtained from the Sea Muratree, which grows in Ethiopia, Arabia, and Somalia, while the Bicebawal, Mur, is obtained from Sea Arithraria, which is an Arabian species similar appearance. Mur trees are found on parched rocky hills and grow up to nine feet tall, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Yes, we had to go back to the old Encyclopedia. for that. So this is not one you can probably grow unless you're in the desert, in which case you might want to look into mesquite as a local alternative. Chaparral. That would be a real good one. But you could probably grow a species of myrr in such places. For most of it, it's something, you know, you just want to kind of buy and put in the medicine cabinet. A little bit goes a very long way.

strong stuff. And of course, if you want to have it as incense or something like that, you're going to need more. And if you do, there's several companies online, mainly for the Catholic and Anglican churches, on the Orthodox churches, they still use more incense, and you'll get a better price that way than if you try to buy it through an herbal medicine store and make your own. Hippocrates recommended mur and formulas for violent pains of the eyes and fever. The aphrastus describes tapping certain trees such as pine to collect the resin and the use of gum such as frankincense and myrrh. Deiasekortes wrote of myr.

Let's get through the description here. Decoction taken as a drink with wine helps those bitten by harvest spiders and purges out the menstrual flow in afterbirth. Boiled in liquid to be sipped, it is given for pulmonary consumption. Tuberculosis, another way. Some say that it is a prophylactic against infection, taken as a drink with wine, twice or three times daily, in pestilential seasons. You know, during plagues and such, it may have helped, again, I don't know. It is also called canilla or mura.

And, of course, his pestilential season wouldn't necessarily be a plague. I mean, it could be hot weather when the water was particularly bad. It could have been a time when they were having. Well, that would be more plague-related issues with rats and such. But anyway, St. Hildegard von Bingen recommended that the scent of myrrh be used for bad dreams, melancholy, and even emotional issues caused by evil spirits. Internally, she recommended it infused in warm wine for fevers. Let me get a sip of water here.

There we go. In the German folk medicine tradition, brother Aloysius recommended ur-mer to be used for, For the stomach and intestines, for a mucus stomach indigestion, irregular menstruation, leukeria, chronic chest complaints, fevers, inflammation, gas, piles, swollen liver, poor circulation, mucus lungs, thick, bad pus, mucus in the womb and bladder, and has a mouthwash for rotten teeth and gums, ulcerations of the throat and throat complaints. So, I mean, you could see this was, like I said, pretty much a cure-all in 2000 years ago. and obviously very, very, very valuable.

Getting up to about the 1930s, Ms. Greaves said, Muras is a stringent, healing, tonic, and stimulant. In this case, we're talking tonic for the digestive system. And stimulant would probably be for digestion as well. A direct aminagogue, a tonic in dyspepsia that's upset stomach again, especially with gas and bloating. An expectant in the absence of feverish symptoms. stimulant to the mucus tissue and stomatic carmenative exciting appetite and the flow of gastric juices and as a stringent wash.

It is used in chronic catara, the word I can never pronounce. I'm not even going to try. P-H-T-H-I-S-I-S. That's impossible for me. I'll end up sound like Sylvester the putty tat. I mean, really. Chlorosis and aminarea often combined with aloe and aloe and aloeia. iron. As a wash, it is good for spongy gums, ulcerated throat, and aptostomotus,

stomatitis, I should say, apthostomatitis. And as a tincture, it is also applied to foul and indolent ulcers. It has been found very helpful in bronchorea and lucuria, and is also used as a vermifuge. I think, yeah, I can probably get into some instructions on the tincture. It's a little difficult to turn a resin into a tincture, but it can be done. So hopefully I'll have time to cover that. Mur is a common ingredient in tooth powders and is used with borax in tincture with other ingredients. It's a mouthwash. A lot of people don't like to use borax internally eating more. Was once far more commonly done. You have to do your own research on that. The compound tincture or horse tincture is used in veterinary practice for healing wounds. The later Orblist Michael Moore, the herbalist, not the filmmaker, said that Murr was useful in conjunctiveitis as an eye wash at the onset of styes, acute periodontist, acute apthostomatitis again with painful inflammation, acute early stages of herpes topically, acute sinusitis with ulcerations as a nasal spray, intrusicumid asthma with moist cough,

Acute, hot, dry bronchitis in the aged in older people with secretions. Chronic bronchitis with profuse secretions and debility, bronchorea, chronic cough with debility. Chronic cisteria without active inflammation in exhausted feeble states. Chronic cystitis, urethritis without active inflammation. Chronic nephritis without active inflammation. Basically all resins can irritate the kidneys so you don't use them. when the kitties are inflamed, ditto and cystitis. Gastroenteritis with mucus hypersecretions, ulcers,

subacute or chronic, not inflamed, but congested. Anything else? Oh, for herpes simplex to speed regeneration used externally. Skin ulcers, moist surfaces used externally, endometriitis, merititis with fever, and since it, oh gosh, I can't. Can you pronounce that one? For immunosuppression, and that may be one of the reasons it was recommended in pestilential times by deuscorides.

And in that case, it's best combined with baptisia and echinacea, two fairly common herbs. Acute vaginitis used internally. Blood serum levels, white cell depression of any cause, and that also combined with echinacea. Endogenous infections of depressed, white blood count, cancer, or immunoccurious. suppression from therapy or immunosuppression with marked white blood count depression also with echinacea to stimulate innate immunity immunosuppression recent from stress with echination and lukapena again with echinacea so good really good to combine those two now i take mur daily as part of the great Swedish bitters and i mean you know i swear by that attribute great improvements to my health using it. It is strong. There's myrr and there's camphor in the great Swedish bitters.

In the counter that, they actually put in a little rock sugar. And I mean, it, when you get that first batch and take the first teaspoonful, I mean, it'll about knock you down. Very bitter, very aromatic. Most often I use myrr as an ingredient in a comfy salve to heal wounds. Really good. the my, you know, disinfectant and everything that's comfrey that heals. Comfrey's so effective and proliferating cells that it can close a wound so quickly that sometimes it can seal germs inside and cause an infection. With the addition of myr, as a disinfectant, it makes such risk of far less likely. Mountain Rose herbs, cells are myr for, let's see, I wrote this book two years ago.

so you would have to factor in inflation a little bit, but Mountain Rose at that point had it 1275 for four ounces. So compared to how valuable it was 2,000 years ago, definitely not more valuable than gold, but still a very precious herb. Now, I talked about making a mure tincture. You really, you're going to want to use a stronger alcohol than you would use for most tinctures.

And if you're using it externally, only, only externally, I would just use 70% isopropal alcohol or if they even have a stronger one on the shelf. I mean, the rubbing alcohol. Label it clearly not for internal use because isopropal alcohol will destroy your kidneys. It's really bad for you. It's going to make you incredibly sick. If you're using it internally, well, the best thing to do would be to try to get some pharmaceutical grade alcohol. that stuff's like almost a hundred proof that's not as easy these days as it used to be when you could just go to your pharmacy and order some that believe it or not really until the 90s you

could still do that um ever clear you know you just go get the strongest proof ever clear you can possibly get put your mur in there you want to crush it into as fine a powder as you can alcohol should at least be warm temperature. If you can warm it up without any danger of catching fire, that's going to help. Dissolving into the alcohol and every day shake it up because the resins are going to tend to want to collect at the bottom of the jar, separate themselves out from the tincture. So before you shake it up, if you can shake it up once a day, maybe keep it in a cabinet over your refrigerator or something like that where it's going to say somewhat warm. but again you don't want this you know high-proof alcohol can catch fire very quickly so you

want to be very careful with that what I would probably do would be to make a tincture like that and if I was using it again externally try to combine it with some coconut oil something like that use it as a salve honey it would be it combines well with honey if you wanted to use it on wounds and such and yes that's sticky and nasty but it works really really well um i have never tried doing an oil and infused oil with a resin i'm not sure how that would go i'm not thinking it's going to work very well but i could be wrong but yeah uh high proof alcohol on that is going to work best and just you know keep it don't let it get cold and shake it up and if it does get cold it's probably going to get sink to the bottom and you're going to have to kind of warm it a little bit

and shake it up real well. But anyway, so it's not impossible. And, yeah, I mean, it's extremely useful herb. Like I said, combining it with comfrey, it is just great for healing wounds. I mean, that's like my almost herbal neosporin or something. I mean, it's just really, really good. All right, y'all, so have a great week. I will talk to you next time.

Should have actually a very relevant show for next time. The plant we're going to be talking about is coming into season. in the next week where I live I'm looking at the berries they're about half ripe and by next week they should be fantastic and we'll talk about that but I'm not going to give you an idea what it is you're gonna have to join us next time same same bat channel right you all have a good one you remember a Rocky and Bullwinkle show I love Rocky and Bullwinkle they're all on on YouTube so you can pull them up watch the old Rocky and Bull Winkles if you got kids introduce some brilliant

intelligent, funny kids can be cartoon. And they always did those cliffhanger endings as well. And man, what a funny cartoon that was. You know, I loved it as a kid, rediscovered it a few years ago, like during COVID when I was just sitting there wasting time and had nothing to do. And oh, man, I laughed and laughed. I could not believe how clever those jokes were. And a lot of them went over my head as a kid, you know, as an adult. really very very clever show very funny highly recommend and I mean given the garbage on television

and most of the internet these days getting a little library together of some Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons would be a very good idea if you've got some kids I also rediscovered my absolute favorite from childhood and that was Hong Kong Fui now if you remember Hong Kong Fui you're probably about 50 years old right now. It was Scatman Crothers, the actor, musician, dancer, Scatman Crothers. He played Hong Kong Fouet, number one super guy. He was hilarious. It was really, really, really good. I think that was a Hannah Barbera cartoon. Anyway, you know, they did Grape Ape and Huckleberry Hound and Captain Caveman. I love Captain Caveman. And, of course, the Flintstones. What a wonderful memory.

All-time favorite, though. I did say my all-time favorite was Hong Kong Phooey. No. Bugs Bunny, you cannot beat Looney Tunes. I was never a big Disney guy, never really got into Mickey Mouse and all that. But Bugs Bunny, oh, wow, love, absolutely love those old cartoons. I joke sometimes that, like, my only, I think Jerry Seinfeld said this, my only exposure to higher culture like opera and such is Elmer Fudd,

singing cue do I bit. Kew do I bit. Anyway, y'all. Have a great week and I'll talk to you next time. The information in this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition.

Nothing I say or right has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor. The U.S. government does not recognize the practice of verbal medicine and there is no governing body regulating herbless. Therefore, I'm really just a guy who studies herbs. I'm not offering any of

I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb has helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you.

You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even. even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself to your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.