Immerse your senses in the Scented Luxuries of Ancient Egypt!

A blend of five aromatic botanical ingredients, the Oil of Abramelin is a consecrated anointing oil that was and still is used in ceremonial magic. It is named after a medieval grimoire called The Book of Abramelin, which tells the story of an Egyptian mage named Abraham, or Abra-Melin, who taught a system of magic to Abraham of Worms, a German Jew, presumed to have lived from 1362 - 1458 CE. The recipe described therein is clearly adapted from the Jewish holy anointing oil recipe of the Tanakh, or Jewish canon, which is described in the 3,000-year-old Book of Exodus (30:22-25) attributed to Moses.

Moses was said to have been taught Egyptian priest-craft in their temples, with his sacred anointing oil being very similar to the Egyptian Madjet unguent, ingredients-wise. According to Exodus these are: cinnamon, myrrh, kaneh-bosm, cassia and olive oil. In place of the enigmatic kaneh-bosm, Abraham’s recipe specifies calamus, likely based upon earlier Greek writings. Biblical translators generally followed suit for over a millennium, but now research has unequivocally shown the ingredient’s identity to be Cannabis.

“Linguistic evidence indicates that in the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the Old Testament the ‘holy oil’ which God directed Moses to make (Exodus 30:23) was composed of myrrh, cinnamon, cannabis and cassia.” - From the the British Journal New Scientist, Malyon & Henman 1980

The “cannabis” in this recipe is the enigmatic Hebrew kaneh-bosm, which author and researcher Chris Bennett has convincingly demonstrated was either Cannabis indica or sativa. It appears then that Abraham’s “calamus” ingredient may have been either a conflation or, even more likely, a blind - for, other than that, it mirrors the Tanakh formula. (For more on this see Biblical Cannabis by Chris Bennet on the Cannabis Culture website.) We offer a version without calamus for those who would like to add their own kaneh-bosm cannabis oils for an authentic Jewish Tanakh oil.

Cinnamon was an important ingredient in several Egyptian sacred unguents and oils, particularly Madjet. Cinnamon increases circulation in the skin, so it is a powerful agent to increase topical absorption into the blood stream. Since calamus is somewhat toxic, we may safely assume that cannabis is the most likely candidate for kaneh-bosm in the Tanakh. The recent discovery of a 450 BCE Jewish temple at Tel Arad, with an altar for frankincense and a smaller altar next to it for burning cannabis resin, cements the place of kaneh-bosm as a sacrament in the Jewish temple rites.

The Jewish people had a long history living in Egypt during the last several centuries BCE, and their traditions and rituals were clearly influenced by them. Knowing this, we can easily trace the use of this anointing oil from the ancient Egyptian religion, to the Canaanite and Jewish traditions and into the later Hermetic and Kabbalistic use with Abraham the Mage’s Oil of Abramelin.

Interestingly enough, Ta-n-akh means “Offering to the akh” in the ancient Egyptian language, and is used to describe the act of funerary anointing in tomb and coffin texts. The akh or ꜣḫ "(magically) effective one”, was a concept of the dead that varied over the long history of ancient Egyptian belief. Relative to the afterlife, akh represented the deceased, who was transfigured and often identified with light.

For more information see our article Ta-n-akh - The Oil of Abramelin.

Abramelin oil became popular in the Western esoteric tradition in the 20th century after the publication of the S. L. MacGregor Mathers English translation of The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (1897), and especially via Aleister Crowley, who used a similar version of the oil in his system of “Magick”. There are multiple recipes in use today and the oil continues to be used in several modern occult traditions, particularly Thelema (instituted in 1904 by Crowley).

Mathers and Crowley both used galangal, rather than the calamus of Abraham’s recipe. This gives a far more exotic and less floral effect, but more importantly for their sacraments, it is ingestible - calamus being somewhat toxic if taken internally. Also Crowley gives a huge amount of cinnamon oil, which is clearly beyond toleration on the skin for most of us - and may be another of his famously cruel blinds. We use a 1:14 ratio in ours, though I am happy to formulate the 8:21 ratio upon request…

Our three Oil of Abramelin formulas contain the following ingredients:

Abraham:

1/2 part Cinnamon essential oil, 1 part Myrrh essential oil, 1 part Calamus essential oil, 1 part Cassia essential oil and 7 parts olive oil

WARNING: Do not ingest this formula as Calamus can be toxic!

Mathers/Crowley:

1 part Cinnamon essential oil, 4 parts Myrrh essential oil, 2 parts Galangal essential oil, 7 parts olive oil

Ta-n-akh

Again, for what we believe is the true Jewish Tanakh anointing oil, in accordance with Chris Bennet’s ground-breaking research on kaneh-bosm, we offer the Abraham version without the calamus. This we call Ta-n-akh, in deference to the Egyptian origin. Simply warm the bottle and add your own favorite topical Cannabis, THC or CBD oils, the more fragrant the better!

Cinnamon can irritate sensitive skin, so be sure to test, and go with the original Abraham formula if in doubt and not ingesting.

Shipped in amber glass bottles with dropper seal, filled by volume. Bottle sizes are: 2 ml, 15 ml and 30 ml. only. (1 ml samples have been discontinued).

Please note that this fragrant oil is mixed in an olive oil carrier at around a 30% perfumers dilution ratio, and is primarily intended for topical use on skin and hair. As such, it may not work well in some water-based essential oil diffusers which only dilute the scent more. Wandering Stars recommends using only pure essential oils or absolutes, such as our Blue Lotus Absolute, in water based units dedicated to a particular scent as fragrances may remain persistent despite cleaning, leading to cross-contamination of scents. Even so, this fragrant oil does work well in diffusor jewelry or on blotter paper for direct whiffing, and especially with air pump style atomizing electronic diffusors where you can exchange 15 ml oil bottles, uptake straws, and connectors for each scent. Visit Diffusor World for highly rated atomizers.

CAUTION: This anointing oil contains cinnamon bark and cassia oils, both of which are skin irritants. It is recommended it be used judiciously as power point anointing, and not over large areas. The Abramelin version contains calamus, which is toxic if taken internally. Do not use if you are sensitive to cinnamon or pregnant. Cinnamon can irritate sensitive skin, so be sure to test, and go with the original Ta-n-akh or Abraham formulas if in doubt.

Medical Disclaimer: Our expertise lies in incense making, essential oil blends, and skin/hair ointments. Information contained on these pages is to the best of our knowledge factual, and presented solely for your edification and enjoyment. Wandering Stars cannot provide medical advice as we are not health professionals. Before ingesting anything that is not food, we strongly suggest seeking counsel from a licensed health practitioner.