Spikenard facts for kids
Spikenard, also known as nard, is a special amber-colored essential oil. It comes from a flowering plant called Nardostachys jatamansi. This plant is part of the honeysuckle family and grows high up in the Himalayas mountains. You can find it in countries like Nepal, China, and India.
For hundreds of years, people have used spikenard oil. It was used as a perfume, a traditional medicine, and in important religious events. These uses happened across a huge area, from India all the way to Europe. Sometimes, other plants that were cheaper, like a type of valerian or Spanish lavender, were also called "nard." These were sometimes used to make fake spikenard oil.
What's in a Name?
The name "nard" comes from an old Latin word, nardus. This word might have come from an even older Sanskrit word, nálada, which means Indian spikenard. Another idea is that it came from an ancient city called Naarda. The "spike" part of "spikenard" refers to the plant's flower stem, which looks like a spike.
About the Spikenard Plant
The Nardostachys jatamansi plant is a flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. It grows in the Himalayas in Nepal, China, and India. When it blooms, the plant can grow to be about 1 meter (3 feet) tall. It has small, pink, bell-shaped flowers.
You can find this plant growing at very high altitudes, usually between 3,000 to 5,000 meters (about 9,800 to 16,400 feet). The plant has special underground stems called rhizomes. These rhizomes can be crushed and then distilled to make the very strong-smelling, amber-colored essential oil. This oil is thick and has a rich scent. People use nard oil as a perfume, as incense, and as an herbal medicine.
Spikenard Through History
In ancient Rome, people used nardus to add flavor to wine. It appears often in old Roman cooking recipes, like those by a famous cook named Apicius. During the early Roman Empire, nardus was a very important ingredient in a popular perfume called unguentum nardinum.
Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer, wrote about different kinds of "nard" in his book Natural History. He mentioned Indian nard (which is our true spikenard), and also "false nard." This false nard was often used to trick people by mixing it with real spikenard. He also talked about other plants from Europe and the Middle East that were called "nard," like Syrian nard and Gallic nard.
Spikenard in Culture
Spikenard is mentioned in the Bible because of its beautiful smell.
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.
This story tells of a woman who used a very valuable spikenard ointment.
Another mention is in the Song of Songs:
While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me. My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
—Song of Songs 1:12-14 KJV
Here, spikenard is used to describe a lovely scent.
In the Catholic Church, especially in Hispanic traditions, spikenard is a symbol for Saint Joseph. The Vatican has even said that the coat of arms of Pope Francis includes a spikenard plant to honor Saint Joseph.
