🌊 Baltic Amber: The Sea Gold & Ancient Burning Stones
To this day, one is not entirely sure from which primeval world tree (Urweltbaum) this fossilized resin from the Baltic Sea originates. It is deeply presumed to be the ancient amber pine (Pinus succinifera).
What I find so astonishing about it are these massive quantities of amber, and every fierce storm, especially the wild winter storms, brings forth mountains of amber upon the Baltic coasts.
The Amber Fishers: So-called amber fishers (Bernsteinfischer) used to exist very often in earlier times. Today, one still sees them in small groups on the island of Hiddensee. I imagine they can certainly still be found individually in other places along the Baltic Sea coast as well.
Washed Ashore: This fossilized resin is also found in brown coal deposits of various regions, but it is mainly gathered at the Baltic Sea, where it is gently washed ashore by the rolling waves. Irregular roundish or flat, smaller or larger pieces, which are light yellow, brownish-yellow, or brown and beautifully transparent.
✨ Glesum & Börnstein: The Ancient Names
The Germanic Glesum: The ancient Germanic tribes respectfully called amber glesum, which means glass or simply shine.
The Burning Stone: In the Low German language of the 13th century, this magical resin was called Börnstein (burning stone), which was then adopted into the modern High German language as Bernstein.
The Agstein: Right up into the 18th century, amber was also affectionately called Agstein in the Ancestral Knowledge.
☀️ Sun Tears & Magnetic Magic
Through mere rubbing, amber actively charges itself and thereby powerfully draws many things to it.
Consecrated to the Sun: One of the oldest theories of the creation of amber in the Old Beliefs was that it was generated purely by the heat radiated from the sun onto the earth. For this profound reason, it was deeply consecrated to the sun. Amber is truly one of the oldest talismans known to humanity.
✨ Magical Stone: Amber in the Old Belief
In the Old Belief, amber held a very special position. Its color, its beautiful shine, and above all its static charge elevated it to something truly extraordinary. Such a stone could only powerfully protect against dark spirits and illness.
Early Middle Ages: Necklaces made of amber beads worn around the neck were considered a profound means of protection in the early Middle Ages.
The Church’s Ban: Church prohibitions fiercely fought this as a heathen custom, even though they themselves smoke-cleansed with amber in their very own churches.
The Danish Heart: Even into the 19th century, the beautiful custom in Denmark was to hang an amber heart around children’s necks as a fierce protection against the evil eye (Beschreiung).
⚡ The Mysterious Power: Static Charge & Ancestral Wonder
As written above, amber can be statically charged—that mysterious power which could not be easily explained. Everything that our forebears could not explain was inherently magical.
Sparks & Magnets: Because the profound discovery was made that amber, when rubbed, emits sparks and has the power, like a magnet (statically charged), to attract and physically hold onto certain objects, our ancestors came to the deep thought that this wondrous stone must possess some enigmatic, inner force.
🛡️ Amulet of the Ancestors: Protection & Teething
A necklace made of amber shielded its wearer securely from every kind of dark witchcraft and against all ill wishes. Provided, of course, according to the Ancestral Knowledge, that the birth date was favorable.
The Lion & The Bull: People who were born under the sign of Leo should constantly wear amber; on the other hand, it is said to bring misfortune to those who were born in the sign of Taurus.
The Teething Chain: The magical Old Belief, already practiced in antiquity, of hanging amber necklaces around children’s necks, lives on vibrantly throughout all of Germany today. Originally a powerful warding charm, they are now meant to gently ease the painful process of teething, especially as a profound preventive and healing remedy.
🌿 Traditional Use: Healing Powers & The Electric Belt
Besides its profound magical powers, a great healing ability was also attributed to amber. It was deeply believed that holding amber in the mouth could powerfully prevent infection. For this reason, amber mouthpieces for pipes were highly popular. One of the best-known traditional uses is the making of a DIY amber tincture.
Ailments of the Head & Neck: Amber necklaces were worn against facial erysipelas (Gesichtsrose) and goiter (Kropf). This sacred chain also fiercely protected against deafness and the painful loss of teeth.
The Doctor’s Advice: Later physicians rejected the healing powers of amber again, until a famous doctor of the time championed the opinion that one should wear amber necklaces constantly around the neck. For through this, the throat would be deeply strengthened and shielded from illness.
The Electric Belt: His fascinating theory was the following: Amber is so strongly charged with electricity that the amber spheres, brought directly into contact with the body’s heat, form a protective electric belt, and through this, a fierce warding force actively arose.
✨ Ancestral Prescriptions: Soothing the Body & Spirit
Our forebears lovingly prescribed amber as a stimulating, antispasmodic, and nerve-strengthening remedy for inflammations of the mucous membranes and rheumatism. It was also used against hysterical states during menstruation and hypochondriacal conditions. Later (around the end of the 19th century), it served purely as an external remedy for magical smoke-cleansing (Räuchern).
Against Asthma (Steckfluss): Amber hung on a delicate little string was placed around children’s necks and ears to protect them against the so-called Steckfluss (asthma).
Against Goiter & Sore Throats: In the former region of Westphalia, many women and girls wore amber necklaces as a profound protection against all sorts of evils, mostly throat complaints. And in the Canton of Bern, amber necklaces were worn specifically against goiter.
Against Teething & Earaches: Amber is an ancient amulet against the painful teething of children. It is said to protect against fits during this time. An amber bracelet or such a necklace around the neck is also an old German sympathy remedy (Sympathiemittel) against severe earaches.
Against Gout & Rheumatism: People wore an amber ring against the deep, aching limb pains of gout and rheumatism. For this sacred purpose, amber was also respectfully sewn into small pouches that were worn tightly against the body.
Against Jaundice & Fevers: In Northern Germany, yellow amber (butterscotch) was worn around the neck or directly on the body against jaundice. Yellowish amber is considered particularly effective in warding off or healing intermittent fever (malaria). (This beautiful type of amber is also called butterscotch and is highly valuable.)
Inner Use (Middle Ages): In the Middle Ages, amber was actually taken internally for heart tremors, stomach aches, and dropsy (Wassersucht).
💨 Smoke-Cleansing with the Burning Stone: Church Incense & Plague Lore
From the East Prussian coasts, amber came deep into the land. This fossilized tree resin also served for sacred smoke-cleansing in the churches. For this purpose, the delicate waste shavings obtained when turning amber pieces were respectfully used.
Breaking a Hex: Likewise, if a cow was hexed by dark magic, one had to profoundly smoke-cleanse beneath her with the tooth of a dead man, amber, and devil’s dung (Teufelsdreck / Asafoetida).
The Plague of East Prussia: In the book “History of the Plague in East Prussia,” which fiercely raged there from 1709 to 1711 and depopulated the land, it is recounted that the chambers and clothing of the deceased people had to be thoroughly smoke-cleansed with amber, frankincense or myrrh, and juniper berries.
A Memory from 1835: An old writer recounts: “At his side stood a small brazier on a little table so that he could light his pipe and smoke-cleanse with amber. Even the peculiar church smell of the living room, which stemmed directly from this smoking, is still present to me.”
✨ Ancestral Protections: Newborns & Healing Smoke
Protection for Newborns: If a small child cries eternally right after birth, it must be respectfully smoke-cleansed with juniper or amber. If the sacred smoke does not help, for some children cry for four straight weeks, then the child must be pulled through a pair of worn men’s trousers. This profound Old Belief was recorded in the year 1896.
For Deep Pain: If a leg was entirely immobile, or pained and stiff, it was gently smoke-cleansed with amber.
After Childbirth: When a woman had given birth to a child, she had to powerfully smoke-cleanse herself. For this sacred purpose, a small fire of amber was kindled, and the woman then had to stand directly over it.
🌲 The Forgotten Power of Amber Smoke: Awakening the Plant Spirit
Today we mostly know amber simply as jewelry, and this sacred resin appears very little in modern incense lore. It is slowly falling into oblivion, even though the profound plant soul was trapped for millions of years, and through smoke-cleansing, we breathe vibrant new life into this very mighty plant spirit.
What is so exceptionally beautiful about burning amber is that it does not smoke extremely. It does not burn as violently fast as, for example, spruce resin. One could describe the smoke as very earthy, but not nearly as intrusive as common resin.
In general, one can write about amber as incense that this fossilized resin fiercely wards off all sorts of witches, dark spirits, and misfortune. One could easily compare this ancient effect of amber with the banishing of negative energy today. This is how our forebears believed in the deep power of amber. It was highly precious, and its plant soul was mighty!
