Did you know that the 3 gifts of the Magi are still valuable today? For any of the three, you should be prepared to pay dearly. You probably know the price of gold has continued to stay high due to low interest rates, but had you even thought of the other two? No, probably not. The wife would wonder why in the world you gave these to her and the children would think it was a lesson on your religious beliefs and the true meaning of Christmas.
But in case you were wondering, it is “Little Christmas” or the Epiphany today. The twelfth Day (Night) of Christmas as it were. The day the Three Wise Men (aka Kings) arrived in Bethlehem; as the story goes… it was a long journey back then without a car or an e-mail (text or tweet) to let them know that the Son was born.
Not shocking to think these still have value…but, I think there is a bigger issue. Even if there is value, to whom would you give Frankincense (if you thought they’d like it) and where, oh where can you find the least “well known” of the three gifts: Myrrh. Anyone can think of and find Gold, you may already have given this gift for the holiday. It is easy enough, seek out your local jeweler, “fine retailer”, as well as the less retail friendly coin or pawn shop. Certainly no one was e-mailing promotions or specials about the former two this year for Christmas. They weren’t doing it back then either.
Not readily available “in stores” today, Myrrh it is an essential oil that is extracted from the Commiphora tree. It is probably better than Botox – and now that I know more about it, would be happy to say that I’d be more likely to use it than botulism “extract” to keep myself looking young. (Take my advice on this, if you seriously are considering Botox, review other options available to you… not least of all drinking much – much – more water each day.)
Frankincense, recently came into my sphere of product awareness. It is also an essential oil, and can easily be found in local health food stores, on the shelf in between geranium oil and helichrysum oil (that sounds ancient, too!) Frankincense is one of most – if not the most – expensive of the essential oils with anti-inflammatory properties (supposed to help with Arthritis and muscle pain). Coincidentally, this is extracted from the Boswellia tree and hails from the Arabian Peninsula.
Tonight, just tonight the Arabian Peninsula is a topic near and dear to my heart tonight as I just helped my son finish a research paper on that very area. He gave his top ten tips for living there if you could go back in time. How could you market that? Think about it.
Not surprisingly, just like the 2014 holiday season, not one of his “top 10” tips were to bring gifts of Gold, Frankincense or Myrrh.
If these were the gifts to bring… well, I am sure that you would have gotten an e-mail or a flyer in the mail or seen a TV ad on where to go to buy them. Of course, you could always go out and get them for yourself, if you think there is enough value in having them today. Who knows, maybe one of you reading this will do just that…if you do, please let me know. I’d love to hear your story.
~ Dawn aka Hat Girl
PS Not a Drummer to be found in the”Original” list of gifts…shocking? I think not.