THE bearers of gold, frankin­cense, and myrrh are some of the more mysterious figures in the Gospels. Tradition seems divided on whether they were kings, or astrologers, or both. We usually settle for a vague “Wise Men”, but their behaviour — misunderstand­ing the revelation, going to the wrong place, telling a paranoid king about his new rival, and unleashing a wave of genocide — rather belies that epithet.

Although tradition has given them number, name, and colour, all we really know from St Matthew’s Gospel is their gifts. So, these are what I want to pay tribute to, walk­ing in their footsteps and tracking down some gold, frankincense, and myrrh fit for a baby king — and that means it should be as ethically sourced and as fairly traded as possible.

Gold ought to be the most straightforward to find; certainly it is the most familiar. I know its chemical composition (gold). I am already wearing a small amount on my left hand — but I am not at liberty to give that to the baby.

Since the beginning of civilisa­tion, 166,600 tonnes of gold have been mined, the World Gold Council suggests — all of which would fit as bars into a 20-metre cubic crate. And 90 per cent of this has been mined since the 1849 California Gold Rush. There are another 15,000 tonnes in the sea; so, at 13 parts of gold to a trillion parts of seawater, you would have to want it pretty badly to try to extract it.

Figures vary from one year to the next, but, in 2010, 45 per cent of gold sold in the world was for jewellery, and 34 per cent went to investors. Eighteen per cent was for technology, and one per cent was for dentistry. Its conductivity and resistance to corrosion make it use­ful in machines whose failure is ex­pensive enough to warrant it — such as jets and spacecraft — and it provides protective coatings to satellites, and astronauts’ helmets.

An ounce of gold can be stretched into a wire 50 miles long and five- millionths of a metre wide.

THE country we most asso­ciate with gold-mining is prob­ably South Africa, which in 1970 produced 79 per cent of the gold on the world markets. Today, however, it produces only eight per cent, and has been overtaken by Russia, the United States, Australia, and, above all, China, although even there they produce only 13 per cent.

THE country we most asso­ciate with gold-mining is prob­ably South Africa, which in 1970 produced 79 per cent of the gold on the world markets. Today, however, it produces only eight per cent, and has been overtaken by Russia, the United States, Australia, and, above all, China, although even there they produce only 13 per cent.

The buyers of gold have changed, too. In 30 years, North America and Europe have gone from buying 68 per cent of it to buying 27 per cent, while the share taken by the Indian subcontinent and East Asia rose from 13 per cent to 58 per cent.

India bought 264 tonnes of gold in 2010, China 165, the US 60, and the UK 4.6. The highest price that gold has ever reached on the world markets was $1895 per ounce on 5 and 6 September last year.

It is easy to get hold of gold, if you can pay for it, but, for ethical shoppers, knowing where it has come from is harder. How can you tell whether the ring in a shop window had funded Congolese militias, or been produced by child labour?

The Fairtrade jeweller Greg Valerio (he also won the Observer Ethical Awards Global Campaigner title for 2011) says that gold-mining is the most environmentally de­struc­tive practice in the world. “The average 10g, 18 carat ring generates, conservatively, three to four tonnes of toxic waste — cyanide or mercury,” he says, “never mind deforestation, and the fact that large-scale gold-mining counts for 15 per cent of global carbon emissions.”

The system is economically un­just, too: “Eighty-five to 90 per cent of the money paid for gold goes to the large-scale mines, and yet 90 per cent of the workforce is employed as small-scale miners, working for a dollar a day. So you have this incredible iniquity in the financial structure, where all the money goes to the wealthy, and the poor get poor, while they’re literally living on a gold mine.”

In 2010, however, it became possible to buy certified Fairtrade and Fairmined gold. This guaran­tees minimum standards of health and safety, pay, equality, organisa­tional fairness, and environmental impact.

The largest Fairtrade jeweller is Cred Jewellery, in Farringdon, London and Chichester, but Mr Valerio en­courages me to visit a high-street jeweller and ask for Fairtrade gold. This was, after all, how supermarkets even­tually came to stock fairtrade groceries.

FRANKINCENSE is rather more exotic, an aromatic gum resin, obtained from the north-east African and Middle-Eastern tree Boswellia sacra, and used, of course, as incense. The “frank” part is the same as our word meaning “candid” — that is, it is true in­cense, of the highest quality.

FRANKINCENSE is rather more exotic, an aromatic gum resin, obtained from the north-east African and Middle-Eastern tree Boswellia sacra, and used, of course, as incense. The “frank” part is the same as our word meaning “candid” — that is, it is true in­cense, of the highest quality.

It is produced in Oman, Yemen, and above all Somalia, where it is the third largest export. The workers make cuts in the bark of the thorny tree over the course of six to eight weeks, and harvest it when the original white sap is followed by yellow, green, or brown.

Today, it is sold as incense, and is widely used in churches. Ecclesias­tical suppliers include the Benedic­tines of Prinknash Abbey, Glouces­tershire. They make and sell incense from a range of secret recipes, using various natural oils, and combining frankincense with other kinds of incense. They also offer a variety called Priory Incense, which is pure frankincense, and sells at £10.11 per lb.

For the personal use of incense, Indigo Herbs, of Glastonbury, recommend frankincense “to open the higher energy centres and aid relaxation, prayer, and meditation”. It is also used extensively in beauty products, and is sold as an alterna­tive health remedy, curing, like other alternative health products, more or less everything from bladder cancer to sadness.

The cancer-treating properties of frankincense may be real, however. The BBC reported last year that, at the Frankincense Research Plant, in the Dhofar Valley, in Oman, the Iraqi immunologist Mahmoud Suhail is working with researchers from Oklahoma to isolate the one ingredient of 17 in frankincense which he believes is able to eradicate cancer cells without damaging sur­rounding tissue.

In Dhofar, where it is farmed, frankincense is burned on all special occasions, especially at the birth of a child, and the soot is used for eye liner and tattoos. Frankincense is also used to spice coffee and sweeten the breath.

A paper in Horticultural Reviews suggested that the UK imports 30 tonnes of frankincense a year, one perfume manufacturer alone using five tonnes. It quotes an estimate that 1000 tonnes is pro­duced annually worldwide.

You can expect to pay £5 for 100g of frankincense resin. Frankincense oil, which is marketed for both aromatherapy and skin care, costs between £8 and £13 for 10ml. For fairly traded frankincense, though,

I went to Aromantic, a mail-order company in Forres, Moray. It’s Somalian frankincense oil is one of a small proportion of its products that it labels as fairly traded. Susan Kemp explains that it is pro­duced by a community project in Somaliland.

“We are too small to manage the paperwork for Fairtrade accredita­tion, and so are they,” she says, “but we choose our supplier carefully, and they have direct contact con­tinually with the community. It’s also certified organic.” It sells for £8.60, plus VAT.

MYRRH is not dissimilar to frankincense: it is used as incense, and is obtained from the sap of a thorn tree. In this case, the tree is Commiphora myrrha, which grows mainly in Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Of the same genus is Commiphora gileadensis, which produced balm of Gilead.

MYRRH is not dissimilar to frankincense: it is used as incense, and is obtained from the sap of a thorn tree. In this case, the tree is Commiphora myrrha, which grows mainly in Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Of the same genus is Commiphora gileadensis, which produced balm of Gilead.

It was also used in embalming in the ancient world. Nicodemus, St John’s Gospel says, intended to use it to embalm Jesus’s body — hence the idea, dating back to at least the fourth century, that gold symbol-ised the kingship of Christ, fran­kincense his deity, and myrrh his death.

The idea that its “bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom”, as “We three kings” says, may be overstated. The idea of exclusively sephulchral associations, however, is belied in the Old Testament.

The Song of Solomon, for example, pro­claims: “A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.”

Its bitterness is real, though. “Myrrh” is the same word as “Mara”, as in “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.”

An estimated 500 tonnes of myrrh is produced each year. It is harvested by women in Namibia, and it takes four hours to collect one kilo­gramme from 12 trees. It is used in the West in small amounts, in pro­ducts such as baby lotion, lipstick, face cream, and sun lotion.

It is sold as resin, tincture, or oil, and is recommended for a slightly less exhaustive range of maladies than frankincense — including mouth ulcers and menstrual cramps. As with frankincense, scientists have seriously studied its cancer-fighting properties in universities in New Jersey and Osaka.

Prices for myrrh oil vary tremen­dously, perhaps reflecting differ­ences in concentration, but 50g of resin will cost a little less than £5, including postage.

I failed to track down neat Fair­trade myrrh for my manger visita­tion, but it does seem to be available. The ethical health-and-beauty traders Green People offer a wide range of items containing small levels of myrrh, and it all comes from a project in Namibia which supports the Himba tribe, who depend on the income from the collection of myrrh resin.

Also worth a visit, if my star-led ramblings take me that way, are Maroma, who sell incense and body-care products in Auroville, in India, and also on the internet. They are members of Fair Trade Forum India, and their policies include the employment of educated local women, to encourage schooling. Their range of incense-sticks in­cludes myrrh sticks at £2.20 for 150g.

www.fairtrade.org.uk/gold

www.credjewellery.com

www.fairtrade.org.uk/gold

www.credjewellery.com

www.prinknashabbey.org

www.indigo-herbs.co.uk

www.aromantic.co.uk

www.prinknashabbey.org

www.indigo-herbs.co.uk

www.aromantic.co.uk

www.greenpeople.co.uk

www.maroma.com

www.maroma.com

As good as gold

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh have a plethora of health benefits ascribed to them, often unproven.

Gold

In homeopathy, gold, or Aurum Metallicum, is used to treat heart disease, angina, stress, depression, bipolar disorders, scrofula, syphilis, skin disease, anger, anxiety, hor­monal irregularities, and mercury poisoning.

In mainstream medicine, gold compounds are used to treat arthritis and tuberculosis, and, according to the old spouses’ tale, a wedding ring rubbed on the eye­lid can cure a stye.

Frankincense

Frankincense is sold as an alterna­tive remedy to a mind-boggling number of conditions, including urinary infections, bronchitis, menstrual cramps, rheumatism, arthritis, wrinkles, vaginal infec­tions, tooth decay, sore gums, asthma, chest infections, wounds, ulcers, indigestion, trauma, stress, bladder cancer, skin cancer, goitre, diarrhoea, dysentery, piles, laryn­gitis, jaundice, syphilis, skin diseases, convulsions, cough, high blood pressure, and despair.

Myrrh

Myrrh, sellers and herbal remedies claim, is effective against bleeding gums, gingivitis, sore throat, bron­chitis, colds, cuts, piles, thrush, athlete’s foot, bed-sores, tooth decay, ulcers, herpes, sinusitis, menstrual cramps, high choles­terol, and toothache.