I have Learned something new

Today I started reading in the Song of Solomon. So far it is reading like a love story between a man and a woman. Boy...do they like each other. So full of compliments to each other.

Anyways, I came upon this word "nard". It was in these verses.

12While the king was on his couch,
my nard gave forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
that lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
in the vineyards of Engedi.

I had NO idea what it was. I looked it up. Here is what bible fragrances had to say about it.

Nard

Also improperly known as spikenard (from Latin spica, head of grain, and nardi), this hardy herb, a member of the Valerianaceae family, grows in the foothills of the Himalayas. The part of the plant growing underground has the appearance of a fibrous spindle, and is rich in the precious essential oil.

From India, nard traveled, in the form of a dry rhizome or oil phase extract, via Persia, under the name nardin.

Horace offered to send Virgil a whole barrel of his best wine in exchange for a phial of nard. Though nard is now rare on the shelves of the western perfumer, its name stood for centuries as an evocation of the perfume of the lost Garden of Eden, and in literature, nard came to refer to any perfume, as long as it was exquisite.

Pliny, in his Natural History, lists twelve species of nard, ranging from lavender stoechas and tuberous valerian to true nard – Nardostachys jatamansi. Price lists dating from this period suggest that this pure nard, with which Christ was anointed at Bethany, might already have been produced by a form of distillation.

By relating that it was contained in an alabaster flask, Mark (14,3) and Matthew (26,7) further underline the precious nature of the nard given to Christ.

In the Old Testament, nard is referred to in the Song of Songs, as a symbol of the intimate nature of the Bride’s love. This is the point at which relations with her beloved are initiated. When the perfume of nard is named, the bride recognizes her beloved as such.

It is in the Gospels that nard becomes a symbol of revelation during the anointment of Christ at Bethany.

Nard has intense, warm, fragrant, musky notes, similar to the aromas of humus. It exhibits a wide range of fragrances among the root-type perfumes.

Have you read the Song of Solomon lately?
Do lines like these make you think of your spouse?

3As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat in his shadow,
and his fruit was sweet to my taste,

2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;

15Behold, you are beautiful, my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.

2As a lily among brambles,
so is my love among the young women.

10My beloved speaks and says to me:
"Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,

I read verse 10 and it makes me think of how my hubbie just loves to do things with me. He loves to just spend time with me, even if it is doing nothing. I find myself, basking in that somedays. Just loving the fact that he just loves to spend time with me. Maybe that's a silly thing to admit to. :)

I have to admit...I am a person who finds it hard to sit still, and sometimes I have to force myself to do that. To just spend time with him. I would rather be spending time with him doing something...walking around, working, playing a game and so forth. But because I love him, I will sometimes just take the time and just sit with him. I love the fact that often times he comes for my later day walk with our son and the dogs. We even take turns on who walks the dogs, and who pushes the stroller. But it's a time to share just as a family (sans the cat and guinea pigs).

Today is our wedding anniversary. Reminds me that I so still very much love this man that I married four years ago. He's such a good man with a good heart. And I delight in him as if he were the one apple tree in the midst of a forest of firs. :)