Also called karpoor, kapur, alcanfor, Cinnamomum camphora
Camphor is a waxy white compound with a sharp, cooling smell, taken from the camphor laurel tree or made synthetically. Hindus burn a cube of it as the bright flame of aarti, and Hoodoo and Latin American folk practice use it to purify rooms and clear heavy energy. It is poisonous if swallowed and must be kept away from children.
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Take care: Camphor is toxic if swallowed, even in small amounts, and is especially dangerous for children; never ingest it, and store it locked up and out of reach. Burn it only on a metal plate on a heat-proof surface with ventilation, never unattended and away from pets and birds. Use only puja-grade camphor; mothballs are often naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene and must never be burned. Do not apply to broken skin or near the face of infants.
At the close of puja a camphor flame is lit on a plate or lamp and waved before the deity while devotees sing an aarti hymn. Worshippers then pass their palms over the flame and touch their eyes to receive its blessing.
Uses: camphor tablets, aarti plate
Rootworkers mix camphor with powdered dragon's blood resin and burn it on charcoal to cleanse a house before moving in. Camphor is also added to floor washes and spiritual baths for purification, used externally only.
Uses: camphor, dragon's blood, charcoal
Pastillas de alcanfor are dissolved in alcohol or water and kept in a glass behind the door or under the bed to absorb bad energy, and camphor alcohol is rubbed on the skin as a folk remedy. These uses are external only.
Uses: camphor tablets, alcohol or water, glass
Natural camphor was distilled for centuries from the wood of the camphor laurel, Cinnamomum camphora, and from Borneo's kapur tree. By the nineteenth century the great stands were mostly in Taiwan and Japan, and camphor became one of the most profitable exports of colonial Taiwan, first under Chinese and later Japanese monopolies. Japan tried to monopolize world supply in 1907 and 1908, but chemists developed synthetic camphor, which now supplies most of the market.
Camphor has long held a place in worship. In Hindu homes and temples a camphor flame closes puja, and the Quran describes the drink of the righteous in paradise as mixed with kafur. In the Americas camphor became a staple of Hoodoo and Spanish-speaking folk cleansing. Twentieth-century doctors learned how dangerous it is internally: swallowing about two grams can cause serious poisoning, with convulsions and seizures.
On the new moon night of Diwali, Hindu households clean the home, draw rangoli and small footprints at the door, and light clay lamps so that Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, will find and bless the house. This entry describes the religious practice respectfully and offers an open lamp-lighting version.
A raw egg is passed over the body to absorb heaviness, envy or the evil eye, then cracked into water and read. Widespread across Mexico and Latin America.
In African American Hoodoo, floors and front steps are scrubbed with a spiritual wash, such as the lemongrass-scented Chinese Wash, to clear out bad conditions and draw in luck.
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