2. Myrrh Is THE Most Inappropriate Gift To Bring To Any Birth
Its a gift thats fallen out of favour in most baby-shower circles and you cant help thinking this is for the best. In the past its been as valuable as gold; used as perfume, incense or even for medicinal purposes but, like most interpretations of natural philosophy, its origin is questionable. According to the Roman poet Ovid, Myrrah was once a beautiful maiden and the future mother of the heartthrob Adonis. In her youth she could have had any man she desired but the one man she did desire was her dear olDad. Knowing the social conventions of the time, she knew she couldnt exactly make known the reason why she was spurning all these nice fellers fawning over her. So, after an emo-esque ill-fated suicide attempt, she confided in her nurse who helped her to bed the unknowing father when he was drunk! He went along with it for a while, always in the dark, when curiosity got the better of him and he lit a lamp in order to catch a glimpse of the nocturnal nympho hed enjoyed the company of on a regular basis! When he saw hed been bedding his own daughter, and presumably after hed vomited everywhere, he went at her. Chasing her to the ends of the earth, vowing to kill his incestuous issue on contact. Knowing she wouldnt be able to outrun him forever, and that he wasnt likely to get tired and let it go, she pleaded with the gods to save her. Miraculously they took pity on her and turned her into a tree. The Myrrh Tree. The sap, brought to Jesus birth, is said to be her congealed tears. Whether you believe the tear story or you have twisted ideas of what the sticky discharge really could be (youre sick, you know that?!) bringing any goo of an incestuous nymphomaniac to the birth of your saviour is certainly an interesting gift idea but not one that can be recommended today.