White Copal Ritual Oil

In the native Mesoamerican Nahuatl language, “copalli” means “incense”, and can refer to a number of different tree resins used as offerings in rituals going back thousands of years. The trees are related botanically, and share some of their energetic and spiritual properties, but each one also has a distinct intelligence which we have worked to bring out in our Ritual Oils.

Copal Blanco, or White Copal, seeps out of manmade cuts in the Bursera bipinnata tree. Like Black Copal, the White is used in Day of the Dead rituals, in which its smoke carries the prayers and communications of the living to the heavens and the ancestors and beings there.

White Copal has a softer, brighter quality than Black Copal, and although it is also clearing to energy, it works in a more positivity-building, cheering way, dispelling sadness by invoking joy. In our workings with it, we found that it brings happy memories about one’s ancestors and Beloved Dead, and we could envision using it at a lively memorial or graveside picnic to heal loss through stories and remembrances.

We also found our White Copal Ritual Oil creates an intense tingling in the part of the brain that our research later found is the right temporal lobe. This area is associated with memory, especially that of faces, emotions, and social cognition. This connects perfectly to our experience of happy communion with our Beloved Dead, with the sense that they were present, grateful to have lived and be remembered, and willing to be an ongoing presence in our lives.

For tips and techniques for working with our Ritual Oils, see this article.