Sandalwood

[Guest guest]

Hey y'all,

 

>>Hey Woobey,

>>

>>Yes, it has gotten expensive (not like it was ever CHEAP, but still !

>>

>>Maybe Butch can give all the details on exactly why the prices have

>>risen so quickly ...?

 

Been happening like that this time of year for the last few years. The

price is fluctuating wildly .. not due so much to outside demand as to

demand inside. The latter part of 2003 and 2004 I refused to resupply

because of the number of religious ceremonies ongoing in India where the

people used Sandalwood and Sandalwood oil .. it caused prices to go up

almost 35% for a while. But they will level off and possibly come down

a bit after January.

 

> Oh, so much as been written (by Butch and others) -- my take on it is

> that OPEC and Haliburton and the Texas gas cartel have taken it over.

 

It might be easier to deal with if the above were the case. ;-)

 

Mysore Sandalwood is like Brazilian Rosewood in that it brings out the

best (or is it the worst) in those who either are .. or are wannabe

Greens .. and don't have all the facts. The facts they have are most

often out of context and not applicable to the real situation.

 

They use such emotional tales as that shown below to convince folks that

they are contributing to criminal activities by purchasing Sandalwood.

 

> TWO YOUTHS were done to death in Khapakala village in Bajkhedi development

> block in Hoshangabad district by unidentified persons at Hoshangabad on

Monday.

> According to police, Bunty Kahar, 19, and his brother Pavan, 17, were guarding

> their field at night on Monday when unidentified persons attacked them with

> sharp-edged weapons killing them on the spot.

>

> The miscreants cut down an old sandalwood tree in the field and took it away

with

> them. Police suspect that the brothers were done to death by sandalwood

smugglers.

> (Agencies, Hoshangabad)

 

Being an ex-cop I can tell you that such emotional tales can rile even

the conservative mind from time to time .. but its not logical to just

extract the tales that support one's position. How many folks were

killed in NYC or Chicago or Los Angeles last week in thefts of fancy

running shoes or cell phones? Should we stop the production of those

items? If we do we can at least reduce the number of deaths attributed

to the theft of those particular items.

 

Folks have been killing folks for monetary gain since man has walked on

two laigs. From one source: " The use of sandalwood dates as far back

at least as the 5th century B.C. It is still extensively used in India

and China, wherever Buddhism prevails, being employed in funeral rites

and religious ceremonies. Until the middle of the 18th century India

was the only source of sandalwood. The discovery of a sandalwood in the

islands of the Pacific led to difficulties with the natives, often

ending in bloodshed, the celebrated missionary John Williams ***,

amongst others, having fallen a victim to an indiscriminate retaliation

by the natives on white men visiting the islands. The loss of life in

this trade was at one time even greater than in that of whaling, with

which it ranked as one of the most adventurous of callings. In India

sandalwood is largely used in the manufacture of boxes, fans and other

ornamental articles of inlaid work, and to a limited extent in medicine

as a domestic remedy for all kinds of pains and aches. "

 

From another source: " Farmers perform a special ceremony before cutting

the rice in the paddy, ... They bless their plows and sickles by rubbing

them with sandalwood paste. "

 

Somebody once wrote on this list:

 

> Mysore sandalwood has been harvested and/or poached to the point that

> the Indian government has put restrictions on its production and the

> only true Mysore escaping the country is 100% government controlled --

 

And I replied ..

 

Not really the whole story .. the government merely wants to tax it ..

that's the whole issue. Sorta like the King and Robin Hood .. Robin

Hood poached the King's deer.

 

And .. the biggest crooks in India .. like in many other countries ..

are the government folks. They take bribes from the so-called poachers.

The poacher finds the bribe to be less than the tax. So, I'm not sure

what is being accomplished other than feathering the nest of crooked

public servants .. something I've lived with for years here.

 

And they wrote:

 

> Anyway, Mysore sandalwood is considered the rarest and most costly

> of all sandalwood oils, couple that with over harvesting, and until

> recently, lack of controlled & sustainable growth,

 

I replied ..

 

Actually .. this is the line of the Greens and the Aussie government ..

both have vested interests in having folks believe this. Truth is, a

small portion of Sandalwood is devoted to oils and the real uses of

Sandalwood are gonna continue whether or not we buy the oils.

 

And they wrote:

 

> we will not see legally harvested Mysore again in our lifetimes --

 

I replied ..

 

Certainly not a fact .. we'll see it every day .. I talk on the phone to

my distiller at least once every couple of months. There is government

approved (tax stamped) and government approved (after the bribe) legally

harvested Sandalwood coming out of India on a routine basis.

 

And don't try to come back with the sustainable Australian Sandalwood

hype .. its just that .. total hype .. and in time the Greens will be

attacking the Aussies. ;-)

 

Some information from one source:

 

" In India, sandalwood is primarily distributed on the Deccan Plateau.

The total extent of its distribution is approximately 9000 km2 of which

8200 km2 is located in the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The

heartwood of the fragrant tree is considered sacred and prized. Sixty

kg of oil can be extracted from a ton of heartwood, is used in the

formulation of perfumes, lotions, soap and candles. Mashed into a

paste, it is used in folk medicine and spread on the skin to purify the

complexion and heal rashes. It is dabbed on the forehead during

religious ceremonies and burnt as incense in temples. The sandalwood

industry employs thousands of people, especially in Mysore, known as

" Sandalwood City. " Employees work in incense factories, rolling

sandalwood paste on bamboo skewers. Craftsmen carve the hard yellow

wood into boxes, combs, beads and statues of Hindu gods and elephants. "

 

From another source .. " On the wedding morning, various ablutionary

rituals are performed on both the bride and the groom in their own

homes. Their bodies are anointed with turmeric, sandalwood paste and

oils, which cleanse the body, soften the skin, and make it aromatic. "

 

I won't go into the wild tales on Rosewood .. less'n somebody really

wants to know the facts. ;-)

 

>>If anyone wants to do a co-op on it *hint hint* ...

 

Somebody is considering that now. ;-) It ain't me .. its all my folks

can do to keep up with daily orders .. we're not into doing Co-Ops.

 

> Don't forget to announce this on natural perfumery -- we have 650 or

> so sandalwood lovers over there.

 

Smart folks are them whut are on Natural Perfumery .. which can be

joined at URL NaturalPerfumery/

 

> Anya

> http://naturalperfumery.com

> The premier site on the Web to discover the beauty of Natural Perfume

>

> Join to study natural perfumery

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

A politically incorrect but environmentally conscious company keeping

good folks employed in an economically depressed region in Appalachia.