Burning Bay Leaves

 Burning bay leaves

I’ve an overgrown bay tree (Lauris Nobilis) in the garden. Every week I take a few leaves off to throw into the spaghetti bolognaise but recently it’s getting a bit large for the area its growing in.

With a tree such as this I think it’s a waste to throw away the cut branches so I have been looking at alternative uses for the leaves.  They can easily be nipped off and then dried, which is something I will be doing straight away, but there are other uses.

For thousands of years bay wreaths were popular on doorways and adorning the heads of the educated. The word "laureate" in 'poet laureate' refers to the laurel wreath and Apollo wears a horseshoe shaped one in Greek Mythology. 

Bay Leaves

Going back just as far into history we also see that bay leaf burning in ceremonies was a popular pursuit.  Ancient temples routinely burned bay leaves to clear the space and heighten one’s intuitive powers. Now I must confess to burning the occasional incense stick in the room and even to wearing a dab of patchouli oil occasionally (it’s supposed to have a calming effect) so I thought maybe I could burn a few leaves in the house to see if there is any truth in all of the health claims. And there are a lot of health claims.

The Burning

Burning bay leaves are used in much the same way that sage sticks are wafted around in cleansing processes. 

Like all health claims we are told about every day which is mostly advertising and sales driven, it’s pretty hard to find any real facts. I can find a lot of articles on the ‘beneficial’ uses of bay leaves but very little research has been done on the burning of herbs in the house and if they pose a health hazard. So in this instance I have been asking around to see what people think. Not surprisingly I got mixed results.

Comments ranged from “All combustible items are carcinogenic (even burnt toast) so should be avoided at all cost” to a more liberal view of “I burn a leaf every day when no-one is in the room and I find the people in my house are a lot calmer and relaxed”.  I was even told that bay leaves in any form are toxic but that myth comes from a bit of confusion with Mountain Laurel (Kalmia Latifolia), which is related to bay but a lot different.

The Hype

If we believe the hype then burning bay leaves can relieve anxiety, give respiratory relief, help digestion, fatigue, tension, fight against cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, dandruff, kidney stones , insomnia and of course you can wish with the leaves too.  Burn the leaf and throw the ashes to the wind as you make a wish in much the same way you would with a dandelion seed head.

The Experiment

I left leaves to dry on the radiator for a few days and I am now ready for my experiment.

It’s recommended to burn the leaves in an ashtray but as I don’t have any to hand, one of the best dessert bowls from our dining collection will have to do. I have another 5 of them in the set of 6 so if anything goes wrong and it cracks then there's no great loss. 

I put a couple in the bowl and put the lighter flame to the end tip.  Within a second the leaf has burst into flames, crackled, glowed and gives off a plume of smoke.  I’m going to sit here for a few minutes to see if I get any calmer.

The Oil

The leaves burst into flames because if their high oil content. Bay leaf oil is widely used in essential oil preparations and seems to have different warnings about it compared to either burning or cooking with it. The oil contains eugenol, an antiseptic and may irritate the skin and mucus membranes. There are hundreds of health claims from using the essential oils but I won’t be extracting any of it from my leaves as it is a long process and I am not a chemist. So burning it will have to do for now.

The Conclusion

After 20 minutes, all I have managed to do is turn off the three smoke alarms that activated when the burning happened and removed most of the carbon and oil deposits from the ceramic bowl (apparently they were very expensive). There is still a faint, sweet smell of burning in the house.

At the moment then I can safely say I am not feeling any more relaxed. But give me a couple of weeks to get a new bowl and I will let you know.