Tagua Holder with Peru Palo Santo Sticks

Palo Santo is a sacred incense used by Andean and Amazonian shamans in Peru. Palo Santo has been used all over South America; the smoke of this wood for cleansing the energy of a person or a place, especially in ceremonies in the jungle. The smell of Palo Santo puts you in a good meditative state. Drinking the tea of this wood is good for stimulating the immune system and fighting inflammation. Burning dried wood from the “mystical” palo santo tree and collecting its concentrated oils have been widely used in folk medicines and by shamans (“medicine men”) for centuries because of the tree’s perceived spiritual applications.
The wood from palo santo trees is also commonly burnt as incense and used to make a natural mosquito repellent (like citronella oil) because it possesses aromatic resins and volatile oils. Burned similarly to other incense, by lighting shavings of palo santo wood, the smell keeps bugs and spiritual “bad energy” away, according to mystics.
Palo Santo Benefits Immunity and Lowers Inflammation
Today, palo santo trees are widely grown and collected so their wood can be used to produce bottled essential oil using steam distillation. Aside from its mental health applications, palo santo offers promising benefits when it comes to raising immunity and fighting illness.
As a rich supply of antioxidants and phytochemicals called terpenes, including limonene and α-terpineol, concentrated palo santo oil is effective for fighting free radical damage(also called oxidative stress), relieving stomach aches, fighting stress, reducing pains due to arthritis and healing many other conditions. Particularly, it’s been gaining attention for being a natural cancer treatment for inflammatory diseases.
An analysis of steam-distilled palo santo oil (using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) showed that the major active constituents include: limonene (89.33 percent), α-terpineol (11 percent), menthofuran (6.6 percent) and carvone (2 percent). Other beneficial compounds in smaller quantities include germacrene D, muurolene and pulegone.