Witnessed by: TCM · Unani · Ayurveda
Amber, of the organic mineraloid (fossil resin) family. Hard, translucent yellow to reddish-brown resinous masses, warm and light, taking a high polish; native range: fossilised resin of ancient conifers, gathered from sedimentary and lignite beds and from Baltic and Burmese amber deposits. Globally recognized as hu po (琥珀) in Chinese, trinakantamani in Sanskrit, kahruba in Arabic/Urdu, and amber, succinite in English. The part used is the fossil resin. Golden to reddish-brown, translucent and glassy, light and warm to the touch, giving a faint piny-resinous smell when rubbed or heated, and electrifying to lift straws.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
AMBER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- amber
- Family
- organic mineraloid (fossil resin)
Form
- Part used
- the fossil resin
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet
Temperature
- TCM
- neutral
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Heart · Liver · Bladder
- Unani
- heart · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- quiets the spirit and calms the shen, invigorates the blood and dispels stasis, and frees painful urination
- Ayurveda
- raktastambhaka (arrests bleeding) and hridya (a heart tonic)
- Unani
- habis-ud-dam (haemostatic), muqawwi-e-qalb (cardiac tonic) and muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- absence of stasis or heat, and cases without excess; caution in the deficient
- Toxicity
- low toxicity in ordinary use
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