Essential Oils and Love, Sex and Soul
Many essential oils used in aromatherapy are believed to encourage loving feelings and to exert an aphrodisiac action. For instance, jasmine oil has long been used in love sachets and incenses not only to enhance romantic love but spiritual love as well. The Sufis revere jasmine as a symbol of both romantic and spiritual love. Kama, the Hindu god of love, tipped his arrows with jasmine flowers so they would have the power to infuse the heart with desire.
Rose oil is another example in this reference. Since ancient times, rose oil has been consistently classified as an oil of love, femininity and emotional feeling. Roman brides and bridegrooms were crowned with roses, as were the images of Venus and Cupid, and rose petals were scattered on the marriage bed. When Cleopatra invited Mark Antony to her palace, she had the floor covered with roses because of her fervent belief in the romantic power of the rose's scent. And among some American Indian tribes, braves gathered wild roses for the hair of their brides.
A wealth of other examples can be provided. For instance, some of the "magical" purposes for which vetivert oil has traditionally been used include love spells and overcoming an aversion to the opposite sex. Ylang ylang is considered to be an aphrodisiac specific for impotence and frigidity. The name ylang ylang is translated by some as "flower of flowers." Ylang ylang is also called perfume tree. In Indonesia, its flower petals are often strewn across the marriage bed as a symbol of love.
Neroli oil essential, distilled from the flowers of the bitter orange tree, is associated with romance and sensuality. A bride and groom of Crete are sprinkled with orange blossom water; in other countries, young brides traditionally wear a wreath woven from orange blossoms. In days past, orange blossoms were fastened to the horns of oxen pulling the cart of Sardinian honeymooners. After reading the above anecdotes, one might come to the conclusion that there's a great deal of congruence among these essential oils regarding the sphere of romantic love. However, they present only a top-layer perspective of the oils.
Soul-Nature and Spiritual PhytoEssencing
Plants are alive, and everything that lives has a soul. An essential oil is the carrier of its plant's soul; in order to fully individualize the use of an essential oil so it can act deeply, even constitutionally, one must first identify its unique soul-nature. Then, the oil needs to be matched with the soul-nature of the individual for whom it is intended. Spiritual PhytoEssencing is a synthesis of certain aspects of aromatherapy, herbal medicine and folk medicine, Kabbalah, Chinese medicine, classical homeopathy, modern physiology, depth psychology, gemstone healing, color therapy and anthroposophical science. The soul-nature of an essential oil, rather than its chemical action, is emphasized.
Though not accessible to our ordinary intellectual consciousness, this soul-nature is the key determinant of the character of the oil. Every living cell must be animated by a vital force, or "ensouled," and it is this incarnation of higher forces into living tissue that lends each organism its tangible expression. Kabbalists refer to this as the "descent of soul into matter."
Founder of anthroposophical medicine Rudolf Steiner notes: "Matter is most spiritual in the perfume of the plant...When the spirit most closely approaches the physical earth, then we have the perception of fragrance." The Kabbalah teaches that while the taste of a fruit such as an orange nourishes a human being on a conscious level, the scent of its Neroli oil essential provides sustenance for one's spiritual dimension. According to the Kabbalah, the human soul contains plant, animal and human soul components. Thus, each of us has the ability to relate to plant souls on a soul-to-soul level. Hence, an essential oil, the bonding medium for the soul of the plant, is uniquely suited to act as the physical entity that can facilitate an interface between plant and human souls.
Rose oil is another example in this reference. Since ancient times, rose oil has been consistently classified as an oil of love, femininity and emotional feeling. Roman brides and bridegrooms were crowned with roses, as were the images of Venus and Cupid, and rose petals were scattered on the marriage bed. When Cleopatra invited Mark Antony to her palace, she had the floor covered with roses because of her fervent belief in the romantic power of the rose's scent. And among some American Indian tribes, braves gathered wild roses for the hair of their brides.
A wealth of other examples can be provided. For instance, some of the "magical" purposes for which vetivert oil has traditionally been used include love spells and overcoming an aversion to the opposite sex. Ylang ylang is considered to be an aphrodisiac specific for impotence and frigidity. The name ylang ylang is translated by some as "flower of flowers." Ylang ylang is also called perfume tree. In Indonesia, its flower petals are often strewn across the marriage bed as a symbol of love.
Neroli oil essential, distilled from the flowers of the bitter orange tree, is associated with romance and sensuality. A bride and groom of Crete are sprinkled with orange blossom water; in other countries, young brides traditionally wear a wreath woven from orange blossoms. In days past, orange blossoms were fastened to the horns of oxen pulling the cart of Sardinian honeymooners. After reading the above anecdotes, one might come to the conclusion that there's a great deal of congruence among these essential oils regarding the sphere of romantic love. However, they present only a top-layer perspective of the oils.
Soul-Nature and Spiritual PhytoEssencing
Plants are alive, and everything that lives has a soul. An essential oil is the carrier of its plant's soul; in order to fully individualize the use of an essential oil so it can act deeply, even constitutionally, one must first identify its unique soul-nature. Then, the oil needs to be matched with the soul-nature of the individual for whom it is intended. Spiritual PhytoEssencing is a synthesis of certain aspects of aromatherapy, herbal medicine and folk medicine, Kabbalah, Chinese medicine, classical homeopathy, modern physiology, depth psychology, gemstone healing, color therapy and anthroposophical science. The soul-nature of an essential oil, rather than its chemical action, is emphasized.
Though not accessible to our ordinary intellectual consciousness, this soul-nature is the key determinant of the character of the oil. Every living cell must be animated by a vital force, or "ensouled," and it is this incarnation of higher forces into living tissue that lends each organism its tangible expression. Kabbalists refer to this as the "descent of soul into matter."
Founder of anthroposophical medicine Rudolf Steiner notes: "Matter is most spiritual in the perfume of the plant...When the spirit most closely approaches the physical earth, then we have the perception of fragrance." The Kabbalah teaches that while the taste of a fruit such as an orange nourishes a human being on a conscious level, the scent of its Neroli oil essential provides sustenance for one's spiritual dimension. According to the Kabbalah, the human soul contains plant, animal and human soul components. Thus, each of us has the ability to relate to plant souls on a soul-to-soul level. Hence, an essential oil, the bonding medium for the soul of the plant, is uniquely suited to act as the physical entity that can facilitate an interface between plant and human souls.
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