The Essence of Essential Oil

I write this blog in honor of Beltane and the blessings we have on our planet, especially for those within our environment that bring the beauty, spirit and life force at its paramount into our lives. Most noticeably are our plant relatives and their beauty and the power of their essential life force that they naturally and freely offer to us just by being themselves here and now.

My love affair for scents came long ago, when I was a teenager. Initially, I had an aversion to plants, but I had to deal with them for some time, as my mother was an avid gardener. Wherever we lived, she had a garden. My father was in the U.S. Airforce and we lived in various states in the United States, in the South Pacific and in Europe, and there was always a spot in the yard where my mother would garden. By the time my father retired from the AirForce, I was in High School. My parents purchased some land in Sonoma County in Northern California where my mother and our indigenous relatives originated who were the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo, and there she could establish a large garden in which I had to help with the harvesting and storage preparations. As the eldest child, I was primarily responsible for participating in the domestic chores and assisting within my mother's domain. I hated it then as a teenager, when I would have rather played my guitar to the neighboring horses and drift into my imaginary visions and creativity. However, I am very grateful that I learned much from my mother and her interests of the land and especially the value of being a caretaker of the environment.

In my later teen years, I started developing an allergy working in the garden. My hands would break out in blisters and became itchy. The blisters would dry up and then my hands would be sore and red. It was a process, and I had to stop garden work for the time.

During those days, young women stopped wearing girdles and began wearing fishnet stockings and pantyhose, along with makeup and perfume. My weakest of the five senses was always smell. It was hard to grasp smells. When I went to the cosmetic counters to try the perfumes, it took a lot to smell the scent and then the application again bothered my skin.

During that same era, hippie type businesses with lava lamps and brass ornaments from India, as well as exotic fabrics and jewelry, were being introduced into local markets. What enticed me was the aromas of fragrance oils that emitted from these shops. It was earthly and grounding for me. Cinnamon and patchouli, sandalwood, and, of course, Egyptian musk. Little did I understand they are primary base notes on the aromatherapy tone scale. I needed grounding, and the universe helped me out when I stepped into the world of exotic oils. The purchase of a roll-on-vial and some chandelier earrings liberated me. I felt most enjoyable being a female in my skin. I found my way in the world through a strong sense of the "ethnic" indigenous venue. It fit me well, as I am indigenous and that part of me surfaced.

I began my personal connection to plants and by the time I graduated from High School I did not have an aversion to gardening. In my first apartment, I loved decorating it with plants. I never purchased a bottle of perfume again, but I was clueless on the mystery of fragranced oils until I went to a mystical retreat back in the early 90's where I was personally introduced to them.

At this retreat, there was a young woman who was a key player in coordinating the event but overnight became ill. She did not attend our first meeting. By the second night, she showed up but stayed very far back in the room. I really felt for her, so I offered to give her a Reiki treatment to support her wellness and hoping she might feel better about joining the group. It obviously helped because she was sprightly and attentive the following day and brought to me a thank you gift.

It was a small vial of pure essential oil. She said she concocted a personal blend for me comprised of pine essential oil and spruce. All I had to do was keep the vial on me and when I needed a pick-me-up just open it and smell. Well, needless to say, it was so powerful to inhale pure essential oils. No dilution of base oil like in fragrances I was used to, but in the purest essence of character.

I was hooked. I could smell deeply and clearly. I never went back to purchasing premixed oils ever again when I could make my very own. So why am I sharing this story about my essential oil origins? Well I was so honored with the personal blend as a gift and completely astounded by its pure essence and nature. I now understand why the Egyptians venerated essential oils. Essential oils are holistic and resinate to our pure sense of wholeness. Essential oils have been the grounding and have been a spiritual agent towards my personal wellness and have paved the way to my pathway of wellness.

I've been working with and developing relationships with the oils and plants for now over 27 years, (not counting my sojourn of years in my youth purchasing oil infused essences and oils). I consider the essential oils of the plants as highly sacred. From my indigenous knowledge sources, the plants were part of mentoring assisting human existence on Earth, next to the mineral peoples and animal peoples. They hold some of the deepest knowledges on the planet particularly for our overall health. They are not just to be used but to be cared for and honored.

Today's commercial market is now inundated with essential oil manufacturers and distributers. Because of the high consumer demand for them, so many businesses have sprung up to produce and sell essential oils. The consumer must become more educated to know where and how the oils are being produced. There are several processes in extracting the essential substances from the plants and all are unique to each organism. Many extractions use chemicals and pesticides to speed up the processing times. Adding pesticides to the skin and to the atmosphere negates all the benefits in the long run that one would expect when experiencing essential oils.

We must also consider the impact of producing essential oils. In order to produce a pound of essential oil, we must harvest a tremendous amount of plant material. For example: 10,000 pounds of roses, 250 pounds of lavender, and 150 lemons to make one ounce of essential oil. From what I remember when I was in Egypt, the perfumers told me it took 70,000 pounds of lotuses to produce 1 pound of oil.

In ancient Egypt, only the rich and privileged had assess to essential oils. It takes a lot of land and attention to grow, harvest, extract, and manufacture essential oils. To produce the amount of oils for the present demand in the western world is staggering.

I am injecting in this blog an appeal for consciousness. As I have stated, I have been using and working and being blessed with the plants and their wisdom in my life. I pray for you all as well. However, what I have learned in working with plants and essences is that you do not need to use much. I see so many articles and recipes online that suggest using 20 to 30 drops of essential oil. That is over using the product. What I have learned from my Elder mentors is when using any aspect of the living earth is you need very little of that plant/animal/mineral to gain its knowledge and benefits. Our consumer oriented society encourages us to use and use up so that we can continue to buy and use. Perhaps in the ancient world the privileged were hedonistic, but now the majority of our western human population has become even more so.

When I visited Egypt in early 2000, I purchase some absolute oils. They are still with me and I still use them. The Egyptians perfumers informed me that essential oils can last a lifetime as long as they are free from contamination. We cannot touch the bottle rims with the hands, we can only use an extractor tool once to dip into the bottle and it must be clean and dry. The bottle must stay sealed tightly and out of sunlight.

Also, I have instructed, and I personally have experienced, that there are many plants on our planet for each one of us. However, each one of us does not need all the plants. Our true relationships with our peoples on the Earth are personal. Much as early men would like to think, they want or could have many wives, such lifestyles can be confusing and negating to a genuine experience of goodness and wellness. To have good relationships, it takes focused one-on-one experiences. Some are meant to be for a lifetime. Such is with our relationships with plants. There are certain plants that are personal helpers for me and I reach out to them for support in many aspects of my life.

Each plant is like a super/man/woman. There are various properties that they emit for support and healing. Take for instance our common relative Sage:

Sage is very well known as a culinary herb but it has also been utilized as a tea. Sage as a tea is known to help menopausal symptoms, weight loss, detoxify the body, control diabetes, boost blood circulation, neutralize free radicals, relieve anxiety, boosts appetite, and helps aid in digestion. Sage tea has been beneficial in alleviating oral mucositis a side effect of chemotherapy when the lining of the mouth breaks down and forms mouth sores or ulcers.

In our current experience in the 21st century, we are inundated with a myriad of commodities. From a multitude of varieties of breakfast cereals, to even one essential oil to choose from all the different branding, that it can take days to decide which to take home. We are compounded with outside contaminants that make us use indoor support, i.e. air purifiers, humidifiers, and aromatherapy. Many of us use medications and other topical ointments and cosmetics. Within each item we use today are myriads of ingredients that we must be more familiar with, in order to understand what sort of affects we will experience when introducing so many other items into our environment and onto/into our bodies. Many of us do not take care in doing so. We are so used to using and fixing what we immediately need because we can, that we forget what we are doing until we react negatively.

In the ancient and Indigenous world, what was sacred and valued in life was used sparingly. Sparingly, is in special occasions. Such necessities and niceties were prepared and applied, i.e. in ceremony or for intimate and very personal wellness undertaking.

There were few queens, though today everyone wants to be a queen or act like Cleopatra. If we have courts and governments that we are working for sovereignty such as she, then it is necessary to prepare in the highest possible caliber to present ourselves with the help of the sacred and valued gifts of the earth.

Today we must learn to choose wisely what is best for ourselves in our intimate and personal lives, and with that, we honor the Earth and can support the wellness of the planet.

I pray it is in the manner of how we walk the earth ... Gently and Compassionately.

Many Blessings

DiVeena