What do we know about aromatherapy? Well there immediately comes a lot of other things to mind when we think of it, such as natural systems, how things work, how things are created on Earth, by the Earth and how they are connected. You see, aromatherapy is only one system or microcosmos joined to all others and very connected to colour and other therapies in the sense that each oil has its own property, meaning, psychology and also own effect on the person. They connect with herbal medicine, aura soma and crystals as well as psychological systems like the anneagramm.

Of course for different parts of the world, there tend to be widespread therapy methods so that together they form seperate macrocosms or one general system. For example, in China you have Chinese medicine (herbs) and in a completely different part of the world like America, where the Native Indians once lived (traditionally), you have the Medicine Wheel, which is of course more a belief system, but one very rooted to Mother Earth and animals.

This means that belief systems are spread across different areas of the world like China and Asia, the same as the example we had before, you they created I Ching ~ the Book of Changes ~ and other religious teachings. My point  is that all these macrocosms or widespread systems are connected to each other or even overlap each other. They connect at various points or overlap in various areas, yet all have their correspondence due their root in the Earth.

So, for example, take myself~ I am one person and have studied myself through just about every belief system available to the West, such as through astrology, the Chinese horoscope, the Native Indian horoscope (Medicine Wheel) which correlates to the Western sunsigns and Destiny Cards (playing cards and the destiny system that I just discovered). Even learning about the day of my birth ~ Monday ~ is fascinating, as through all of these systems, the same is repeated and reinforced every single time. So I know myself like the back of my hand (in this regard).

This can be portrayed as the outer circle of a spiral of the one great Earth system, with two circles coming out of the centre ~ the Earth ~ leading outwards, twice, to open up to the sky.

In this natural Earth system the products of the Earth: herbs, plants, trees (the Celtic Tree Circle e.g.), etc, and also minerals can be compared to the first inner circle of the spiral. Nearly overlapping would come the Native Indian philosophy and Chinese Horoscope, which uses animals as their totems based upon the 5 elements of the Earth. And further outwards of the spiral, on the outer circle, I see it as entering the belief system of man reaching for the sky.

This could be the truths of man based on the Earth as in Buddhist scriptures and beliefs or other branches within it such as Zen or Janeism. It is for all those living their own religion or belief and who ‘have their feet on the ground and head in the clouds’. This mainly concerns man as animals ~ although some very intelligent and systematic ~ live according to their instincts and communication and are more Earth-based. Man spends a lot of time thinking and dreaming, perhaps because it longs for better things, the ideal world, better conditions due to man-made factors, dissatisfaction etc. as it is simply far more complicated that any other animal species or is more complex due its intelligence and the harm that some of the species poses on the rest of man, animals and the environment.

In any case, I’m getting far from the point, this lesson is on Aromatherapy and natural systems. We can see from aromatherapy that each essential oilhas its own properties like light, heavy, sweet, etc. and also its psychological properties, which is more the effect on the human psyche.

These can be antidepressants (jasmine, rose, neroli), relaxants (sandalwood), those that aid concenctration (like rosemary), aphrodisiacs (rose, sandalwood, patchouli, ylang ylang etc.) and those that have physical effects, like clove (significantly helps tooth ache if you smudge a little over the painful area), tea tree (that is antisceptic), geranium that is a wonderful oil for me to add a few drops in the bath (3-5 at most for a full bath) and others that smell extremely pungent like clary sage.

Combining oils is the best thing you can do. Be it for abath or for a massage oil, which you then only have to add to a base oil (sesame, jojoba, evening primrose, sunflower etc.) at the right dosage. The combination should be chosen by you after you have tested a fewoils and decided which you like and which react best to you.

This can also be determined (like it was for me) by a professional aromatherapist who finds those your body needs or rather ‘cries out for’ most, through a muscle testing session. My closest linked ones were rose and neroli (two antidepressants and aphrodisiacs that combine beautifully and which I adore above any other combination even up to this day); upon which the therapist said “I was a very expensive lady!”.

The combinations you use should or could also fit to each other well, according to their weight, colour, psychological factor and of course what you yourself desire. It would be nice to form that, what I call a kind of roly poly all-round and balanced massage or bath oil, whereby you would probably need quite a few oils to add for this. Or you can make one for hangovers or for concentration needs when going to an important

meeting or an exam or other event where you must be mentally top fit (and the effects are amazing ~ it can truly save the day, like a few mere sniffs of a rosemary bottle a couple of times beforehand). Or you could create a combination for a quiet night at home with your lover and offer a massage of rose, geranium, patchouli (I personally don’t prefer this one, but some others do) and my favourite (roly poly kind of, slightly pungent oil, so requires getting used to, ylang ylang).

To that you could add a couple of drops of lemongrass (very refreshing and envigorating!) or jasmine oil (a fine and wonderfully fresh, sweet and beautiful smell, which anyone will know if they have ever smelled a Jasmine plant in bloom before).

An important note to make at this point is that it is very important when dealing with Aromatherapy oils, to get the absolute best quality possible. That is my recommendation. Even if you only get a small amount of each and use it for sniffing the bottle or that real exception when your lover comes round etc. as rose is one of those very very expensive ones, but well worth getting at the dose of 2ml or 4ml etc. Another one that really varies in quality, I find, is sandalwood. Pure and good sandalwood is rather expensive, depending upon where you buy it, for as you may know, it is a tree grown in India among other countries I assume, that is also used as carved jewellry and that has a gorgeous smell to the pure wood itself. Also very aphrodisiac. Yet the price of the oil depends more on the method used for processing it into an oil. For example, in absolute rose, you must imagine that each rose petal is extracted of its scent ~ its essential oil. There are various methods more or less extensive and this is the main to only factor that determines the final price.

You also get Indian essential oils sold in headshops or small exclusive markets, but those are a question of taste. These are mostly however perfumes. Although wonderful, they are and not your down-to-Earth, pure essential oil. Try to get a book too if you’re starting off with aromatherapy oils. There are lots of ways you can apply them and make use of them on various physical and psychological levels. I recommend the book ‘The A-Z of Aromatherapy’ by … which the same author followed up with a second called ‘Subtle Aromatherapy’. Both are extremely useful and fascinating to read. They use clear language and are well-explained. Of course the ‘A-Z’ must be read first otherwise the second book cannot be appreciated fully. It’s important to get the most understanding you can through the process of reading, discovering and testing out for yourself (buying and experimenting), so you gain as much enjoyment out of aromatherapy as it has to offer.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, please do contact me and I’ll be sure to reply in joy!!

Yours, as always,

~ röebok ~

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 19th, 2010 at 18:59 and is filed under Health and Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.