Aromatherapy
Most
of us use aromatherapy every day when we put on perfume or cologne. I
we think about it we are surrounding by various forms of aromatherapy in
our daily lives. The smell of grass, certain foods, the air after the
rain, flowers, trees, the ocean. And the list goes on. The purpose of
actively using aromatherapy is to help balance and heal our chakras ,
to enhance a meditation experience and to lift or stimulate our moods.
One of my favorite books on the subject is called Magical Aromatherapy.
by Scott Cunningham. It he explains the history and use of aromatherapy
in addition to listing the uses of the most widely used essential
oils. He has another book that shows the reader how to use these oils
in making bath salts and lotions. That one is called The Complete Book
of incense Oils and Brews. Together these two books provide the reader
with a solid beginning to their aromatherapy adventure. Since there
are several types of oils that will work for the same effect you are
trying to achieve it simply becomes a matter of personal preference as
to which one you use. for example, rose and lavender oils both work with
enhancing properties of love When shopping for your essential oils
you will want to buy natural oils and not blends or synthetic
substitutes. Oils can be found in new age stores or sometimes in
natural food stores and of course online. The advantage of shopping for
them in person is that you are able to test the scent of each one before
you buy it to make sure that it is something pleasing to you. The price
on some of these oils can be somewhat expensive depending upon the oil.
However keep in mind that you are only using a few drops of the oil at
any given time so the bottle will last for quite a long time.
If you are starting up your oil collection here are a few suggestions:
Rose
Oil and Lavender for Love- You will see Rosewater oil which is a lot
less expensive and available then pure rose oil. Both Rosewater Oil and
lavender are fairly inexpensive.
Basil, Cinnamon, Ginger Oils for Money
Peppermint and Lemon Oil for purification and
lifting the spirit. Peppermint oil is also good for headache relief
Vanilla oil has very magical properties. It can be a bit expensive
Some of the scents can also be found in the actual herbs so for example
if you wanted the basil oil scent you could simply squeeze a fresh leaf
of basil and have that scent. The same applies to the various flower
oils listed
If
you are doing chakra work I would recommend “The book of Chakra
Healing” by Liz Simpson. It is she gives you several choices of good
oils to use in working with each of the chakras.
There
are also several books out there that more a medicinal spin on
aromatherapy which is interesting as well. Of course caution should be
taken before using these things as substitutes for traditional medical
care.
You can use the oils in several different ways.
In an oil burner where you add a few drops of the oil to water and heat it up with a tea light
or
You
can put a few drops into a tissue and hold it up to your nose and when
not in use place it is a plastic bag. This method is portable so it work
in an office environment, or when you are traveling or trying to fall
asleep at night and don’t want to leave an open fire burning.
You
can also use these oils to dress a candle for use in candle magic or
meditation What you don’t want to do is to ingest them in any way as
most of these are not for internal use.
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