Making medicine is a sacred act. Sacred acts require a clear space and focus. I consider the Egyptian Grace products medicine in so far as they provide balancing agents and atmospheric assistance that can help one cultivate an ascending approach to daily life. With my ongoing expansion into CBD based remedies for pain and exacerbated skin conditions, the established practices are of even greater importance.
Essential oils engage directly with the limbic system, where memories, instincts, and vital functions are processed. The sense of smell acts largely on the subconscious level of the brain and interestingly, at the same time, it offers over 10,000 times more information than the senses of taste, sight, and touch combined. It is said that the subconscious is the “real” consciousness of humans, dictating the reality constructs we experience. Essential oils can offer a bridge into the subconscious as such, and they are potent carriers of intent. With the help of essential oils and other forms of aromatics we are given a way to communicate intention to the subconscious, where the power of manifestation can better be accessed.
With the inhalation of an essential oil the odor molecules go up the nose and are as if caught by the olfactory membranes. They’re then brought into the limbic system, passing between the major glands of the brain. Smell is the only sense that bypasses the cerebral cortex, going directly into the limbic system. There are about twenty million olfactory neurons that receive and transmit information to the olfactory bulb. These nerve cells are the only ones in our bodies that can both transmit and receive information, and regenerate themselves. Once carried into the system, the odor messages enable the limbic to register the existence of a specific scent molecule and respond accordingly, releasing the appropriate brain chemicals to communicate with the nervous system to relax or be stimulated.
There is more to this fascinating story, but for our purposes here, this will suffice. Because we are dealing with very potent substances capable of bypassing the blood/brain barrier and subtly affecting the mind and emotions, we are advised to use them with a healthy dose of respect. Odor messages are one of the fastest ways to achieve beneficial psychological and physiological effects. As such it behooves us to be not only knowledgeable about the materials with which we work, but also enter into this arena as cleared of our own agenda as possible.
In order to serve others it is essential that we offer a clear space for whatever information is needed to best serve the person who seeks out help. My perfumery teacher advised us to eliminate garlic, onion, and other strong foods as part of our training in order to clear our own palette and take in the information that a person’s natural aroma could offer. The sensitivity developed went beyond one’s sense of smell, naturally, just as the sense of smell can be a gateway to the more intuitive and instinctual aspects of our being. While the knowledge we gain through study is imperative to ongoing work of this nature, it is the repeated experience of traversing these subtle pathways combined with ongoing self-knowledge and discipline that will enable one to be a reliable guide in the world of creating personal atmospheres of ascendance and healing.
Prior to making products I must clean the vessels in which they will be contained, as well as the various tools I use in their formulating. Cleanliness is truly next to godliness. One has the aim of creating a healing cream that will carry nutrients where they are needed. This can be a fertile medium for unwanted guests, in the form of mold, for example, if one does not take care to make the environment pure and unfriendly to unwanted microbes.
In a similar way, one must be free of one’s own unwanted critters in the form of negative states – and some so called positive states can function in a negative way. I am of the belief that essential oils are carriers of intent. Intention is a holistic phenomenon. To be complete it requires the cooperative engagement of what I view as our three centers – the intellectual mind, the emotions, and the moving/instinctive part of our beings. If we are in a state of disharmony our intention is weakened. If our subconscious directives are trauma informed, our good intentions will be weakened or subverted altogether.
The beauty of aromatics like essential oils and incenses which release essential oils by heat expression is that they have the ability to help us unify in our endeavors. As indicated, aromatics can communicate to our limbic system signals that help stimulate conditions of well-being, which in turn facilitates a healthy resonance in our intention setting and medicine making.
A life lived with the purpose of voluntary evolution, and an ongoing aim of alignment with the will of the Creative, or the Sage, will eventually align one such that the scrutiny needed for the ongoing process of clarification is given. Know thyself, from my perspective, means realizing one’s nature as being ultimately of spirit, realizing that spirit is senior to matter. The ephemeral nature of essential oils renders them as vital allies, supporting our efforts to purify away what is not necessary to our existence as multi-dimensional beings.
Making medicine while one is in a state of imbalance is obviously not right activity. To help facilitate a true state of being for rendering service to others, there are useful tricks when one’s dedicated way of life nonetheless requires a boost. One such is the following:
You will need Frankincense and/or Myrrh tears ground down to a powder for burning on a charcoal round. This round will be placed in a high heat resistance container – ideally an incense burner made for such a use. The incense burner should be placed under a simple straight back chair. A dedicated sheet big enough to cover your body and the chair, creating a tent like incense “sauna” will be needed as well.
As part of this purification ritual take a lukewarm shower or bath. Begin the process of clarifying your thoughts, applying intent to cleansing your inner being as you are cleansing your body. Let your body air dry. Go immediately to the chair, and light the incense. Place it carefully such that it is in the center underneath the chair. Carefully wrap the sheet around yourself and the chair such that it covers the bottom without making any contact with the incense burner. Wrap it all the way around at the neck – you should be as if in a sauna. Allow the incense to purify you, and as part of that purification be open to any intuitive messages that you may receive about how to further this process. Use prayer, mantra, and visualization – any and all of these techniques to facilitate a state of purification. This should take place for a period of about half an hour. After completion take care to put the censer somewhere safe until the charcoal has burned completely to ash.
The feeling of pristine cleanliness one can achieve from this ritual is truly remarkable. It may be that repeated contamination with dense states of matter require repetition of this ritual to begin to feel its effects. But give it a chance, if you feel so inclined. It is a wonderful way of clearing the slate and making the way for new insights and efforts.