Body and Soul

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Bring the power of smell into life’s rituals with essential oils.

PLANTS HAVE BEEN incorporated into human rituals since time immemorial. Before methods of extracting their essential oils were ­devised, the plants themselves were employed as both physical and spiritual healing agents. Plants connect us to nature, remind us we are part of something greater, and can serve as a catalyst for the transformation of our body and soul. One of the most basic ways of bringing plants into our consciousness is through our sense of smell. Scent is routed to the brain’s limbic system, where memory and emotions are stored and where some patterns of behavior are triggered. That is why certain fragrances evoke particular memories.

Aromatherapy, the inhalation of fragrant essential oils to promote relaxation and rejuvenation, can ­facilitate a change in consciousness when used with visualization, meditation, prayer, or ritual. In our Western culture, many rituals have ­fallen by the wayside, although some—marriage ceremonies, graduations, funerals, baptisms—have survived.

Rituals are simply ceremonies performed to bring an idea into physical form or to acknowledge a special time. Plant scents can be powerful tools when used in a ­ritual.

Aromatherapists believe that the inhalation of different fragrances produce different effects. In a ceremony to create or empower, for example, they recommend scenting the air with rosemary oil to bring clarity to the mind. In a purification ceremony, rose oil purifies the heart. To facilitate grieving or recognize pain and let it go, choose petitgrain (the essential oil from the leaves of bitter ­orange), which encourages transformation.

Mindy Green of Boulder, Colorado, is the author of Natural Perfumes: Simple Aromatherapy Recipes (Interweave Press, 1999), and the education director at the Herb Research Foundation.