Purification

Nature is remarkably resilient. Think of a little seed lying in the earth, and along comes this massive machine, shaking the ground, moving inexorably towards it, and then it dumps a whole load of bitumen right on top of the seed, to make a pathway or a drive. You might think, That's the end of that! But no, time passes, and a tiny green shoot pops its head through a hairline crack in the hardened bitumen, into the light, and grows into a plant. We come along and say, 'Look at that, another weed.' and pull it out! But more plans grow in its place and despite everything we do nature still has that profound drive to live. Essential oils, too, appear to have that life quality, despite whatever human negativity they get subjected to.

Thoughts are vibratory, and essential oils are too. If the vibration of the thought is light or heavy, the essential oil will respond accordingly. Perhaps even the earth in which the essential oil plant grows is affected by thought. Finding out about the mind-set  of the growers, distillers, bottlers and sellers, however, can be difficult.

Going to the fields in which the crop is grown, and meeting with the people involved in the process, all the way down the line, is impossible for most essential-oil users. Some aromatherapists do spend a fair amount of  their time sourcing, and will drop or adopt different suppliers depending on their attitude of mind, be it negative or positive.

For the casual user, however, the most practical way to approach the problem is to spend some time clearing the oils. Let me say here that I do not believe essential oils can do harm energetically; it's just that they may not be able to realize their light potential if any negative though-forms have been around them.

Some people invoke the help of God, through prayer, to cleanse their essential oils, or they use the classic decontamination material, salt, Reference is made to it in the Bible (2Kings 2:20-21) when Elisha 'healed 'the spring water at Jericho: 'And said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth onto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence scanty death or barren land.'

At Shinto shrines in Japan, piles of salt are often placed  on either side of the Torri arch, to clear negativity from the people entering. Salt is certainly cleansing, which is why a dentist may tell you to rinse your mouth with it but that does not explain  why it is so universally used for spiritual decontamination. Perhaps it is because the crystalline structure of salt makes it an attractor. There was a time when sea salt  was usually preferred for these purposes, but since the seas are now so polluted, rock salt is probably best. Salt deposits are found all over the world, with some of the largest being 250 and 2,000 feet thick.

Making sure the top is tightly shut, put the bottle of essential oil in a glass and cover it with salt. Leave it there for twenty-four-hours, then rinse the bottle in spring water and wipe it dry. At this point, if you wish, the bottle can be surrounded by rock crystals, which have themselves been washed  in salty spring water and left to dry in the sun. This should be done with a completely clear mind, as there is absolutely no reason to impose your mind or even your love or good intentions, on the essential oils at this point. They have their own love and good intent - pure, egoless energy. By carrying out this process, we clear the way for that loving energy to shine through. 

Reference: The Fragrant Heavens/ V.A. Worwood

Thought, Intent and Purpose

Thoughts are very powerful things, and I say 'things' because, although they're invisible, they're almost tangible. They seem sometimes to fill the space around  a person, so you can know what they're thinking even when their back is turned. Some people even believe thoughts get impregnated into the fabric of buildings or objects, and that their energy can be felt centuries later. Thoughts certainly travel across space very quickly, with people often knowing what someone else is thinking at that instant, no matter where in the world they are.

When it is we who are having the thoughts, they can also seem to fill the whole space around us. Sometimes we may feel people can read our thoughts because thay are so obvious and extended from ouselves. They seem to have power, an energy of their own: even transmitting to other people, sometimes when we wish they wouldn't.

There have now been many studies on what is termed 'non-local quantum thought phenomena' - how one person's thoughts can instigate an effect in another person. Research also shows that this phenomenon is instantaneous and isn't affected by distance - it doesn't matter whether the two people are standing right next to each other or on different continents. Although such a concept seems unbelievable, it actullay mirrors a phenomenon known by science to occur with subatomic particles.

If two subatomic particles that have been in contact with each other are separated, a change to one also occurs, in exactly the same way and instantaneously, in the other. So, if there is a correspondence between one human's thought and another human's thought, and between subatomic particle and subatomic particle, why not between humans and essential oils?

We have at this point to bring in a few scientific facts. First, as I have written in  The Fragrant Mind, scientists have established that the chemical composition of the DNA in a moose - the animal - and a spruce - the tree - is essentially identical. Both DNAs  are encased in cells, which are structurally the same and like ours. Moreover, the only chemical difference between chlorophyll in plants and red haemoglobin in human blood is that a magnesium atom in one replaces an iron atom in the other.

As Richard Thompson so eloquently puts it in The Brain: A Nuroscience Primer, "The similarity of the genetic material  in all forms of life that exist in the world today, including bacteria, plants, animals, and people, indicates that all forms of life that exist in the world today, including bacteria, plants, animals, and people, indicates that all living organisms descended from the same single cell-line.' In other words, human beings and plants come from the same single cell-line,' in other words, human beings  and plants  come from the same familial line and have a relationship. It is that fundamental relationship that can be activated by thought. (How poignant it is that all Lakota North America ceremonies end with the words mitakuye oyasin, meaning 'we are all related': a prayer recognizing every living thing - every person, animal and plant - as part of the same family.) 

Of course, essential oils are not living plants; and, although some might be prepared to accept that we can communicate with plants, they might say we can't communicate with essential oils, as they are 'only' the essence of a plant. I'm reminded now of some work carried out by Cleve Backster, who became famous as the man who proved that plants respond to human thought. He also discovered, however, that if he ground up a leaf he could get the same emotonial-electrical results as he did with live plants.

I talked  to many people while researching this pages and each time the subject  of thoughts came up, every-one emphatic - yes, the energy of essential oils varies depending on the mind-frame of those handling them. Whether I spoke to scientists who take measurements of essential oils, religious leaders or medicine men, all were in agreement: essential oils have a vibration which is altered by the person handling them. This fact throws light on a strange (or not so strange ) phenomenon: two people, using the same species of essential oil can elicit two different responses - one that has the desired effect and one that doesn't. It almost seems as if, in the latter case, the oil has been sapped  of its energy; however, it's more the case that the light potential in the oil has been switched off - and, thankfully, it can be rekindled. However, it's more the case that the light potential in oil has been switched off - and, thankfully, it can be rekindled.

The first thing I say to students or people attending workshops, is that the most important element of handling essential oils is encapsulated in three words - thought, intent and purpose. "Thought' motivates the action of picking up a particular essential oil, 'intent' is about having positive intentions, and the objective, what you are trying to achieve, is the 'purpose'. Basically, we need to stop and think about what we are doing; why we are doinfg it; and apply our head and heart to it. We want to attain a good result, and use the appropriate essential oils to achieve it. Smile, and visualize the recipient in a completely abundant way: in spirit, mind and body, their positive qualities enhanced. Don't dwell on any minor irritating aspects they may have, or impose any private thoughts on the essential oils - such as ' this will calm him down'. It is not for us to impress our will or ego on the oils;we merely facilitate the joining of the harmonious energies between them and human beings.

Medical therapists have to do more research than casual aromatherapy users, and will be knowledgeable in the therapeutic values of essential oils. They know the potential of any particular species, and may invoke  that potential as they blend their oils. For example, if a client has an inflammatory condition, as they roll the bottle between their hands, the therapist could think of the anti-inflammatory qualities of the essential oil, and ask that energy to come to the aid of the client -not forgetting to kindly thank it. This is energetic blending to a purpose. Sometimes that purpose may be limited; a sports-damaged knee and a healthy knee can be the purpose in mind. At othyer times, the purpose may be larger, encompassing spiritual health too, and therapists will want to blend for positivity and happiness.

When using the essential oils at home, say when taking a bath, make a conscious decision to do it in a certain way. Don't let your mind ruminate on whatever is bothering you at the time. When picking up a bottle essential oil, think of thirty-feet-high tree  with its inner core, the heartwood that is used in the production of this oil; if it's rose, think of the many-petalled delicate flower. Or take a deep breath and focus your whole mind on a picture you enjoy, a view of nature or something else that brings a smile to your face. Pamper yourself spiritually. Or think of yourself at your most glorious best, as you would wish to be.

Reference: The Fragrant Heavens / V.A. Worwood 

Using Essential Oils for Spiritual Connection

To wonder at nothing when it happens:
to consider  nothing impossible before it comes to pass.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

The spiritual connection could be said to take place within the dynamic energy which permeates the entire universe. It is a space of light and high vibration, and anything used for subtle healing - the reconnection of body to spirit - needs to be in harmony with it. Essential oils carry the light, and that light potential is activated by positive thought. Even physicists now accept that thoughts are a form of energy, saying the human observer has to be taken into account as part of the experiment: What thay are thinking changes the outcome. Thought is a part of scientific equations, even though we can't grab a thought and put it under the microscope!

When working with essential oils for first aid, or for physical ailments such as rheumatism, although energetic aspects of essential oils are important, they are not as important as choosing an essential oil with the chemical properties to do the job than required of it. When choosing as essential oil for subtle healing or spiritual connection, however the chemical constituents are less important because they are not being required to act on a physical, chemical matter of the human body. What is important is the energy of the essential oil, its vibrational note, which interacts with our own spiritual harmonic note as part of the universal symphony.

Any essential oil distilled from a plant lovingly grown in unsullied soil, under an unpolluted sky, by caring people, and distributed by a company working with integrity and respect, is going to have a good energy. Nature vibrates with its own joy of life in which we can share and, indeed, essential oils produced under such favourable conditions  appear to have a more beneficial effect on the sick or wounded than those distilled from plants subjected to polluted growing conditions, chemical adulteration or negative thought-forms. When considering using essential oils for subtle healing and spiritusl purposes, the energetic aspects of production are equally important. 

The first step, then, is to consider the question of supply. Ultimately, after the various mechanical means of purity analysis, ther is one judge of aroma: the nose, the most direct pathway to the mind and spirit. The way to train a nose is by comparison - opening the tester bottles of the various brand-named essential oils  and taking a sniff. After a while, you'll find outlets  that carry oils with a purity, clarity and energy that stand out. Take your time though, make it a mission, it's worth the effort. Talk to the shopkeepers and find out about their sources. That won't tell you the whole story, but it might give you a clue here and there,. Seek, as they say, and you will find. 

Reference: The Fragrant Heavens/ V.A. Worwood 

Essential Oils:The unseen Energies 

In the usual light photographs of the Milky Way, the shape seems obvious - it's a spiral disc, a basically flat circular shape  made up of countless white stars - but when you get on the internet and look at some of the photographs that have come back from space, you can see the reality is much more complex.

The web sites to visit are the Goddard Space Flight Centre, NASA, and the University of Illnois, which displays photos of the Milky way taken using X-ray, infra-red and radio equipment. When the frequency is charged, further levels of reality are exposed.

Using computer enhancement and colour, different swirls of energy are highlighted, and 'bipolar outflows' are revealed as emerging from the centre, like two trumpets, perpendicular to the disc of stars. These exciting new pictures illustrate how much more there is to life than we can see with our eyes.

Life on our planet certainly seems more benevolent than on the other planets in our solar system, and more vibrant, but what do we know of its invisible energies? Human energy fields have been recognized in most, if not all, spiritual traditions. Eastern traditions talk of Prana and ch'i - the energies that are vital to health. In Western terminology, we hear of the 'Aura', or the 'ethric body,' 'astral body', 'menta body' and 'spiritual body', and a 'golden web' that connects us all. It is likely that we are dealing with several energy fields that interact with each other, and our physical selves, and they are said to be the means by which we connect with the divine.

According to Dr Valerie Hunt, a physiological scientist and author of Infinite Mind. the science of Human Vibrations, although the electrons existing in humans and interactive matter are the same, the human field absorbs and throws off energy, while inert matter is passive. In addition to the electrical frequencies of muscle, brain and heart there is 'another field of energy, smaller in amplitude and higher in frequency'.

Apparently this energy is electromagnetic, and eight to ten times faster than the other electromagnetic energy recorded on the body's surface. Dr. Hunt has done much research on the human aura: taking measurements when subjects were in the mountains and near the sea; or after having a swim, a shower or a barefoot walk in the grass; and in special scientific study environments, such as the Mu and Anechoic rooms at the university of California in Los Angeles.

The Mu room, located in the physics department, is an environment in which the electromagnetic energy in air can be altered. The Anechoic room is designed to take out sound and light, and thus these sources of electromagnetism: and subjects lost their sense of time and became unable to operate the instruments taken in there for research study. There are few people in the Western world who have carried out as much scientific research on the human aura as Dr. Hunt, and she writes:

The human field looms as primary to life
Resonating frequencies are primary physical bonds in nature, For every frequency or frequency band, there exists natural or created resonators. In other words, a fields frequency pattern at a given time is a resonating structure that determines the energy it will absorb or by which it will be affected. Theoretically, all frequency vibrations exist in the universe

which includes the body) - from sub herzian to as high as modern instruments can measure - billions and trillions of cycles per second. Nonetheless each material substance, living or inert, mineral or chemical, has its own vibratory signature carried in the structure of the field. There are dominant and recessive vibrations in each field, giving it a character. Field interactions result from the strength and patterns of these field vibrations. These constitute windows, or thoroughfares for transactions. A sound general principle states that interaction between fields occurs when there are compatable frequencies. 

I believe essential oils are 'thoroughfares for transactions - they have their own vibrations which connect with the frequencies in the human energy field. Causing effects in the physical, emotional and spiritual body. Essential oils have different electrical qualities, and different molecular shape and vibration. Interesting though all the data is, it does not explain what one might rather vaguely call  'the energy' of a particular essential oil. New methods of recording are required. With this in mind, I went to see Harry Oldfield, who co-authored The Dark Side Of The Brain, with Roger Coghill in 1988, at the time a seminal work on unseen energies. Harry has invented an energy field imaging system which records the invisible aura of energy around living things, and I was interested to know what it could reveal about essential oils.

According to Harry, the images produced show interference patterns with light, as light rays and photons get 'interfered with by the subtle energy effects emanating from the object or space point.  I say "space point" because there are atmospheres and places that give off emanations too.'

Using this new equipment, which produces moving images on a computer monitor, colourful and dynamic patterns emerge in the air around the end of the smelling strip, on which the essential oils are placed. With some, such as jasmine and ginger, the end of the strip appeared bright white, with all the colour spectra in that spot. In others, the whole strip appeared energised, while yet others showed no change. The background is generally green but each essential oil makes it explode into different colours and shapes.

We saw either magenta, predominantly purple, orange, turquoise, or blue circles and squares: all actually layers of colour, rather like a rainbow. With eucalyptus citriodora a yellow haze appeared: while with frankincense a sudden rocket of energy flew out from the end of the strip; and with neroli a blue circle appeared at a distance and started beating like a heart, getting slightly smaller then larger - a flashing light of life - pulsating seven times before dispersing.

The individuality of these essential oil energy patterns is amazing, and the more you see, the more amazing they are! What are we seeing, Harry believes, is the etheric energy in the fabric of space itself, going beyond the molecules themselves, an energy that is in a buffer zone between the physical and higher energies. Some of the essential oils made little impression, and some  were very dramatic, and the differences were not related to when the image was taken. it cannot be said, then, that as the aroma molecules built up in the atmosphere, things got more dramatic.

Sometimes, toward the end of the session, there would be an essential oil that showed very little activity altogether. Also, some of the energy fields were very small and remained close to the end of the strip, while others immediately shot out all around and took up much space. In some, the energy field seemed to hover above the smelling strip, then in others it hung below. Some fields seemed to come towards us, some went out, some stayed where they were,. while others leaped! The kinetic nature of these events is not of course captured by the still images reproduced here. In some essential oil recordings, the energy was slow to build up, in others it was instant.

Discussing the images observed on the computer screen with the other people in the room, I realized that we were using the same vocabulary as I use when describing essential oil fragrances in other contexts. Someone would say it's 'round' or 'sharp' 'sparkly' 'heavy', 'light', 'soft' 'dynamic', or that it 'has direction'.

It was also very interesting to watch the energy field of the essential oil mingle with and affect the aura emanating from a person, if they held the smelling strip, or stood near by. I was reminded of Hunt's phrase, 'a thoroughfare for transactions'. When the energy fields from the essential oil and the person gently connected, we saw an expansion of the human aura. Harry's words were emphatic: They definetly interact in the human energy field, there's no doubt about it.' The mystery of the 'life force' of essential oils was looking less mysterious by the minute.

Essential oils are crystalline structures that carry light. They vibrate, and cause selective synchronous vibration; they are electromagnetic, as we are ourselves. They are thought to travel through the interstitial fluid and the extra cellular space - the space between the cells, where the molecules of emotion may also travel, as described by psycho-immunologist Candace Pert in Molecules of Emotions. It's no wonder that fragrance has been used since time immortal to connect people with the divine, lifting us to finer, higher vibrations, in touch with a wider consciousness. 

Reference: The Fragrant Heavens/ V.A. Worwood