Ingredients

Frankincense has been used since ancient times for meditation, ceremony and sacred rituals. It both relaxes and revitalizes the nervous system. It slows and deepens our breath as it opens our heart and draws us into stillness and reflection. Frankincense, the elder tree of the desert, sheds the tears of the sun. The liquid gold anointing balm soothes the soul and lifts the veils between worlds so our vision may be illuminated. It transports us into sacred moments of remembering and prayer.

White Sage, Salvia apiana, is a healing plant used in Native American and Earth-based cultures since ancient times. It is symbolic of cleanliness and purity.  Sage is a stimulant for the nervous system, metabolism, and vital energy centers.  It is purifying to the mind and whole being and its cleansing qualities open us up to our soul. White sage, as all plant medicines, has its own voice and will speak with us and inform us when we are in harmony with its soul and honor its life’s force.

Palo Santo, Bursera graveolens, means ‘Holy Wood.’  It has been used for thousands of years in Ecuador and Peru by shamans, curanderos, and healers in their healing practices and ceremonies.  It embodies the alchemical process.  The tree lives for 80 to 90 years, and when it dies, it stays in its habitat for 4 to 10 years and then begins its metamorphosis. The alchemical transformation gives birth to Palo Santo’s mystical and medicinal properties.  It offers protection and opens communication with the soul.

Cardamom’s sweet, spicy aroma swaddles us in warmth, wrapping us in a cocoon of unconditional love.  It eases mental fatigue, nervous strain and softens tension in our belly.  Cardamom interweaves the unseen realms into our daily life.  We are held in a mysterious enchantment stimulating our spiritual senses, awakening us to the beauty of the natural world.  It generates gratitude and graciousness, encouraging us to step forward to be of service to another. Cardamom calls forth our courage to see beyond the limitations of our mind, entering lucid states of dreams and visions that are our soul medicine.  

Red Cedar, Thuja plicata, comes from the Pacific Northwest and is used for purification, rituals, and prayers.  Cedar symbolizes power and spiritual strength. It inspires our instinctual nature to turn breakdowns into breakthroughs. Cedar’s elder presence helps us to navigate the storms and turbulent waters transforming them into powerful strengths, vision, and wisdom.

Cypress has a fresh sweet balsamic, undomesticated aroma that carries the winds of timelessness in its needles and cones.  What majestic magic these immortal trees have seen.  Some of these trees are over two thousand years old. The ancient Romans and Egyptians dedicated this tree to their gods of death and the afterworld. Cypress is comforting, giving strength to the ones crossing over and their loved ones. It is the oil that supports life’s transitions in all cycles of one’s life.   It is beneficial for changes in relationships, moving, death, grief, or any painful transition.

Black Pepper is a protective aroma that harmonizes us with our soul’s purpose, our ancestors, our guardian spirits, and our power animals.  This invigorating, spicy scent invokes strength and fearlessness, inviting us on a journey into the unknown and unseen realms.  It imbues a deep trust and faith in us, reminding us we will be guided and protected on our chosen path as we garden our soul.  Black pepper helps us to listen to our inner voice and stay the course with our dreams and creative visioning.

Anointing Practice

We create a sacred practice of prayer and renewal when we practice a daily anointing ritual. Through these alchemical scents, we are initiated into centuries of tradition and ceremony that align and attune our body/being with the plant’s ancestral wisdom. Center yourself, pour a few drops into your palm and gently rub your palms together. Bring your palms up to your face and take four deep, slow inhalations.  Offer your gratitude for the life -giving ways and wisdom of these alchemical medicine gifts. You may anoint your forehead, heart, and belly coming into resonance with vision, love, and sacred service.

You can apply an oil before meditation, yoga nidra, dream work, and ceremony.