The olfactory system – sense of smell. Is a complex and powerful sensory faculty connecting us to an array of environmental stimuli. Food. Danger. Sex.

That’s the simple message.

Communication. Via the olfactory system is much more comprehensive. We are in constant manipulation by our sense of smell. It guides us. It protects us. It makes us anxious. Uneasy. Comforted. Curious. Satisfied. Triggers desire. Calls to us to react. Responsive to the message contained within the scent.

The message is learned. Through a process of fragrant experience. Every memory – and the emotion of the moment – is attached to a smell. The memory, message, is brought to video life when the smell is recaptured.

The purpose is evolutionary. It begins in the one-celled living organisms. Chemotaxis: moving toward or away from a chemical stimuli. Danger. Move away from. Aversion. The chemical stimuli offers. Benefit. Move toward. Attraction.

From the one-celled organism to the human. Aversion. Attraction. Survival. The message is in the chemical compound. The scent molecule. Aversion. A safety mechanism. Attraction. Reproduction and food. Survival.

We. Have evolved to respond. Feel. The beauty. Of scent. Lucky us. And. Respond with the not so pleasant aromas. Yuk!

We feel. Emotions. Without recognition. The scent makes us uncomfortable. Ever felt nervous, for an unknown reason, when entering a room? Or when meeting someone? Fragrance. Scent. Triggering a feeling. Unconscious. Unaware.

Lust. Attraction. Love at first sight – is – love at first smell.

Create a communicative environment. With essential oils. Your choice. Your control. Your memory. Your emotions. Feeling. Scent. Manipulate your environment. Manipulate your emotions.

Start. By creating an environment – memory, feeling – you want to duplicate. A warm relaxing environment. Comforting and stress free. Possibly when having a massage. Formulate with essential oils. Or use one oil. Any blend of essential oils. Any oil.

Smell your blend or essential oil ONLY when in the created environment. Do this at least on ten consecutive occasions. After this. Smell the blend/oil when you want to repeat. Recreate. The memory, feeling – the relaxation. Mood.

Stimulate your memory. Use an essential oil to help you remember. By smelling when reading. Studying. Recall by smelling the same oil.

Create an attitude. In your environment. Diffuse a fragrant blend that captures a mood. Manipulates the emotions. Uplifting and happy. A sensory experience. Sultry and romantic. Odorous passion.

The world of scent. Emotion. Memory. Is limitless.

Essential oils used in. Aromatherapy for emotions. Balance. Fragrant attitude adjustment. For you. Silently. At the level of detection. For them. Your scent. Affects their mood. Essential oil perfumes are designed to create a response – about you – from. Him. Her. Them.

The beauty of scent. The power of smell. Use essential oils to manipulate your mood. Adjust the environment. Change your attitude.

The olfactory system is an amazing sense organ.

Free country? A chant for freedom? Freedom from what? Freedom for what?

Is it free?

Hardly. It all costs. To think otherwise is free dumb.

Note: The following is dismissing the conversation of true tyranny.

Freedom. It’s about choices. What are the choices you want? What are the choices they want? Is there a freedom to choose?

Or. Is freedom actually the act of accepting or not accepting choices made? Accept the choices made by others. Feels like freedom. Not accepting the choices made by others. Not freedom.

Accept your own decisions and choices. Free. Not accepting your own choices. Imprisoned.

Accept to live with the choices made by others. Accept the choices made by you. To do anything else is a pain. And inflaming. Pain and inflammation is the symptom of a society. A lifestyle. A symptom of lack of acceptance.

Freedom. The ability to be proactive. Make changes in conditions that are unacceptable. Freedom-less is victimization. A cause of pain and inflammation.

Essential oil remedies for the illusion of a lack of freedom. Freedumb remedies.

Lemon scent reduces both pain and inflammation. Well, not the scent itself. The fragrance marks the path that leads to the essential oils used in aromatherapy to reduce pain and inflammation. Like lemongrass. Litsea cubeba. Eucalyptus citriodora. Other pain relieving – aldehyde compound containing – essential oils. Elemi. Cumin.

A selection of anti-inflammatory oil choices. Helichrysum. Frankincense. German chamomile. Katrafay.

Wintergreen. Birch. Pain relief that comes with some caution. Freedom to use. Just don’t be reckless. Dilute.

The pain and inflammation arsenal of aromatherapy. Effective. Diverse. So many choices. So much freedom to accept.

Acceptance? Or lack there of. More remedies. For deeper issues. Emotional issues. Thought.

Lack of acceptance = pain. Inflammation.

Aromatherapy remedies for barriers to acceptance.

Lemongrass. Litsea cubeba. Frankincense . . . Wait. I did this list. Funny how that works. The symptom and. Potential cause of symptom. One oil. The magic of essential oils. Symptom and cause. One oil.

Acceptance. Rose. Neroli. Melissa. Lavender. Geranium. Australian sandalwood. Spikenard. Spruce. So much more. So many choices. So much. Acceptance.

Lack of acceptance. Stagnation. Remedies. Orange. Lemon. Lime. Grapefruit. Creates flow. And movement. Acceptance.

Lighten up. Bergamot. Spearmint. Peppermint. Cape chamomile.

Essential oils. Many choices. Freedom to choose.

There is freedom to apply. Essential oils have such diversity in their aromatherapy applications. Choices. Freedom.

Inhale. Massage. Bath. Spray. Facial care.

Accept the freedom of choices you have to formulate. That’s an intention. Intention drives your formula.

A pain relieving and anti-inflammatory formula. Intention of acceptance.

This is a 5% essential oil dilution for massage. A vegetable fixed oil base (so many choices). In a one ounce bottle.

 Litsea cubeba – 3 drops

Lime – 5 drops

Katrafay – 5 drops

Black Pepper – 5 drops

Wintergreen – 2 drops

Cape chamomile – 4 drops

Copaiba – 6 drops

Freedom. Just another word for nothing left to lose? Hardly.

Acceptance.

Easier to accept when being. Proactive.

In times of struggle. Be zen. Breathe. Let go.

That’s good advice – but a tad too New Agey pop psychology. Even so, I’d go with the Buddhazenbreathe thing too. You know – just chill. Ever’ting is gonna be alright.

Not really. No, I mean I hope so. Or. It is what it is. So . . .

Things happen. Good. Bad. It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world. Except for Lola, of course (do a lyrics search).

Life is a process. Go with it. Be proactive. Have fun.

That’s what I like about working with essential oils. It’s fun.

The creative process. Take the essential oils for a ride. Devise. An activity that brings on those zen moments. In the moment. Breathe. Become one with the artistic expression of fragrance. Meditative. And fun. Fragrant zen moments. How cool is that?

What’s your mood? What’s the situation? Work it.
Think in terms of enhancing – or if it’s one of those not so good times, erase or relieve it.

To represent the joy. Happy times.
Harmonize the uplifting energies with grapefruit and neroli
Connect with a centered self with lavandin and basil
Spread the joy through the universe with elemi and myrrh

Pull away from lethargy, boredom and humdrum.
Spark it with spearmint and tarragon.
Cleanse it with eucalyptus radiata and bay laurel.
Run it with cedarwood and pine.

A broken heart? Ouch.
Rose, frankincense, jasmine, ylang ylang, litsea cubeba, lavender, Australian sandalwood and orange petitgrain. All good for the heart, self confidence and love.

In Love?
Repeat the preceding. Rose, jasmine, etc.

Struggles. Harsh realities. Rolling a boulder up a mountain.
Ease it and make it flow with sweet orange and bergamot
Balance and stability is geranium, cardamon and Cape chamomile
Strengthen your resolve with spikenard and copaiba

The therapeutic value of your essential oils is always there. For whatever life challenging or life affirming reason you use the essential oils – they will help to maintain a healthy body, reduce parasitic infection and – well, you know the drill – all good for body and mind.

Breathe.

It may seem strange to some that this would even be necessary to state. But, to many, whether sub-consciously or right up front as “Catholic Guilt,” the truth is – it doesn’t feel right to feel good.

Something is bound to go wrong. People are suffering next door. The government is going to take us over. God will punish me.

Or maybe. It’s just that something is missing. I need to have an extra $5,000 a month. I need a new job. If he/she would just love me or treat me this way instead of . . . whatever.

I’m not even talking about being happy. “Happiness is a mode of transportation, not a destination.”

What does it mean to feel good?

That’s yours to own. NIke says “Just do it.”

If you are ill, physically out of balance. Feeling good would seem a distant reality. If you are abused by one or more of the several abuse options available to us as human beings – tough to override that to feel good.

Sometimes. We work harder at feeling bad, angry, paranoid, frightened . . . than we do at feeling good.

If we feel bad – we buy stuff.

WARNING: POLITICAL RANT- This is what’s happening with this 2nd amendment, “we want our submachine guns,” foolishness that’s going on. The manipulation is to make people afraid. Afraid without their people blasters they will be overtaken by a tyrannical US or foreign government. Too late. The paranoia is designed to keep you buying. It’s a corporate controlled government that has already accomplished a tyrannical takeover of sorts. You buy stuff. Gun people were just manipulated by follow-up marketing of a tragedy anticipating a government response to “take your rights away.” The result produced skyrocketing gun sales. This was a successful corporate government takeover – of sorts –  of your hard earned dollars. Think about it. If the government “takes over” how can you buy things? Their machine is working quite well as it is. There are so many examples of this.

How can you feel good if feeling bad is the driving force?  We buy or look for something outside of us to feel good. Buy that which will remedy the thing we were convinced to feel bad about.

By the way. Whatever you’re feeling bad about. I have essential oil formulas to fix it. You can buy them on my product page.

I feel good. Feels like love. And I feel good about it.

Yes – shit happens. Sometimes it’s really bad.

Ok. I titled this “feel good aromatherapy.” Mostly so that the proper keywords would be present. I learned that from brand marketing manipulation. Doesn’t make me feel good. Doesn’t make me feel bad either. It just is. But I should talk about essential oils.

Actually, all philosophizing  aside. I’m sincerely passionate about essential oils. They make me feel good. Not because I need them to feel good. But because they feel good along with me.

Essential oils are as feel good as it gets. Right from the source where feel good comes from. Spirit. Nature. God. The Quantum Universe.

Cape Chamomile is a connection to spiritual expansiveness that is obvious from first inhale.

Elemi offers a deeper source to fulfillment.

Rose, the essential oil of the heart, is the epitome of feeling good.

Blue Lotus, the flower Brahman rises from, representing the very essence of source, Universal spirit, the Absolute, the Infinite and God.

Put these together  . . . I feel good.

So there was this balloon, waiting for something to say – or waiting for some words to hold, pointing in the direction of the one whose words these would be. Since I’m walking within my own mind, I would be that potential speaker. 

If these words are never spoken, they become thoughts. Though in most comic scenarios thoughts are expressed by a cloud like image rather than the solid line surrounding those words verbally communicated. The mind, consciousness, is impregnated with these containers of thoughts, created through a journey of experience, memories, situations, relationships, circumstance and emotions. Quite often, depending on the impact of the creating situation, these thoughts are frequently verbally communicated, spoken, but heard only by the person whose mind these thought balloons float in.

We call it mind chatter, self-talk, voices in my head – and it is not proprietary to the insane. We all have it. It’s biology. Another evolutionary survival mechanism that has the potential to become a little skewed, or drive you completely bonkers.

Inner thoughts, all the self-help gurus talk about it, the real gurus do too. Quieting the chatter of the mind is the stuff of the great Eastern philosophies. And even with such a deep history of teaching us to be aware of our thoughts, in our quest to drive ourselves crazy and keep us from a happy life, we continue to maintain our monkey mind, as it is so eloquently referred to, and turn this into a self deprecating impression of ourselves through an orchestra of inner negative conversation. This isn’t good.

The balloon I mentioned earlier, still sitting empty, waiting for the alphabet to form a stroke of genius, a beautiful impression, an Ah-Ha moment or . . .

. . . tortuous contrary emotionally crippling negative chatter – which most certainly would be a day ruiner.

These comic book type balloons in our heads (assuming this is where all the thought action is actually taking place), the empty ones waiting to happen, are totally influenced by the history of our physical and emotional experience – balloons engulfed with thought  or, more accurately, memory. That’s the biological function; these ingrained memories would supposedly keep us from doing the same stupid thing twice and remind us of those experiences that are pleasurable or necessary to the body.

The challenge, whether you wish to accept it or not, is to be cognizant of how these thoughts control your reactive behavior and emotions. Or better, not to let them control your behavior. Yes, the message of the self-help gurus.

I began this worded journey looking for an idea, a way to share yet another way to use essential oils. It may suit my purpose to explain how I, and you, may influence the content of this thought bubble that’s sitting, waiting to happen, with essential oils. This is often called the spiritual, meditative, emotional or prayerful use of essential oils. Using essential oils to influence thought; manipulate the filling of ones speech bubble.

This use of essential oils is not new. It’s been in practice well before there were essential oils, when the aromatic plants were used as resins, incense and unguents. Still, this use of essential oils is subjective based on empirical evidence past down from the generations.

The so-called grounding essential oils are vital to most of these kind of formulations. If you think of thought in balloons, as I’ve done pretty much this whole writing, the analogy can see us being pulled, or floating away, by our thoughts, especially the negative ones. Positive, enjoyable thoughts can also have us floating away – though unless you have an important meeting, why not go for the ride?

The grounding oils include:

• vetiver
• angelica
• cedarwood
• cistus
• elemi
• frankincense
• galbanum
• myrrh
• opoponax
• patchouli
• sandalwood
• spikenard

The spiritually based prayer and meditative oils are, well, repeat the above list and add

• cinnamon and clove
• cypress, fir, pine and spruce
• rose

Then we can make adjustments to inspire more specific thought processes, like joy, positivity, inspiration and satisfaction. This would produce a very subjective list of oils that includes

• the orange oils and neroli, lemon, lime and bergamot
• ylang ylang, melissa and litsea cubeba
• peppermint and spearmint
• sage and  mugwort
• Cape chamomile and Roman chamomile
• the exotics and florals; jasmine, tuberose, osmanthus and  blue lotus

The list can continue and become a collection fine tuned to your personal mind chatter needs. Perfuming is the ideal way to create and use these oils for emotions, meditation, yoga, prayer and more.

As a sample try this:

Cistus

Frankincense

Australian sandalwood

Litsea cubeba

Orange

So now, “new beginnings.” There must be something new about what I’m doing right now. I woke up in a new year. 2013 to be exact. It all seems so very much the same as last year, 2012. Well, no, as I remember from that year, which seems so long ago, the calendar, and with it the world, had ended. I must of missed that. Though I do recall several rather funny jokes referring to it.

I sit here now in my new beginnings way, tapping the very keyboard I used last year. With a change in focus – and a little mugwort – I transform yesterday, last year, into a new frontier of progress, momentum and . . . wait, what if I liked what I was doing last year? Damn that vetiver. Knew I shouldn’t have used it in the shower yesterday. It’s root oil has grounded me, settled me, stabilized me into thinking I’m ok right here, right now – and it’s no longer right here or right now. It’s a new year. 2013 to be exact.

Time is a funny thing. “Time is an illusion,” as quoted, so they say, by Einstein. He was a pretty smart guy.

I get that when I use Cape chamomile. Not the smart thing. The time thing. Illusion. It kind of separates all the ticking seconds into a cohesive whole. The smart thing I get with basil. Or so I like to think. It may be a smart oil because everyone – the everyone who writes about essential oils – say basil is a smart oil. Verbal manipulation of the olfactory response?

Is it still 2013?

In my morning commute to confusion over the validity of “new beginnings” on the morning of a new year – you know which new year I’m talking about by now – I will concoct a new beginnings body oil to apply following my first shower of a new year. In ritualistic fashion this shamanistic essential oil formula will;

~ bless the future with intention

~ root the nourishment of the past (we won’t get into how screwed up I and everyone else is because of the past)

~ and place me solidly to living in the present moment (that’s so New Age which is pretty old now given it’s 2013, exactly).

Guess I need to actually do a blend following all that fanfare. Whatever.

Made an ounce with olive oil and put in

3 drops Vetiver

3 drops Mugwort

4 drops Cape chamomile

5 drops Basil

(if you’d like to know specified botanical origin of these oils, ask me the first morning of 2014. Not really. Just kicking the year off  with a bit of attitude)

Acne: What it is and what causes it

What is acne? Easy – it’s inflammation, infection and congestion of the follicles, causing an eruption (whiteheads, blackheads, pustules, nobules or cysts) in the skin.

What causes acne? As professionals would point out, cause is not so easy to determine. There are several factors involved, with the conditions being different for teenage acne, mostly related to the rise of the androgen hormone during puberty, and adult acne, also having a relationship to hormonal balance, though the cause of the imbalance is quite different.

And, the big $3.50 to a $250/hour doctor’s visit plus meds question; What is the best treatment for acne?

First let’s dissect the symptoms and potential causes of an acneic skin breakout.

When looking at a pustule it’s pretty easy to see what’s going on, inflammation being the most obvious. The skin is visibly swelling with fluids or is congested.

Potential root causes of acne

Though bacteria can not be seen to the naked eye, their presence  is a definite in acne.  Infection is considered a top causing factor of acne and is responsible for some of the resulting inflammation and congestion.

Studies that dissect the potential  beginning causes of acne have looked at inflammatory compounds produced by excess sebum, the bacteria p.acnes,  linoleic acid decrease, and damaged kerotinocytes. The  initial causes to all of this are  the androgen hormones and the  stress-response hormones (neuropeptides), the corticotropins.

Stress and acne

Stress is a major factor in acneic skin conditions. Stress does two things that relate to the causes just listed. Stress produces excess sebum and triggers the inflammatory stress hormones. The “fight or flight” response – an autonomic response that triggers quickened breath and heart rate resulting from such things as high anxiety and fear  - produce damaging inflammation in the body, the skin being the system most apparent.

The soul and acne

This is where I’d bring a bit of soul into the conversation. Consciousness, inner self, self-talk, Universal connection – whatever your reference is to the spiritual or immaterial part of the human being –  your relationship with your “soul” is a factor in acneic skin. Especially important is self talk and sense of inner self or inner comfort (satisfied relationship with the unknowns of life). How this relates to acne is in how these things affect your anxiety, self worth and fears. Something to think about. But don’t stress over it.

Diet and acne

Diet needs to be addressed. It’s also a blog in itself. Inflammatory foods – high carbs, wheat, some saturated fats, processed food-product, etc – cause acne. Don’t eat them. Best diet is the “rainbow diet” with lots of antioxidant health providing colors and nutrients. Vegetarian or not is a matter of discretion, opinion and quality.

Taking Supercritical CO2 supplements known to reduce inflammation is recommended (Ginger, turmeric, etc). These are supplements that have high concentration of the compounds that give the rainbow diet its value.

Essential oil treatments for acne

Now, the essential oil choices and a potential formula. The list for acne could look something like this:

• Anti-inflammatory – Cape chamomile (Eriocephalus punctulatus), German chamomile (Matricaria recutita), Helichrysum italicum, katrafay (Cedrelopsis grevei)
• Antiseptic (antibacterial) – Eucalyptus oils, MQV (Melaleuca quiquenervia viridiflora), tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)
• Purifying – Citrus oils and the antiseptic oils
• Regenerative – helichrysum, lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), rosemary verbenone (Rosmarinus officinalis CT verbenone)
• Reduce  stress   – Cape chamomile, lavender, geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), bergamot (Citrus bergamia) and specific to ”fight or flight”; cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica), anise seed (Pimpinella anisum), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus)

Other essential oils with a synergy of properties beneficial in acne treatment are:

Frankincense (Boswellia carterii), melissa, neroli, peppermint, rose (Rosa Damascena) , Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) and so much more.

 Therapeutic healing with vegetable and fruit  oils

It should be noted that fixed oils (vegetable and fruit carrier oils) can be extremely good for acne. These oils help to reduce inflammation and break down hardened sebum in the pores. There are many opinions about which are best and which are so-called comedogenic. I find it an individual experience, with many oils to choose from. A short list of my favorites includes:

Argan, camellia oil, cranberry seed, jojoba oil, marula, olive oil, raspberry seed, rosehip seed and sunflower seed oil.

Making an essential oil treatment for acne

An essential oil blend can be put into a number of alternate base choices; creams, lotions, sprays or treatment oils. In this example we’ll use a combination of fixed oils in a 30 ml or 1 ounce bottle.

Essential Oil Blend

4 drops – lavender

3 drops – Cedarwood

3 drops - katrafay

3 drops – MQV

2 drops - Cape Chamomile

*Add to bottle and roll bottle between hands to mix the oils

Therapeutic Base Blend

15 ml – organic sunflower seed oil

5 ml – organic jojoba seed oil

5 ml – organic South African marula oil 

5 ml – organic rosehip seed oil

*Adjust amount to fill to  the round of the bottle.

December 25th is closely aligned with dies natalis solis invicti; the birth of the invincible sun god. The celebration of birth is associated with the Winter Solstice. The daylight from the sun is visibly longer on the 25th, following the shortest days beginning the 21st, the solstice.

This bit from Wikipedia provides more depth into the birth day of a savior.

In ancient Babylon, the 25th of December was known as Yule day or the birth of the promised child day. This was the day of the birth of the incarnate sun, who appeared as a baby child to redeem a world bound in darkness. It was an essential belief of the Babylonian religious system, that the sun god, also known as Baal, was the chief god in a polytheistic system. Tammuz was also worshipped as the god incarnate, or promised baby son of Baal, who was to be the Savior of the world.

The mythology of a son born to a god at the time of the solstice goes deep into human history and includes the  Persians, Egyptians and Greeks.  Within these civilizations frankincense and myrrh, traded in the Middle East and North Africa for upwards of 5,000 years, were highly valued, given the same status as gold today. Frankincense and myrrh were known medicinals; used for their anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, and so much more. They were also highly spiritual resins burned in ritual, temples and other religious ceremony by all the mentioned civilizations. These were the gifts, along with gold, said to be given to the baby Jesus by the Magi.

The spices that were traded along with the resins included cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove and cardamom. These spices and many others were prized to the point of creating battles and interesting deals, such as the Dutch trading (more or less) the island of Manhattan for rights to the English dominated and nutmeg rich island of Run. Today we find nutmeg, cinnamon and other spices used in traditional holiday foods such as pumpkin pie, cookies and eggnog.

Steeped in history, developing and changing over the centuries, the use and fragrance of frankincense, myrrh and many spices has become the tradition of the Winter Solstice and Christmas holiday season. To enhance your environment, get you in the Christmas mood – and even prevent the viruses and infections that appear at this time – you can blend essential oils of resins, evergreens, sweet florals and citruses to create a fragrant holiday environment connecting to the ancient civilizations, the rituals, the spirituality and karma of this season – careful of the karma.

Some essential oil suggestions:

Pine, spruce and fir

Orange, bergamot and mandarin

Ylang ylang, lavender and rosemary

Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and cardamom

Frankincense, myrrh, elemi and galbanum

I have my own fragrance blend, Holiday Mingle. I’ve been including a 2 mL bottle with orders (of $75 +) from my website.

Sometimes you just have to.

Find your Buddha. Maintain your Zen. Be your Yogi. Hold your Intention. Transcend.

Yeah. OK. Right.

We can look to nature. To find beauty. Though. With a depressed mind. We see angry, violent and destructive storms. Animals fighting for their territory in suburban neighborhoods. And. Nature reconstructed for commercial gain.

Find your Buddha – maintain your Zen.

Be positive. Be proactive.

A little help – maybe?

Within the connective essence of the plants. There lies a substance that can transmit through olfactory memory.

Hold your Intention. Transcend.

Communication through fragrance.

The tall pines, spruce, cedars and fir. Dispersing their needle oils. Diffusing the environment with strength. And purpose.  Opening the respiratory channels.

The sage and resins of the desert. Relieving the senses of overload. Letting go. Easing the mind of chatter – no “monkey mind.” Clarity  through emptiness.

Encompassing the life force. The sun. Encased in the fruit peel. The flowers.

Solid foundations provided by roots. Stability. Grounded. Secure.

Find your Buddha. Transcend.

Maintaining your Zen. Blend with the Intention of a Wizard.

Vetiver

Cedarwood

Spruce

Frankincense

Neroli

Lemon

Breathe. Deeply. Wear this as your fragrance. Anoint. Pray. Meditate.

Whatever.

Intention. Transcend.