Basics on essential oils and their use in magick.
What are essential oils?
They are the highly concentrated essences of a plant. These essences capture the plant scent and flavor.
These oils can contain as many as 100 chemical components that work together to give the oil its unique properties and aromas.
How are essential oils extracted?
There are 4 methods of extraction,
Steam distillation- most wildly use
Expression- they extract the oils from rinds
Absolute Extraction- for delicate flowers
CO2 Extraction- (carbon dioxide)
Countries and oils
Europe
Africa
Asia
Americas
Australasia (Australia and New Zealand)
France has the most oils
History and folklore
The use of oils in incense and candles for example has played part I religious rituals through the ages. Many cultures believed aromas could ward off evil and help us connect with the spiritual world and Gods.
In the Egyptian era the Ebers Papyrus is the oldest papyrus found recording medicinal plants and their use.
They also use these oils to embalm.
The Babylonians became major suppliers like for example;
Cedarwood
Cypress
Myrtle
Pine
The Assyrians for personal and religious purposes.
In India the use of these aromatic oils and plants was the backbone of Ayurvedic medicine.
They used oils such as;
Cinnamon
Coriander
Ginger
Myhr
Sandalwood
In China this was the root of Chinese medicine
The Phoenicians
Greeks
Romans
Medieval Times
Was when we first have Rose Attar
By the middle of 16 century oils were use to mask body odor.
How do essential oils work?
Inhaling- Aromatherapy
Absorption- Massage, applying directly to skin
Essential oils on magick
In the book, WORKING CONJURE Sen Moise speaks about “the idea that spirits reside in trees, the leaves, the roots… and they hold power to facilitate change”
We as Witches believe that everything in this world has correspondences, as such we understand that the oils that we use have specific signatures, vibrations, energy, that will assist us with our spell work.
We combine the properties of these essential oils we added to carrier oils and we use it to fuel or spells.
Examples are;
Love oils
Money oils
Hoot foot oil
Hexüm Oil
Stop a cheater Oil
Cut and clear oil
And you know there are hundreds LOL
We anoint candles, tools, papers, magickal bags, dolls, places, amulets.
We anoint ourselves, we make candles, soaps, sprits, incense, we use them in diffusers
(We will then choose the oils that have the same type of signatures, vibrations, energy or correspondences as our work to boost, strengthen, speed results etc… )
We also use the scents of these oils to:
Keep us focus at the time of spell working
Ward off evil
Cleanse environments
Cleanse magickal tools
To obtain specific vibrations
To charge places, tools, spell work
To balance the Chakras
And many other things.
Examples of basic oil use;
Rose for love
Lemon for cutting
Lavender tranquility
Sage for cleansing
Eucalyptus healing
Ginger money
And so many more!
Warnings about essential oils!
1.Too much of a good thing could be very bad and toxic, so please do not ingest essential oils,
no matter what some essential oils company tells you.
2. They should always be used diluted.
3. Do a patch test, like in inside of elbow
4. Be aware of phototoxic- reaction to Sun
5. Be cautious you are taking medications
6. Be cautious if
You are pregnant or breastfeeding
If you have hypertension
If you have asthma
If you have epilepsy
7. Be very careful around children
8. Be very careful around pets
Essential oils toxic for pets;
This is in any way, oil and diffuser
Essential oils that are harmful to cats
These include, but are not limited to:
Cinnamon
Citrus
Clove
Eucalyptus
Lavender
Oregano
Pennyroyal
Peppermint
Pine
Sweet birch
Tea Tree
Thyme
Wintergreen
Ylang Ylang
Essential oils that are harmful to dogs
These include, but are not limited to:
Anise
Cinnamon
Citrus
Clove
Garlic
Juniper
Pennyroyal
Peppermint
Pine
Sweet birch
Tea Tree
Thyme
Yarrow
Ylang Ylang
Common Toxic oils
Specific Oils and associated clinical manifestations
CLOVE: large ingestions can have hepatotoxicity similar to paracetamol poisoning, renal failure, DIC, inhalational pneumonitis, coma
FENNEL: Nausea, vomiting, seizure activity, pulmonary oedema.
GERANIUM: Allergic contact chelitis.
LAVENDER: CNS depression, ataxia, photosensitiser that promotes hyperpigmentation, contact dermatitis.
LEMON MYRTLE: Skin irritation and corrosion.
NUTMEG: hallucinations, coma
THUJA (essential oil of the wormwood plant of the cedar family): Multiple tonic-clonic seizures.
WINTERGREEN (Methyl Salicylate): nausea, vomiting, tinnitus, vertigo, hyperventilation, seizures.
WORMWOOD: Acidosis, acute renal failure, respiratory acidosis, rhabdomyolysis, visual alterations, delirium, restlessness, paranoia, tremor, and seizures.
EUCALYPTUS: See Eucalyptus oil Poisoning
Essential oils are very flammable!
Keep oils away from fire, like candles, have a fire extinguisher and keep your oils locked or away from children.
Shelf life of essential oils
Like carrier oils essential oils have a life span
Some of the oils that have the longer life span are (4 to 6 years)
Cedarwood
Myrrh
Patchouli
Sandalwood
Vetiver
Some of the oils with shorter life span are (9 to 12 months)
Angelica
Orange
Lemon
Lime
Mandarin
Cypress
Pine
To Resume
The use of essential oil in Witchcraft is necessary and very important. Knowledge is power, the more you know about your oils the more confident you will be when using them.
Mother Nature is so powerful therefore her assistance in our magickal workings will help us manifest our intentions, however, to harness this energy we need to have some basic knowledge and understanding, because after all we are humans.
NATURAL DOES NOT EQUALS HARMLESS
I hope this video awakens your mind and you take the time to learn about the power of essential oils and how much power they add to our spell work and magickal life.
Take the time to get to know these oils and hoe to use them responsibly. They are Mother Earth gift lets use them respectfully.
Here is my YouTube video for more information