Anointing and Love
By Allison Stillman
Anointing with essential oils has been used in ritual and ceremony for thousands of years, with one of the most widely known rites being the art of perfuming as an attractant for love. While most everyone today is familiar with the use of perfume and cologne as a tool for attracting a mate, most people don't know that essential oils were the original form of perfume.
The word perfume comes from the Latin phrase "per" meaning through, and "fumus" meaning smoke. The original form of perfume was actually incense and has been traced back over 4,000 years to the use by Mesopotamians, who used resins and woods to burn in their religious ceremonies. Often, they would soak the resins and woods in water and then anoint themselves by rubbing the fragrant water over their bodies.
The Egyptians were quite fastidious in caring for the body and used oils extensively to anoint their bodies and surrounded themselves with aromatic oils in elaborate containers. Their use of fragrant oils dates back more than 3,000 years and it was during this lavish period that essential oils made their greatest surge into everyday use for the wealthy, royal and priest class.
Perhaps most famous of all Egyptian rulers was Cleopatra, who was well versed in the power of scent and equally lavish in her use of perfume. It was said that she perfumed the sails of her barge and burned incense so that clouds of perfume would announce her arrival, long before her barge came into view. Cleopatra was also reputed to have used oils to perfume herself whenever she would meet a potential lover.
The oils that have been used for thousands of years in the art of perfuming were chosen for their powerful abilities to attract love, with the predominant oil being rose essential oil (Rosa centifolia or Rosa damascena). For centuries, rose has been the traditional flower and symbol of love and is known for its ability to increase love in one's life. Although rose is one of the more expensive essential oils on the market today, its price is reasonable. It takes 60,000 hand picked rose blossoms to make one ounce of essential oil. Thank heavens rose is such an evocative oil as it only takes a few drops to anoint the heart and perfume the soul.
Anointing the heart with essential oils is an incredible ritual to open our hearts and minds to more love in our lives, and if we begin each day centered in the heart of love, life is bound to respond by bringing more and more love to us in each and every moment.
Excerpt: Anointing the heart with rose essential oil is a time tested ritual to invoke more love into our lives.
Allison Stillman is a renowned aromatic alchemist, author and an expert on the historical use of essential oils in religious and spiritual ceremonies. Her book, The Sacred Art of Anointing is a result of her 30 years of research and practical experience with essential oils and anointing. She travels the world anointing and sharing her love and knowledge through workshops and private sessions, and has been featured in the books, More Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul by Arielle Ford, and Insights from the Coffeehouse by Jonathon Collins. To find out more: www.romancingthedivine.com or visit her on Facebook
Click here to purchase Allison's NAHA tele-conference presentation recording: Alchemy of Anointing.
