Aromatic Astrology - Virgo

Time again to look at some Astrological Blending. What can we blend for Lord and Lady Virgo?

What oils can I consider for my blends? Well, Patricia Davis considers Lavender to be the Signature oil for Virgo and Scott Cunningham lists Cypress, Dill, Fennel, Lavender, Patchouli and Peppermint under Virgo so that would be a good place to start playing.

I'm going to use Lavender as the anchor for both my blends as Lavender has long been considered to be a herb of Mercury (the Ruler of Virgo). Virgo is a sign of service and work and it is often described as being closely connected with health and healing. Patricia Davis says: "This is because ill health was traditionally seen as the converse of work: if you were well you worked, if you were ill, you could not." While this is not necessarily true today, it is a fact that there are many of the people in the caring professions are Virgos. Virgo has a deep need to feel that they are doing something worthwhile and useful. Virgo's also tend to spend a lot of time taking care of other people and perhaps neglecting themselves so Lavender's soothing and balancing qualities will be very helpful in bringing them back to balance. Virgo rules the nervous system and the intestines. Virgo's often suffer from bowel and stomach complaints so it makes sense that the digestive oils like dill, fennel and peppermint are also associated with this sign, of course lavender will be wonderful for the nervous system.

For Lord Virgo I'm blending Lavender with Patchouli and Cypress. In Spiritual PhytoEssencing Patchouli is strongly associated with being nurtured and nurturing and Cypress is associated with grief and fathers. For Lady Virgo I'm blending Lavender with Peppermint and Fennel. In Spiritual PhytoEssencing Fennel has the theme of mothering and Peppermint has a theme of humility, both of these are very much Virgo traits.

Lord Virgo
Lavender - 12 drops
Patchouli - 6 drops
Cypress - 5 drops

Lady Virgo
Lavender - 10 drops
Peppermint - 3 drops
Fennel - 5 drops

A few quotes from Famous Virgos:

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."
Agatha Christie, writer

"Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be."
Grandma Moses, painter

"Try to find your deepest issue in every confusion, and abide by that."
D.H. Lawrence, writer

The Hawkins Protocol

So what is the Hawkins Protocol?

Over the years I have trained in many different modalities and I have found them all nto be very effective each in their own way. The Hawkins Protocol emerged when I began to incorporate some of these modalities into the framework of the Kabbalah Tree of Life. It was fascinating for me to see how well these therapies combined together to become something that was so much more.

Today we are well aware of the fact that everything that exists is, in fact, in a state of vibration. We are also aware of the fact that individual essential oils, flower remedies, colors, sounds and crystals each have their own unique vibration. Add to this the fact that the Kabbalah Tree of Life consists of ten Sefirot, each with its own special sphere of influence. When an essential oil blend, a Bach Flower Remedy, a color, a sound and a crystal are harmonized to resonate with a specific Sefirah and then experienced simultaneously a harmonious balance is entrained in the person and a return to wholeness is encouraged. When one undertakes this Return Journey through the Tree of Life with an open heart and mind, leaving all expectations behind, the experience can be truly amazing.

A session starts with you choosing a color from the Color Wheel. You are then enveloped in the color, sound, essential oil blend, Bach Flower Remedy and crystal associated with that choice for around 30 to 40 minutes. This will be followed by a short resting period to allow your body to fully integrate all these frequencies. After the session there will be an opportunity for you to discuss any of your experiences if you so wish. You may also wish to take the opportunity of journaling your experiences while enjoying a cup of tea.

My experiences with The Hawkins Protocol, both in facilitating sessions for myself and others, have shown me that no two sessions are alike. Everyone experiences it in their own unique way. Even those people, who have experienced The Hawkins Protocol several times, either over a longer period of time or in a series of sessions, find that each and every session is different and unique for that day. When one considers how differently one can feel from one day to the next, this does make sense. I did find that when people experienced The Hawkins Protocol in a series, over a relatively short period of time, they often tended to choose the same color each time. However the interesting thing was that even though they were experiencing the same stimuli each session, their experiences were distinctly different. Each session is unique in itself and when entered into with an open heart and open mind healing, clearing, balancing, shifting and moving forward on all levels of body, mind and spirit can be experienced.

For example if the color green is chosen this relates to the Sefirah of Tiferet.

Tiferet is the perfectly symmetrical balancing center-point of The Tree of Life.
The crystal is Aventurine.
The Bach Remedy is Scleranthus.
The note of F#.
The essential oil blend Laurel, Lavender, Palmarosa, Rosewood.

For those interested in playing with this at home, my book, The Hawkins Protocol, A Return Journey Through the Tree of Life is now available on the Other Products Page of the website. In the first part of the book all the underlying concepts of the Protocol are discussed. Then each Sefirah is expanded on, including information on the color, sound, essential oil blend, Bach Flower Remedies and crystal associated with that Sefirah and finally it is all put together so that the reader can created their own session.

Essential Oil Safety Issues - Phototoxicity

Over the next little while I hope to add blogs about different essential oil safety concerns and thought that today I'd start off with phototoxicity, also called photosensitization.

Have you seen the precaution - If applied to the skin avoid sunlight or UV rays (including sun beds) for 12 hours or something similar on some essential oils or essential oil blends and wondered what this was all about?

Phototoxicity is a reaction that can occurs on the skin when it is exposed to sunlight (or UV rays) in the presence of certain chemicals. The most common phototoxic agents are psoralens, or furocoumarins. These polycyclic molecules have a structure that gives them the ability to absorb ultra violet photons, store them for a while and then release them in a burst on to the skin.

The reaction will only occur if the sensitizing agent is present on the skin when it is exposed to Ultra Violet light and can take the form of a mild color change all the way through to deep weeping burns. Sometimes the skin is able to revert back to normal over time, but at other times the reaction can be permanent. The reaction can occur almost immediately, or it can be delayed and only occur following a period of sensitazation.

Only a few essential oils contain these phototoxic components and while it is usually in amounts of less than 2%, even at this low level and even when the oil is diluted down with a carrier to a 1 - 3% dilution, they are still often capable of producing phototoxic effects if the skin is then exposed to sunlight or UV rays. If these essential oils were to be used undiluted or if the skin were to be exposed to concentrated UV light or strong sunlight then a very severe phototoxic effect could occur.

Expressed Bergamot essential oil has been found to be one of the more phototoxic essential oils. It is an oil that has been used extensively in perfumes (especially eau de cologne), creams, lotions and soaps. Studies in the 1950s and 60s showed that, in the presence of UV light, a reaction took place between furanocoumarins and the skin. In France in 1970 J Meyer reported problems with a tanning lotion containing bergamot essential oil, and in 1972 Urbach & Forbes reported that severe phototoxic effects were experienced when humans were treated with expressed bergamot oil and stimulated sunlight. A number of other studies have confirmed the photoxicity of express bergamot oil. The bergapteen (a furocoumarin) in bergamot oil was found to produce abnormally dark pigmentation and reddening of the surrounding skin after exposure to an ultraviolet lamp. This condition is called berloque dermatitis, or bergapten dermatitis. The patches of darkened skin characteristic of this condition can remain for many years.

As mentioned above it is the furocoumarin bergapten present in bergamot expressed essential oil that causes the reaction. Today one is able to purchase an essential oil of bergamot that has been rectified to remove this furocoumarin - known as Bergamot FCF while this is certainly a much safer oil to use on the skin as it does not contain the phototoxic chemical, many find that its aroma is inferior to the aroma of expressed Bergamot oil.

The risk of phototoxicity when using some essential oils not only depends on the presence of a furocoumarin but also the type of furocoumarin and how much of it is present.

When citrus essential oils are extracted by expression (a process where the skin of the fruit is punctured and the essential oil is released), all the chemical components present in essential oil in the skin of the fruit come across into the essential oil collected including the furocoumarins which are fairly large components. However furocoumarins are physically too large to make it across a steam distillation process so when citrus essential oils are produced by steam distillation there is no longer the problem of phototoxicity.

Essential Oils that are strongly phototoxic include:
Expressed Bergamot
Lemon Verbena
Taget
Expressed Lime
Rue
Opopanax

Essential oils that are moderately phototoxic include:
Expressed Orange, Bitter
Expressed Lemon
Cumin

Essential Oils that are mildly phototoxic include:
Angelic Root
Caraway
Cassia
Cinnamon Bark

Citrus Essential oils that are Not phototoxic include:
Bergamot FCF (bergaptene free)
Lemon - steam distilled
Lime - steam distilled

There exists a bit of disagreement on some of the classifications on phototoxicity: Expressed grapefruit is classified as moderately phototoxic by one source and mildly phototoxic by another.
Expressed mandarin is classified as moderately phototoxic by one source and not phototoxic by another.
Expressed Orange, sweet is classified as not phototoxic by one source, but Orange (unspecified sweet or bitter) is classified as moderately phototoxic by another source.

I would suggest that when in doubt exercise caution and consider that all expressed citrus oils could be phototoxic while steam distilled citrus oils, or bergamot FCF are not.

Also keep in mind that as phototoxicity or photosensitization is a reaction that takes place between the skin and the phototoxic component in the essential oil, inhalation of the oil doesn't usually cause the same reaction.

Jasmine - Jasminum officinalis var. grandiflorum

Although this genus contains over 300 species of hardy evergreen shrubs or vines the varieties that are used to obtain an aromatic from are Jasminum officinalis var. grandiflorum or Jasminum sambac. Both have fragrant white or yellow star-shaped flowers. Jasmine is native to Northern India, Persia and China and is now widely cultivated throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. Jasmine has long been an important fragrance component of perfumes, soaps and toiletries. A mini profile on Jasmine can be found on our web site.

In India, jasmine was called "Queen of the Night" and "moonlight of the groove" and was used as both an aphrodisiac and an aid to spiritual growth. There is also a tradition that refers to Jasmine as the "King of Oils" while Rose is referred to as the "Queen of Oils".

Traditionally Jasmine has been considered to be excellent in easing labor pains and encouraging contractions. It is considered to be helpful in speeding up the expulsion of the afterbirth and the overall recovery after giving birth. While is often cited as stimulating the production of milk, there have been a couple of research studies that have shown that application of Jasmine flowers to the breast inhibited lactation.
Inhibiting effect of jasmine flowers on lactation.
1979, Indian Journal of Medical Research,69: 88-92, English.

The flowers of Jasminum pubescens placed on the mammary glands were known to suppress lactation in women. An investigation was performed on lactating mice and their litters, measuring weight and calculating the amount of milk produced. In the group having direct contact with jasmine flowers there was a significant difference in the histology of the mammary glands, and milk production had almost stopped. Mammary gland activity in animals exposed to the smell of jasmine flowers was reduced, but not to the same extent as the contact group. The mechanism of jasmine action was discussed, including the possibility of an olfactory pathway to the hypothalamus and subsequent inhibitory effect on the pituitary gland.

Suppression of puerperal lactation using jasmine flowers (Jasminum sambac)
Shrivastav P, George K, Balasubramaniam N, Jasper M P, Thomas M, Kanagasabhapathy A S 1988, Australia & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics; Gynaecology,28: 68-71, English

This was a study of sixty women comparing the efficacy of bromocriptine (2.5 mg eight-hourly for five days) with the application of Jasminum sambac flowers to the breasts for the suppression of puerperal lactation. Both treatments produced a significant reduction in serum prolactin, with bromocriptine having the greatest effect. When comparing clinical parameters such as breast engorgement, milk production and analgesic intake, both regimes were equally effective. The failure to suppress lactation was similar in both groups although rebound lactation occurred in a small number of women treated with bromocriptine. It was postulated that both tactile and olfactory stimuli of the flowers were responsible for suppression of lactation and that the olfactory route mediated suppression of serum prolactin. Detection of the active components of jasmine was not attempted.

On a subtle level Jasmine unites and harmonizes opposites to promote wholeness. It calms, soothes, relaxes and lifts the spirits. It helps one to release worry and allow one to live in the present moment. It can promote feelings of love and sensuality. It can connect spirituality and sexuality. It also promotes creativity and artistic development. It is known to warm and open the heart. It can enhance intuition and open the mind to deeper truths. It can heighten spiritual awareness. It balances feminine and masculine energies.Jasmine can be included in love, psychic awareness, peace and spirituality blends.
Generally considered non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing. Do no use in pregnancy and use with caution on people who are hypersensitive or allergic to perfumes, cosmetics or spicy foods.

Pefumes are the feelings of flowers.
Heinrich Heine