As far as the actual physical preparation of an aromatherapy blend is concerned, the original method learned twenty years ago is as valid and workable in my own practice as it ever was. Personal preference demands that blending be done in small quantities. Although many essential oils have a considerably lengthy shelf life, my own preference is to have each blend as fresh as possible. For this reason, no more than one dram of oil is prepared at a time.
The entire blending process may be considered parallel to the distillation process for the initial gathering of the essential oil itself. Raw material (the various criteria for choosing an essential fragrance) is gathered. It is then processed down (the selection process of what ingredients to include). And the end product is generated—the pure essential or resulting blended formula. It is like placing all the criteria into a large screen and producing a fine, pure, and effective fragrance.
As to the makeup of specific blends, or recipes for essential products, there are many foundational principles that may be employed. The purpose of this presentation is not to offer blind methods but to offer insights into ways that may be employed and to encourage individual expression of the art of aromatherapy. For this reason, and but for the inclusion of a few sample blends for illustration, there is no hard and fast method of blending, no specific amounts of ingredients that must be used in formulas.
What is presented here are examples of what aromatherapy is capable of producing. To limit one’s blends to those included in this volume is also to place restrictions on the scope of possibilities inherent in aromatherapy. The intention is to offer this writing as a springboard to greater and more effective creations in aromatherapy blends, to help aid in the understanding and continued development of the art of scent to its fullest capacity, and to serve as a foundation in exploring the farthest reaches of the possibilities of aromatherapy in the arena of healing and in its applications in magical rites.
That being said, there is a general approach that has proven effective on a personal level of working with fragrances. This approach has resulted in blends that are both effective and unique. In fact, there have been some who have unsuccessfully tried to copy some of the more effective formulas but, because of the specific methods of creating a formula, were unable to do so. Because of the continued success of this particular method, it is offered here as a general guideline for consideration. It is not expected to be followed exactly at all times, but modified in accordance with the needs of the situation and the inspiration of the aromatherapy artisan.
Looking at the actual procedures for blending essential oils In Aromatherapy, most commonly, formulas are written in very precise amounts. Generally those formulas that you see in print will have an exact number of drops for each ingredient Included in a specific therapeutic or magical oil blend. One of the major source hooks for magical oil blending, however, contains only a listing of the component oils with few specific amounts for any of the Individual oils.
While this presentation serves as little more than a guideline in the production of the desired oil blends, it does have one benefit that we cannot enjoy in the manufacture of formulas delineated in precise ingredient proportions: it encourages, and perhaps demands, the use of the aromatherapist’s own knowledge and creativity. Rather than a technical assistant for the knowledge and development of some other previously practiced and published aromatherapist, the individual artisan must utilize his or her own knowledge of the art to produce workable blends suited to a specific purpose.
The presentation in this volume is something in between the two aforementioned types of offering. While it is the intention to encourage individual skill and expression in the formulation of aromatherapy blends, a bit more than a list of ingredients has been included as a guide for the user of this formulary. In this way, a blend resulting from the given material in this work will emerge as a workable remedy or magickal product but will still have the creative touch of the individual artisan woven into its composition.
The looser presentation of the amounts of each ingredient will also allow for the fine-tuning of a particular blend to the specifics of the situation at hand or to the individual for whom it is intended. In this way, each blend of essential oils can have its own character and be custom-fitted for the particular situation, ailment, or condition that demands its employment.
On a practical level, the different essential oil ingredients are typed into three different categories. These are major components, minor influences, and trace elements. These will be noted throughout the formulary with the notations MA, mi, and T, respectively. This approach to blending has proven highly successful in my own working, and has the benefit of constantly testing the knowledge, skill, and creativity of the individual aromatherapist. Every resulting formula is a living, changeable tool. Each new design demands the constant awareness of the background principles of aromatherapy and the sensitivity of the fragrance artist. Each new blend encourages the continued learning and growth of the aromatherapist.
To look at the three categories more in depth, here is a hypothetical case where, for the purpose of example, we may assume our magickal undertaking is to restore love and stability in a shaky relationship. The major influences might be oils of Venus, or love oils. There may be more than one of these included, depending on the judgment and inspiration of the aromatherapist. These would be included in the formula in the greatest quantity. A secondary influence might be a stabilizing force, or oils of earth.
The quantities of these ingredients would be less that those chosen as the major influences. The third category, the trace elements, are, in some respects, the most important of all. These essentials amplify and strengthen the major and minor influences. In some cases, the end product loses effectiveness if the trace elements are not included.These are also the elements that make the formulas nearly impossible to copy. They serve as undertones. While only a drop or two might be included in the blend, their inclusion is often the factor that gives the end mixture its level of success.
The key to the trace elements is that because of the small amount that is used, they tend to work on a subconscious level to achieve the desired result. In this particular case, suppose we include, in trace amounts, one of the fragrances that are akin to naturally produced scents of passionate arousal. Since we are dealing with a relationship that has been ongoing, there is likely love already in evidence. We enhance that existing feeling with the love oils. We interject a note of stability to help the couple weather the difficult times.
The inclusion of the arousal scents can act to rekindle the flame that may have been cooled in the stresses of day-to-day difficulties. The end result is that, while the conscious reaction to the magical blend would be to remember the bonds of love and gain a sense of strength and stability through uncertain changes, the unconscious reaction would be a strengthening of the passions that bind the couple together. With these feelings rekindled, there may still be tough times in the days ahead but, with hearts bound as one, there is little question that the two individuals will face each trial together. From out of the depths of their passion is borne a deep commitment, one to the other.
The greatest benefit of this type of formulary is to ensure that learning and growth continue as the practice of the aromatherapist develops. In this way the quality and effectiveness will also continually increase, much to the advantage of those for whom the art is practiced. This should, ideally, be the goal of anyone who would undertake the practice of the ancient art of fragrance blending. Neither art nor science has ever reveled in stagnation but ever attains to greater levels of expertise and accomplishment.
These are the goals of magical aromatherapy—to approach each endeavor on as many levels and as deeply as possible. With the strength of the virtues of the essentials, we work from the outside in and from the inside out. We touch both the conscious and the unconscious. We arouse the rational, the emotional, the thoughts, and the instincts.
By the nature of the fragrance art, the aromatherapist is accomplished artisan and inspired magician. By the responsibility of magical working, the artisan is also humanitarian. This is the highest purpose of aromatherapy, whether applied magically or therapeutically. It is not difficult to manipulate with fragrance, but to utilize aroma to build, develop, and fulfill the greatest potential of each individual is an expression of the fragrance artisan and of the art itself in the highest degree.