There are many different oils available through commercial purchase and home manufacture. Different practitioners of the fragrance arts may favor varying scents in different applications. Some are more widely used for healing applications, and some are more commonly employed in magickal pursuits. In any case, it should be remembered that there is more than one way to arrive at the desired results.
And while there are certain oils that have been discovered to function well for specific purposes, when we combine fragrances for a specific goal, there is a lot of room for the individual aromatherapist’s expression of knowledge and creativity. By utilizing varying amounts of different scents, a skillful aromatherapist may emphasize one quality or another in the final blend. It is in this facility that the science of aromatherapy retains its integrity as an art.
The oils included in this writing are by no means the full complement of available essentials. In fact, they are but a sampling of the products that may be found in my own selection of oils. However, they do represent a solid cross-section of the many products that may be used in aromatherapy.
In the tables that follow, each of the listed oils includes associations to gender, planetary affiliation, and elemental characteristics. While these attributes are more elaborately addressed elsewhere, it may be important to at least offer some foundational understanding of the included associated influences in the oils presented below. The gender associations are simple male and female; in a very broad sense, these are active and passive, conscious and subconscious. They are the yin and yang of Oriental understanding. Together they create a balance, but in their separate roles they can be utilized in a specific approach to a specific purpose.
The planetary influences are akin to the precedent set by Nicholas Culpeper in his presentation of herbal remedies. Each of the planets and astrological signs has an influence of its own. Each essential oil is aligned with one or more of these influences. From these associations, we can gain some valuable insight as far as the use of each of the essentials is concerned. By blending different influences, we arrive at an unlimited number of possibilities of uses for essential oils. These associations will serve as a guidebook in the blending of essential oils to specific purposes and optimum effectiveness.
One point that may be made before addressing the individual oils is that there is some variance between experts in regard to planetary or elemental associations. There is a legitimate reason for this sort of confusion. First, some plants have different variations. While some may be attuned to one influence, other variations of the same plant may be more representative of other associations. A prime example of this would be jasmine.
While many aromatherapists view jasmine as a masculine fragrance representative of Jupiter, the night-blooming jasmine may be more akin to lunar influence and feminine in nature. Unfortunately, while some essential oils are very specific as to the particular plant variation from which they are derived, many are not. Another possible explanation of this apparent inconsistency is in application. While a specific oil may have certain characteristics as a lone remedy, in combination with other fragrances it may act in slightly different ways.
My own interpretation of this is that while each scent has its primary characteristics, they each also carry a secondary persona, or undertone value. For this reason, wherever possible, a secondary planetary and elemental influence is noted in each of the oil delineations.