Preparing Jasmine Tobacco under the full moon
I began my relationship with plants over 3 decades ago.
When I became pregnant with my first daughter, everything changed for me. My sense of smell expanded and became super sensitive that I could detect something in the air so faint, that I either loved it or needed to be away from it. I couldn't wear any perfume and being around artificial fragrances in general made me sick. Something about that change in my cellular structure, heightened my sense of smell, and it has guided me since.
My love for aromatherapy blossomed and I begin really thinking beyond their beauty of the scents, but what they did for our systems medicinally, spiritually, and emotionally. And so my journey with the aroma of plants, became essential in the work that I do as a spiritual herbalist and curandera.
I see working with aromatherapy as a dance, blending and moving the fragrance in between each other, weaving their aromas delicately so not one over powers the other.
I always begin with a question, "What do I want to invoke, and then from there I work with my intuition, formulating on paper...writing the story of what I'm feeling and what I'm solving. Then I begin the formulation process, with precise measurements based upon what the soul of the blend will relay. Working with top, middle and base notes, and bringing the dance to life.
One of my favorite parts of aromatherapy is working with the sacred waters, aka the cellular plant waters, or the hydrosols.
I grow many aromatic herbs in my gardens so that I can use in the medicine we make here at the Casa, and also for my barridas when I offer Limpias in my personal service work. The summers are a constant movement of harvesting and steam distilling over and over again as many plants bloom at the same time. I love it! It usually takes me about 3-5 hours per distillation to produce the amount my little copper still can handle.
I call these sacred waters because they are the life force of the plant, their aroma is carried through tiny minuscule droplet's of essential oil that also gets distilled. Sometimes there is a little more oil that is produced and I separate the water from the oil to keep the waters pure and safe to put directly on your skin, or even drink.
This is chamomile water! The darker blue is the essential oil.
I work during the warmer days of summer and through fall meeting folks in my garden for limpias/cleansings and though I make a wonderful traditional Agua de Florida, I will will also add these sacred waters to the therapies I offer. From the cleansing to the temezcal steam or the baño/spiritual baths.
I use traditional herbs my abuelas worked with, including: sage, ruda, rosemary, basil, marigold, rose, chamomile, lavender, yarrow, eucalyptus and mugwort. But also cedar, clary sage, tobacco, helichrysum and more. If I can grow it and it smells amazing, I will distill it!
I am excited to offer a small batch of the Sacred Waters I distilled this summer for Casa de Ritual. I hope you find them just as sacred to use as I do, for your spirit or your skin.
You can see the oil rising to the top here on the distillation of lavender I recently did.