E is for Essential Oils - A Pagan Blog Project Post

Scouring Powder made with Sweet Orange and Clovebud Essential oils.

I use essential oils a lot in my practice. I use them in ritual, for spell bottles, magical housekeeping supplies, homemade lotions, potions and so much more.

Merriam-Webster defines Essential Oil as follows: Any of a large class of volatile odoriferous oils of vegetable origin that give plants their characteristic odors and often other properties, that are obtained from various parts of the plants (as flowers, leaves, or bark) by steam distillation, expression, or extraction, that are usually mixtures of compounds (as aldehydes or esters), and that are used often in the form of essences in perfumes, flavorings, and pharmaceutical preparations—called also ethereal oil, volatile oil; compare fatty oil, fixed oil.

Essential oils are used for medical purposes, for beauty and cosmetics, for perfumes and also for their magical properties.

In my Witchy Green Cleaning series I explain how to create cleaning products for the home that have specific magical purposes by using essential oils, for instance a window cleaner that includes protective qualities based on the Bergamot essential oil in the recipe or an All Purpose cleaner that rids an area of negativity through the use of peppermint essential oil. 

Fragrance oils are not the same as essential oils though some fragrance oils are blends of essential oils. Fragrance oils are generally blends of synthetic aromas and compounds which provide the scent of a plant. They have their benefits and drawbacks but due to their synthetic origins are- in my opinion - not suitable for magical works. The reason is because when working with the magical properties of something you need the real deal not a synthetic imitation - regardless of how great it smells! 

When working with essential oils you must be sure to research the various effects they have, not only magical but physical. Many essential oils are not safe for human consumption, some are irritants when they come in contact with the skin and some are just dangerous!

When I am looking for a specific property I consult the following books:

• Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham – This provides fantastic information on the magical properties of herbs.
• The Spell Casters Reference by Eileen Holland – this is a great tool. It provides the correspondences for plants as well as many other things.
• The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood – This book gives you information on which essential oils to use for specific reasons.
• The Herbal Alchemist’s Handbook by Karen Harrison – This book provides magical correspondence information on a variety of plants as well as recipes and more.
• Llewellyn’s Complete Formulary of Magical Oils by Celeste Rayne Heldstab – this book has tons of recipes for magical oils to use in ritual as well as for day to day things.
• Reference Guide for Essentials by Connie and Alan Higley – This book is very technical and provides information on nervous system, emotional responses, historical uses, properties and lots more. This is a great resource on essential oils.
• Herbs that Heal by Michael A Weiner, Ph.D., and Janet A. Weiner – This cook provides dosage information, traditional uses as well as scientific findings.

As you can see I like to know the magical as well as the physical properties of the oils and I really love to read the scientific data on the different herbs/oils. It is always gratifying to me to see the hearth witches, medicine men/women and the folk wisdom of the past being supported by the science of today!

I am sure there are lots of other books out there but these are the ones that I have and use on a regular basis. If you have a great book on herbs or essential oils that you like please leave me a comment letting me know the title and author, I am always looking for more information on this topic.

Thanks for stopping by.