Welcome to this week’s episode of the Aromatic Wisdom Podcast!
This week we turn out attention to the subtle and energetic properties of essential oils as Liz explains what a sacred space is, why it is important to have one and what essential oils to use to support your special sacred space.
Enjoy the podcast! It is my sincere hope that you will feel inspired to explore essential oils deeper after listening and learn what is possible when for your health and well-being when you include aromatherapy into your life.
Show Notes (Links and Resources Mentioned in the Podcast Episode):
- Blog Post Would You Know if you Had Essential Oil Sensitization?
- Podcast Episode: Essential Oil Sensitization AWP 037
- Blog Post What is a Hydrosol?
Here’s a page from my mini online course called Clearing Energy with Essential Oils
TRANSCRIPT: AWP 016: Creating a Sacred Space with Essential Oils
Liz: This is the Aromatic Wisdom Podcast, Episode 16. In today’s show, I’m going to talk about
how you can create a sacred space in your home, or anywhere really, using essential oils.
Announcer: You’re listening to the Aromatic Wisdom Podcast with your host, Liz Fulcher. If you’re interested in learning about Essential Oils, hearing interviews with industry experts, and discovering ways to grow your own Aromatherapy business, this is the podcast for you. For more information and show notes, visit the website at AromaticWisdomInstitute.com. Now sit back. Relax. Take a deep breath and enjoy as Liz shares a dose of Aromatic Wisdom.
Liz: Hi, Everyone! My name is Liz Fulcher and I am your host for this Aromatic Wisdom Podcast. I am a clinical aromatherapist and essential oil educator. I have been absent, haven’t I? I have missed you so much. I have had a heavy teaching schedule this Fall;] heavy in that I have my Fall certification program that I teach (September, October, and
November), and I taught a Teacher’s Training program this year and that was new for me.
I’m learning that when I teach a brand new class I need extra time and focus to present it well. When you are doing something new the first time it takes more of your time and yourself, basically. I found that I just wasn’t able to get a regular podcast out. However, this has also been valuable for me and I’m sorry that it was at the expense of my podcast, but I’m learning as well how to manage my time and how to manage my resources when I’m doing numerous things. Doing a podcast is still pretty new to me. I’ve learned when I have a heavy teaching schedule I need to plan in advance by
either pre-recording podcasts or just informing my audience I am in the classroom and I’ll see you in two weeks!
Let’s jump into today’s content, which is very cool, on how to create a sacred space using essential oils. Using essential oils in this context is to support a specific space. That is really what I am referring to.
Let’s start at the beginning and clarify what I mean by a “sacred space”. What is a “sacred space”?
A sacred space is any area that is designated for restoring your soul; for experiencing your connection to the Divine; for experiencing your connection to yourself, to the best parts of yourself. It can be a place where you pray, where you meditate, a place where you sit quietly and read; anything that’s going to restore you. Think of a time when you’ve had a peaceful experience and you leave feeling really well. A good example is if you’ve had a massage. How do you feel when you’ve had a massage? You feel taken care of, you feel safe, and of course, you feel relaxed. You leave the massage with a good sense of well-being and all is right with the world and then you go out and get cranked up with the world and the feeling goes away. Or, if you practice Yoga, again, what is that experience that when you leave the session? You love being in the room, you feel well, you restore, and feel balanced. You leave and it stays with you a little while and then life happens and a lot of that goes away until the next time you go to the Yoga studio. If you are a person who goes to Church, or Temple, or a Mosque, again it’s a place where you can go to restore your serenity, restore your connection to spirit, to the Divine. And what happens when you leave is that you feel better equipped to handle life, don’t you?
The idea with creating your own personal sacred space is that you have a place you can go to anytime you want without waiting for the next massage or Yoga session or for Sunday church. You can go there every single day. With regard to the home—if you stop and think that we have areas of our home designated for specific purposes: we have the bedroom for sleeping, we have the kitchen for cooking, we have the garage for storing the car, we have a living room for gathering—why wouldn’t you want to create a small room, space, or a corner, that is your sacred space for restoring yourself; taking time out for your spirit and keeping a peaceful, balanced mind?
Where do you create this sacred space in your life? It can be anywhere. Ideally, if you have a private room in your home, or a corner of a room you can go and have it be private, that’s ideal. I’m very fortunate that I have a massage room and that is my sacred space. It’s already set up as a very peaceful space with a salt lamp, photographs, candles, and of course my oils that I use to clear my sacred space. Sometimes I’ll go there just to nap; just lie on the massage table and rest, sit quietly and look out the window, or to say a prayer. It’s where I can go and restore. Some people have meditation rooms or Yoga rooms in their homes; those are ideal places.
But what if you’ve got five kids running around or if you just don’t have the luxury of having an entire room dedicated to your sacred space? Not a problem! You can make a quiet corner in your bedroom your sacred space. You can make a windowsill a little alter where you put the things in your sacred space and you can sit in front of that windowsill and connect with whatever you need to connect with at that point, looking out at nature, looking down at your crystals. You can even create a sacred space when you are traveling! If there are certain things you love to have around you (a picture, a crystal, a stone, or a cross), any object you can carry with you in your briefcase. When you get to your hotel room set them out, light a candle and sit quietly with your sacred things around you and that’s your temporary sacred space.
If you are some one who travels in your car all the time and you just need a timeout; if you’re a “traveling salesman” (and I am completely dating myself by saying that), a pharmaceutical rep is a good example—hours and hours and days in their cars—if you need to, pull a few things out of your glove box, set it around you, sit quietly, light a candle, use some essential oils (which I’ll talk about in a minute), and you have an instant sacred space. Those are kind of extreme examples, but I want to let you know that a sacred space is what you create. Again, if you have a place in your home that is what I am inviting you to do: to create a place where you can go and restore.
Just focusing now on a sacred space at home, I’m going to give you a couple of things to
think about when you are setting up your sacred space.
1. What are the needs for the sacred space? For example, are you the only one using it? Is it a private room just for you? Is it a place where other people will be involved; a sacred space for everyone? Maybe you want to create a space for you and your spouse/partner and/or children also have a sacred space. That would be amazing if you could do that for an entire family—don’t bother little Timmy because he’s in the sacred space meditating—wouldn’t that be fabulous?
Consider whether you will be the only one using it or if it’s going to be for other people? How do you want to feel in the sacred space? Do you want to feel grounded or do you want everyone else to just go the hell away; I want to be here quietly by myself. Maybe you need quiet. What do you want to feel when you are in that space?
2. How can you include what you want to feel in your space? Personally, I have lately found a deep need for a connections to my family. It is probably a function of getting older. Over the years I feel I have cut myself off from members of my family. Not in a bad way, I just didn’t connect with them that much. An example would be putting pictures of my family around in my sacred space so that I am remembering to connect with them.
3. This may seem obvious, but your sacred space should be comfortable. You can create a comfy corner with a special chair and a pillow with a side table where you are keeping a book. The important thing is that it is a place where you can relax so that your spirit can come out and embrace a higher level of energy. You can put in there a prayer bench or a meditation stool. Above all, even if it is just a cushion on the floor in the corner where you are lighting a candle you want to keep it comfortable so it’s a pleasure to be there.
4. Your sacred space should have a table, shelf, or windowsill where you can hold your special items that I’m going to get to next. You want to have a surface that is raised and apart. It can even be one shelf on a bookcase that is designated to hold your things.
5. Keep your area clean. Use essential oils to clean the area. I’m going to talk about how to use essential oils in the sacred space in a minute. Keep the area free of clutter especially. Clutter is the antithesis of peace. Clutter is a big, big focal distraction. If you are sitting there trying to relax and there is junk all over the place or you have too much stuff in the area, it won’t feel serene, it won’t feel peaceful; keeping the area clutter free will help keep you focused.
6. You want to have, and this is important because this is one of the things that makes it a sacred space, keep personal items that make it sacred for you. I recommend a candle because there is something magical about candles. They are used in every sacred setting around the world and in every religion. Think about what it feels like to sit around a candle. Think about the difference between having a light on your table at a restaurant or a candle—there is something very magical about candles. I would recommend that you have unscented candles—you don’t want that fake fragrance in you sacred space cluttering up your space. Buy a white unscented candle or make your own. They are actually pretty easy to make. An essential oil or potpourri diffuser where you put a candle at the bottom and water at the top with your essential oils. Any kind of diffuser that is exuding essential oils
Music, any books, that are special to you. Crystals and stones are very nice on your alter. Flowers! Flowers bring tremendous energy from nature and are awesome in a sacred space. Of course, keep them fresh and not wilted at all. Let’s not forget our dear friends, the essential oils! You could have a bottle of essential oil on your alter. You could have a drop of essential oil on a tissue if it’s something you’d like to connect with while you are having your quiet time in your sacred space.
Now, let’s get into the juicy stuff! How can we use our essential oils to augment the space and to deepen our experience of our sacred area? I’m going to give you four ways in which
you can use essential oils in this sacred space.
1. You are going to want to clean and clear the area. I know you are going to be excited to with this concept, you’re going to finish the podcast or maybe put it on hold and run quickly to set up a chair and a nice little altar and “Yay! I’ve got a sacred space!” But! You want to clear away the energy that’s there–that’s already existing there. You want to start with a clean slate. Before you prepare a meal you clear off the kitchen counter and then you clean the space, and then you begin to cook. Energetically you are doing the same thing in your sacred area. You can do this by cleaning, by vacuuming the space and getting rid of any cobwebs, especially if you are thinking about a closet. If you’ve ever seen the movie “The War Room”, she used a closet as her prayer room. So, if it’s a space that’s little used make sure you clear away the dust and the cobwebs.
I would make a spray that is great for cleaning. That is also going to energetically clean the space. I would get a 16 oz. spray bottle and fill it with water and add 2-3 Tablespoons of white vinegar or a little more if you like. Vinegar is very disinfecting and it also helps to deodorize the area. I would then add 10 drops each of Lemon, Eucalyptus, any one of the Conifers like Pine, Spruce, or Fir, and be sure in this blend that you are adding Juniper Berry. Juniper Berry is my go-to essential oil for energetically clearing a space. Juniper Berry is a good detoxifier for the body, so it helps to move fluid and it helps to detoxify. It will do the same thing energetically, so make sure that you add that to your spray. Clean the surfaces and the walls if you’d like making sure the area is fresh and clean before you get started.
By the way, when you are in your sacred space and using it, I advise you to clear it out energetically from time to time. There are a lot of ways you can do that. You can do something called “smudging”; you can use various essential oils. I just released an E-Book called “How to Use Essential Oils to Clear Negative Energy” and I’ll put a link to that in the
show notes. That has great ideas for regularly clearing the energy out of a space.
2. We have established our sacred space and have cleared it energetically and physically with antiseptic and anti-bacterial essential oils and oils that also energetically clear away old stagnant energy. The next thing you want to do, and this is super simple— it’s just to set the intention for the space. Setting the intention just means declaring the purpose for which you are using the room. You can do that silently, out loud; some people love rituals—I kind of like rituals. If you want to, light a candle and declare out loud “this space is designed to support me as I go through my busy life” or some sort of affirmation declaring what the room is for, because energy loves clarity. If you are very clear within yourself about what the space is designed for then you have a better chance of having the room support that purpose.
3. I personally love anointing a space. Recently I had new windows put in my home and I anointed the area around the four sides of where the window was to go in—blessed that this new window was coming in and that there would be light and energy and happiness coming in and going out from the window. I put Frankincense in Jojoba oil, set the intention and did the anointing. You can do the same thing with your space while you are declaring the intention for the space. Ten drops of Frankincense in an ounce of Jojoba. If you don’t want to use that much you can use a drop of Frankincense in a tablespoon of Jojoba oil or olive oil and just with your fingertip, bless maybe the doorway or whatever feels right for you. I am going to include in the show notes one page from my new E-book on creating a sacred space and I do talk a little bit more about how I use Frankincense to set the intention for sacred space.
4. Finally, I’m going to give you a list of essential oils that you might want to consider using in your space. Oils that have different energetic properties so that you can use them for either space clearing, anointing, setting the intention, or you can simply use them in the diffuser to support whatever is going on with you at the moment. If, for example, your are in your space because you had an argument and you need to “clear”, or if you need to be in the space because you are overwhelmed and you need some grounding, it’s a good idea to use essential oils to support your healing and your clearing of that situation.
In my new E-book—I know, I keep talking about it, but I’m excited because it’s my first real E-book and I love it!—I offer twelve essential oils and seven recipes that you can use. I’m going to go through and just share with you six of the oils that are in the E-book and how you might use them energetically.
Angelica Root—is a beautiful oil to use in a sacred space. It is grounding, transcending; it helps you connect with angelic guidance. Guidance can be true encounters with angels or you can simply be more in tune with your higher self if you want to consider that sort of angelic presence. It will also balance and protect you during meditation—I love Angelica Root for that.
Roman Chamomile—I love Roman Chamomile. It’s very calming and physically it’s great for sleep. But it’s also great if you are burned out and pissed off. You’re in your space and you’re feeling angry and need to get away; you need support in letting go of frustration and resentment: Roman Chamomile is a beautiful oil to support that.
Eucalyptus—I like Eucalyptus. I mentioned it in the recipe for the cleaning spray. It’s clearing and opening. It’s really good to cleanse a room and helps to dissolve energy blockages and if you are feeling suffocated by responsibilities it’s a super for that.
Juniper Berry—I also mentioned Juniper Berry, my go to for clearing negative energies. Maybe you’ve been in your sacred space for a couple of days feeling angry or maybe there was an argument in the room where you have your little sacred space in the corner. You want to diffuse Juniper Berry; put in a spray bottle and clear it; it also protects against negative influences and clears energy blocks.
The Conifers—I mentioned the Conifers in the cleansing spray, but they are also good for clearing/cleansing a room and to help dispel negative energy and increase energy in the subtle bodies of the human body. If you are feeling depleted, it’s a good oil to recharge energetically.
Orange—Because I love the citruses!! Orange is great for joy and creativity. Any of the citruses are, but Orange is particularly joyful with a childlike energy that can bring in a lovely, cheerful energy to your space. It helps to nourish creativity. If you are sitting in your space and trying to bring your muse forward and coax her out (or him!)—my muse is a
nine-year-old girl—it helps to nourish creativity, coax them out of hiding and promotes a lot of happiness.
There are some oils to get you started in your sacred space to help support what you are doing. I invite you to create a space anywhere in your life that is just for you. You are so worth it! If you are listening to this podcast, I’m sure that you are a person who also supports a lot of other people. If you love aromatherapy and love essential oils you are a natural healer and healers need to get away—we need our space, we need our protective place where we can replenish and nourish our own souls so that we can continue to go out and do good for others.
I hope this has been really helpful. It is another fun, fun way to connect with your essential oils. I’d love to hear from you if you are doing this already, if you have a sacred space, if you are using oils energetically—please let me know. I’d love to hear different things that people are doing their oils energetically.
Now it’s time for that segment you know as Smell My Life! If you are new to the Aromatic Wisdom podcast, Smell My Life is a little segment where I share some way in which I’ve used essential oils, hydrosols, or aromatics somewhere in my
life; some real, authentic application.
I have four cats, and recently, my one cat, whose name is Karate (named by grandson), had some weird thing going on with his fur. Specifically he was losing fur at the top of his head. He’s still having a bit of a problem and this has been ongoing for a couple of weeks. It looks like it may be some sort of fungal thing. He loses a patch of hair and underneath it’s
raw, so I started using Frankincense hydrosol to heal the wounds, and I can’t tell you how quickly it is healing. He still gets them from time-to-time and then it clears up and he gets it again, so whatever is going on is still there, but he is not getting any infections and his wounds heal very quickly.
It may be that he is fussing with his brother Luther, both male cats with claws. We’re thinking Karate is the omega and the other is the alpha and are fighting. Anyway, Frankincense hydrosol—all hydrosols—are really good for the skin and for healing topical conditions on animals, even cats. I don’t use essential oils on animals. They are far too strong for their small bodies. Hydrosols are fantastic.
Don’t know what hydrosols are? I will add links to the show notes to a couple of blog posts. I’ve written about hydrosols: what is a hydrosol and fun and creative ways to use hydrosols.
Finally, the last segment is called Ask Liz. I like to answer an email or an inquiry written to me by one of my listeners.
This week it’s from a gentleman whose name is Jack, and he says:
“Hi Liz, I just found your podcast and I heard you talk about getting a “sensitivity” if you use some oils neat. Can you tell me how? I am new to essential oils and have been using Peppermint, Lavender and Rosemary ct. cineole neat for about three and a half weeks almost daily. Thank you for your podcasts and any help you can give. New Guy, Jack.”
I love the way he signed off. Okay, Jack, sensitivity is for real. It can happen with any essential oil. It does not matter what the brand is; it’s not brand specific, it is specific to the essential oils. Jack, in a nutshell, sensitization is an allergic reaction of the immune system. One of the ways you know it is sensitization rather than irritation is that you will notice the reaction is in places other than where you applied the oil. Think about poison ivy. When you have a reaction to poison ivy it’s an allergic reaction to the oils in the plant; it is not just irritation. People may have a reaction to Poison Ivy on their hands but may start itching in other areas. That is an immune system reaction.
Some signs of sensitization are:
- Rash with inflammation
- Raised, bumpy, itchy skin
- Eczema, which is a type of sensitization of contact dermatitis.
Yes, it can happen with essential oils because they are so highly concentrated. It can even happen with perfumes, cleaning products, laundry soap rubbing against your skin—you could become allergic to that.
How to avoid sensitization? Do not use oils neat. Do not use them neat over and over and over again. I will use oils neat once in a while, for example I will use Tea Tree neat on a wound or if there is some inflammation. I am very specific when I use it neat and when I use it, why and for how long. Using them neat wastes a lot of oil when you can just put them in a carrier and go ahead and use that on your skin.
Back to avoiding sensitization reactions:
Ø Don’t use them neat
Ø Don’t use old, oxidized oils. When they are old they break down and are prone to being sensitizing.
This is a bit of chemistry, but if you are using oils high in aldehydes and phenols, they are more likely to be sensitizers, so you want to use caution with those. If you are sensitized to certain aromas or perfumes that will sometimes happen. Sometimes people will wear perfume for years on their neck and all of the sudden they can’t use it anymore because they get all itchy. If that is the case, do not use essential oils in those areas for sure.
Sensitization does not have to be related to dose either. It can be localized, generalized, or systemic. You always need more than one exposure. Women are more likely to have an allergy than men probably because they use so many more fragrances than men. The biggest thing I can recommend, Jack, is dilute your essential oils.
1% dilution=5-6 drops in one ounce of carrier
2% dilution=10-12 drops in one ounce of carrier
Two percent is a great dilution for just everyday use for body lotions and so forth. I did write a blog post a couple of years ago called “Would You Know If You If You Had An Essential Oil Sensitization Reaction?”, and I talk more in detail about what sensitization is, I’ve got a picture on there, and what I’ll do is put a link to that blog post in the show notes
for easy reference for you.
You can find the show notes by going to www.AromaticWisdomInstitute.com/016, because this is episode #16.
If you have an essential oil or hydrosol question you’d like to ask me to answer in a future episode of the Aromatic Wisdom Podcast, please write to me: Liz@aromaticwisdom.com, and put in the subject line: Ask Liz, so I can find it easily.
That is it for today’s show. Thank you so much, as always, for giving me your precious time and your precious ears by listening to this podcast. I cannot tell you how much it means to me. The fact that people have been contacting me saying they’ve missed the podcast means the world to me. It’s nice to know that whatever one does is appreciated and is making a difference in people’s lives. I had a woman write to me and say she uses my podcast episodes in her home-schooling lessons. I have to say that just blew me away!
Okay my darlings. Thank you so much for being with me today.
Until next time, Be Happy, Be Well.
Bye Bye.
#end of transcript#
