By Ramakrishna Jim Curas
ceremonial blend • samadhi
The subtle concept of these two oil formulas took hold many years
ago, as an alter boy in the Greek Orthodox Church. Steeped in it's
practice of ancient rituals and ethereal chanting, I remember myself
Sunday mornings often in charge of the priest incense burner creating
a nice hot bed of coals to receive and release the highly aromatic
resins which I would, at the proper time, cast in. What richness,
what depth, the power of these scents to transfix and transport the
mundane mind. The swirling fragrant smoke seemed to lift one into
higher, loftier realms.
As an herbalist grower and producer of herbal extracts, I have
been acutely aware of a plant scent, for it usually indicates the
direction and potency of the plant. It was not until many years later
did I come to experience the power and depth of a plants essential
oil. It is a bit misleading to think of an essential oil "as
an oil", i.e. cold pressed vegetable and seed oil which has
a saturating quality and often sits and stains until washed off with
warm soapy water. Essential oil from a plant was traditionally created
by steam distillation and has a dispersing quality and usually self
volatilizes very quickly and cleanly. Having one of the smallest
molecular structures these invisible vapors can easily pass through
the blood/brain barrier restructuring themselves in what is known
as the oldest part of the brain, the lower back portion. This is
considered by the yogi to be one of the three most sacred spots of
the head, representing the higher end of the spinal column. This
area has stored within it the complete history of our species. Our
first instincts, struggles and strategies for survival, along with
our deeper yearnings for happiness, peace and understanding.
I soon experienced how these oils can be used as keys for opening
ancient neurological pathways, and exploring and revealing direct
links to the histories of this world. This is a communal area where
we are as one. Aromas have the power and depth to bypass much of
the ego and intellect, the frontal part of the brain, by affecting
directly at the primordial source of life which we all have a shared
interest in from the beginning. We do share in the same hopes and
desires, feel the same hurts and fears, experiencing this sameness
can become a bridge of understanding and acceptance for the peoples
of the world.
CEREMONIAL BLEND
A COMMUNAL ANOINTING OIL
Frankincense, Sandalwood, Rose, Myrrh
This blend came into being when a client friend asked if I would
participate, as an aroma-spiritualist, in a ceremony she was having
in honoring and clearing the way for the soul spirit she was carrying.
I agreed and thought of different ways of approaching this particular
group and it's purpose. We are all receptacles of spirit and to various
degrees have the ability to become in touch with spirit. In a group
ceremonial setting the intention is to gather and focus as a whole
on one shared intention. In larger contemporary societies people
have become extremely isolated and individualized. Even within the
smaller amily unit we find much dysfunction. What remains for indigenous
peoples, their natural disposition for group ceremony, has become
for modern man as awkward and dubious event.
I knew my friend and felt that she would have friends and family
who were open to different ideas and approaches. Indeed, when I arrived
I felt most comfortable and after the ceremony the day ended with
my feeling of having found a part of my extended tribe.
My friend at this time was a powerful receptacle of spirit being
with child. I felt an appropriate oil blend shared by the group could
help in each of us experiencing we are all receptacles of the one
shared spirit.
I feel I came up with a formula that harmonizes the two vertical
hemispheres, at the bottom we get stuck in self-centered action.
When we practice opening our hearts to others spirit begins a refining
process rising up to the heart center. At this point there are two
paths that can carry us the rest of the way up to a state of selfless
action, either through the heart of devotion or the dispassion, discriminating
intellect, to a state of complete surrender.
• Myrrh - Stimulated and purifies the dark, heavy animal energy
lying at the base of the spine causing it to lighten and begin rising.
• Sandalwood and Rose - helps to center this energy within
the heart center and to begin reflecting on and respecting and accepting
others.
• Frankincense - draws this energy up into the higher centers
of reflective insight.
Ceremonial anointing has become an important tool in gathering and
clearing the diversity and disparity of group energy and to focus
as one unified intentional force. A few drops massaged into the navel,
heart and throat centers stimulates an upward movement of prana.
Sit quietly for a few minutes, keeping the breath slow and deep at
an equal and comfortable inhale and exhale. On the inhale visualize
the breath as an energy rising from below the base of the spine,
an area of infra-red color, as it rises it's color transitions and
lightens, from dark reds to oranges, yellows, the breath completes
at the heart center in a brilliant emerald green. The breath pauses
for a comfortable moment as we feel this emerald light expand, penetrate
and nourish every fiber of the body. Then exhale and release this
light energy up through the top of the head, it's color changing
from the emerald green into a bright aqua blues, sky blues, purples
and the breath finishing just above the top of the head in an electric
ultra-violet. Pause again for a comfortable moment allowing this
ultra-violet light to fountain over the body and back down to the
pool of infra-red. It is interesting that each end of the spectrum
retains an element of the other, a little red in the purple and a
little purple in the red. See this light as a separate force rising
and passing through the color spectrum which represents the physical,
emotional body. The quality and intensity of this "light within
the color" depends on physical and emotional toxins which both
clouds and slows the upward movement. A short meditation and visualization
of this nature usually serves to clear much of the daily debris of
worldly activity preparing the group for any given ceremony.
SAMADHI
A PERSONAL ANOINTING OIL
Oud, tulsi, sandalwood, frankincense, jatamansi,
rose
Certain oils have the ability to unblock and open up particular
energy channels within the body allowing for a stronger and consistent
flow. This circulation of energy within the body is just as important
as blood circulation, they have different channels and modes of action
but both bring about a revitalization and clarity to the body, mind
and spirit. This formula serves well individuals who have some form
of meditation practice. A drop or two placed on the throat center-the
indentation just below the Adam's apple-gently massaged into the
point between the eyes and the indentation at the back base of the
head and neck, three of the many sacred spots on the body and reflects
three important modes of behavior: the throat chakra-when purified
it expresses clearly the union between the heart/emotion and the
head/intellect, the point between the eyes-when purified reflects
a discriminative intellect, the back base of the head receives the
power of kundalini as it purifies and rises within the spine. This
place is ancient and represents the abode of Mother shakti-the primordial
yearning for expression and liberation. When the triangular connections
between the throat/emotion, head/intellect and the collective intuition
are cleared and the flow of energy is strengthened one begins experiencing
the ability to express the deeper needs of society through a discriminate
and dispassionate intellect. These oils in general calm the spirit
creating an uplifting and devotional state conducive to a meditation
practice.
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