Palo Santo, The Holy Wood There is a lot of confusion surrounding the current state of Palo Santo, a common name given to TWO different botanical classifications of trees. The misunderstandings and confusion of the two are a prime example of the importance of binomial nomenclature. My work in Peru with various communities has led…
Exploring Costa Rica: Cacao
Exploring Costa Rica Part 2 – Cacao Cacao (Theobroma cacao) grows well in humid forest ecosystems, and Costa Rica is one of them, even if Ecuador is considered to grow the best quality of chocolate. The coffee plantation I visited (see Exploring Costa Rica, Part 1) in Monteverde does not grow cacao, the region…
Exploring Costa Rica: Coffee
Exploring Costa Rica Part 1 – Coffee While visiting Costa Rica with my family in January, I felt that the trip was a perfect opportunity to write about aromatherapy-related local products. I quickly found out that Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata) naturally grows in the area – its unmistakable aroma floats in the air every day…
Aromatic Adornment with Aromatherapy
Many of us have read the Law of Attraction books, created vision boards and embarked on journeys of healing our spirits, families and even ancestral lineages. Now that we collectively aim for “high-vibe”, it would be a natural step to explore reconnecting to self-nurturing & empowerment through aromatics. By using botanical perfumes, we can utilize…
Winter Solstice Aromatic Ritual
“So the shortest day came, and the year died, And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Come people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away.” Susan Cooper The Winter Solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It is also officially the first day of winter. Winter is a…
Yarrow For Introspection
As we slowly approach winter, nature calls for introspection, and the calendar invites us to make an assessment of the past year. This is the time to think about our path: Is “who we are” in line with “who we want to be”? What did we achieve, and what remains to be done? This…