I N MANY WAYS WE have been experiencing aromatherapy every step of the way through this book. Herbal aromas and fragrances from combined herbal formulas fill our senses with pleasure and relax (or stimulate) our minds in the garden and in the home. Let's go more deeply into this ancient science that has become a modern multibillion-dollar business.
Fragrances tantalize many of our sensory feelings and thoughts. Certain aromas can trigger emotional memories of special childhood events, like the fragrance of strawberries or the smell of hot popcorn, or cool wintergreen. Perhaps these aromas remind you of certain parties or trips to the movies or memorable meals. Fragrances have the power to stimulate memories and change moods. Balsam fir, white pine, and hemlock exude the clean, irresistible aromas of cool forests and winter holidays.
The highly aromatic qualities of sweet flag and wintergreen may trigger thoughts of soothing medicines and cooling lotions.
American Indian Sacred Fragrances
The aromatic smoke rising from a tobacco, sage, or sweetgrass smudge evokes memories of special ceremonies and feels soothing. These are fragrances associated with Native American prayers and meditations as well as sweat lodge rites. Just the fragrance of tobacco alone (burning or not) conjures respect among traditional people, who associate it with prayer and making special offerings to the spirits. Tobacco is one of the most highly valued ceremonial herbs. It is used for praying and making offerings, and it is given to show respect. Periodically we offer a pinch of tobacco to a drum and other ceremonial objects.
The fragrances of bayberry, sweetgrass, and sweet fern can create the woodsy recollections of camping trips and summer hikes through coastal regions.
The therapeutic benefits of aromas are many; they can relax, soothe, energize the senses, and alter one's moods in positive ways. Aromatherapy is actually an ancient practice—many peoples have realized the benefits of using natural aromas to stimulate the senses. Think about the fragrances that trigger certain of your memories—the aromas of soul foods and fresh coffee brewing. What fragrances stimulate you to do your best work?
Total relaxation should bless the end results of all your work. Imagine stretching out in a steaming hot herbal tub bath. You are restored by your own homemade bath salts, and your hand-crafted herbal soaps cleanse your skin. Herbal candles guide your meditations to gratitude for all that the earth and your medicine wheel garden have provided. Sweet earth energies surround you and permeate your thoughts. What could be better?
a half-full bucket of fine damp sand
a round bowl or flowerpot to use as a mold, or a large French jelly glass
a medium wick, cut to the length of the depth of your hole plus 1 inch
paraffin wax
wax thermometer
wax dye (optional)
large spoon or stirrer
wicking needle
bayberry or strawberry essential oil, or candle perfume essence
Flickering candlelight is perfect for relaxation and meditation. Imagine that you can surround yourself with handmade herbal candles that bring in yet another essence from the medicine wheel garden. Here is a medicine wheel sand candle you can make in many variations.
Tamp the damp sand down firmly with your fist. Push the bowl or candle mold down firmly into the center of the damp sand, and press the sand all around this. Carefully remove the candle mold, and measure the depth of the hole so that you can cut the wick to the proper length, plus an additional inch.
Unless you purchased primed wicks, prepare your wick. It is easy—simply heat a small amount of paraffin in the top of a double boiler and soak your wick(s) in this for about 5 minutes. Remove the coated (primed) wick(s), straighten them out, and leave them to dry on a flat plate.
Heat the paraffin wax in the top of a double boiler and add a dye color, if you desire, mixing thoroughly. Heat to about 127° F. Remove from the heat and stir in the fragrance to suit your tastes.
Pour the hot wax gently into the center of the sand, letting it trickle over the back of a metal spoon. You want the sand to hold its shape as much as possible. The wax will seep into the sand in 5 minutes, so heat the wax again and top up the candle. A well will form in the middle of the wax within 2 hours. Top this up with a bit more hot wax.
Push the wicking needle down through the center of the well. Withdraw the needle and use it to push the primed wick down through the center hole. Lay the needle across the top of the wax candle and rest the top of the wick against it to keep it centered and straight. Leave this to cool for another 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Lift the finished candle out of the sand and smooth the outer surface. Trim the wick, if necessary, so that it is not more than 1 inch above the top of the candle. Check the candle base and make sure it will sit securely on a candle plate or in a small dish of fine sand.
Origins of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy
The Arab physician Abu Ali Ibn Sina, known as Avicenna (980–1037), is credited with the discovery of the method of extracting essential oils by distillation. By the medieval period, essential oils were used as remedies for many problems. Modern research underscores their antiseptic and antibacterial properties. They are used in baths, compresses, inhalations, lotions, massage oils, and ointments.
You may be inspired to make other natural and colored variations of this sand-cast candle. Try pressing tiny bits of medicine wheel herbs and blossoms around the outside of the warm wax. Or make simple round candles to sink into clean clay flowerpots partially filled with bearberry and bayberry leaves. The clay pots can also be embellished with acrylic paints and American Indian pic-tographic symbols. Enjoy exploring these artistic realms.
You can also purchase beeswax sheets in various sizes that are designed to be rolled into fine candle tapers around a central wick. These are the quickest and easiest of all to make—and no cooking is involved. These candles can be embellished with either a few drops of bayberry or strawberry essential oils, or your favorite candle fragrance, then worked into an arrangement of medicine wheel flowers.
½ cup olive oil
½ cup sweet almond oil
½ cup corn oil
½ teaspoon strawberry essential oil
Busy gardeners need to relax and soak in a hot herbal bath after long days of garden work. What could be better than to enjoy some of the fruits of our labors in the bath? This simple basic recipe invites many variations based upon your own special preferences. Bath oils can make the tub slippery, so be sure to use a secure rubber bath mat, and get in and out of the tub carefully.
Pour all ingredients into a sterile bottle and cap tightly. Shake well to blend, and shake well before each use. Add 1 tablespoon to hot bathwater in the tub, or 1 teaspoon to a hot footbath in a foot basin.
If you enjoy a spicy or citrus smell, you might also add lemon verbena leaves, fennel seeds, or allspice berries, or perhaps several long, thin strips of fresh lime, lemon, and orange rind to the bottle of bath oil.
Relieve sunburn, treat skin rashes and blemishes, and soothe the entire body with this natural formula, inspired by my daughter Kim Kavasch, who is an herbalist and naturopath in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Maya Cointreau, herbalist and computer wizard, of Roxbury, Connecticut.
Bath salts offer a number of healing benefits. Sodium salts, which include table salt, borax, and baking soda, react with the minerals in hard water, making it feel soft and silky. This increases the effectiveness of soap. Sea salt adds trace minerals to your water and may give your bath a “spa” atmosphere. Epsom salts (magnesium sul-fate) work well to soothe sore muscles and ease away stiffness. It is best to keep your specific needs in mind and formulate accordingly.
Place fresh ingredients together in a small pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients to 1 tablespoon of this herbal decoction.
Place all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and blend well with a whisk. Pour the mixture into a large glass jar and cover. Next time you need to refresh body and spirit, add a handful of these salts to your hot bath.i
Geranium relieves stress and anxiety, lifts depression, and promotes balance. Cedar stimulates spirituality, healing, and encourages deep relaxation. Blueberry and heal-all are cleansing astringents that help to heal chapped skin. Ginger stimulates the blood flow and tones the skin.
5 blueberry leaves
5 heal-all leaves
1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, chopped
¾ cup baking soda
¾ cup table salt
½ cup sea salt
35 drops essential oil of geranium
25 drops essential oil of cedarwood
¼ teaspoon green food coloring
¼ teaspoon blue food coloring
8 ounces warm water
4 tablespoons pure lye (such as Red Devil brand; found in the drain-opener section of the supermarket or hardware store)
1 pound lard (found in the baking or meat sections of many supermarkets)
20 drops essential oil of bayberry
1 tablespoon dried powdered bayberry leaves
1 tablespoon dried powdered heal-all leaves and blossoms
teaspoon ground cloves
glass or ceramic mixing bowls, one small and one medium (see note)
a Pyrex measuring cup
a large bowl half filled with ice
a wooden spoon
a plastic or wooden tablespoon
an 8-inch-square glass dish or mold
vinegar
Soothed skin and shining hair are benefits from this creation, inspired by Cheri Senieur, art therapist, of Middletown, Idaho, and Maya Cointreau of Roxbury Connecticut.
Making soap is a time-consuming activity that requires advance preparation and a bit of caution. This is especially true when handling lye, which is traditional to the art of soap making. This recipe yields about 8 generous bars of soap with a spicy, woodsy scent and a smooth, silky texture.
Note: (1) Never use aluminum when making soap: not bowls, spoons, or foil. Lye dissolves aluminum. (2) If at any time lye comes into contact with your skin, flush the area with vinegar, and then wash well. Lye will feel slippery on your skin.
Measure 8 ounces of warm water into the smaller bowl. Carefully add 4 tablespoons lye. Always add lye to water, never the other way around! The water and lye react together to create quite a bit of heat. Stir the solution and let it sit to cool. Do not inhale the fumes. Work with good ventilation.
Heat the lard in a medium bowl until it liquefies. You can microwave it in the bowl for about 40 seconds.
Allow the two bowls and their contents to cool to room temperature. This may take half an hour or more. When they have both cooled sufficiently slowly add the lye to the lard, stirring constantly.
Place the container in the ice bath and continue to stir until the soap “traces.” Tracing occurs when you can dribble soap from the spoon and it leaves its mark on the soap in the bowl. At this point the soap will have a consistency like sour cream.
Add the remaining ingredients to this mixture, blending well, and pour the soap into the mold. Cover the mold with a cloth and store in a dry place for 24 hours.
Uncover the mold. After another 48 hours, unmold the soap. Cut it into individual bars and let them cure for 4 weeks in plastic bags. After this, enjoy and use your homemade soap!
Take a large clean bandana or 12-inch square of muslin out to the medicine wheel garden along with sharp cutters. Spread it out in a basket. Select and cut 6 good arnica blooms and place them in the spread fabric. Cut 6 nice bee balm and heal-all bloom stalks. Cut 10 healthy strawberry leaves. Add several blades of sweet flag and sweetgrass, and a large angelica leaf. Squeeze these all together firmly and tie them up in the fabric square. Bring this inside.
Place this herbal bath balm bouquet in a large pot of fresh water and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, until a nice aromatic tea has developed. While you are doing this, run a nice hot bath for yourself. Light a few scented candles in the bathroom and put on soft music, or simply tune in to the sounds of nature. When this is all set, carefully pour the herbal bath tea—cloth, herbs, and all—into the bathtub. Test the water for comfort and stir the herbal tea in well. Then carefully ease yourself into this aromatic tub tea and relax. Use the herbal bath balm (cloth bag/bundle) to gently rub your skin, squeezing out the herbal essence on sore places and tired muscles.
Use this basic recipe to vary the tub teas and bath balms seasonally from your medicine wheel garden. If you are suffering with poison ivy or other skin rashes, you will want to use jewelweed and the astringent blueberry and bayberry leaves in a hot tub bath and poultice.
Note: Do not use arnica if you have any open cuts or sores on your skin.
This recipe is a variation of the previous one. Gather and prepare this healthy, fragrant foot soak from your medicine wheel garden. Take a clean bandana or 12-inch square of cotton cloth out to the garden. Clip a small handful of angelica, sage, jewelweed, and strawberry leaves. Tie these up securely within the bandana, making a little herbal sack. Bring this in and place it in a medium pan full of water. Simmer this over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
Cool slightly and add this to a clean foot bath partially filled with water, herb-filled bandana and all. Blend thoroughly and test for temperature. Then sit and relax with your bare feet soaking in this fragrant, antiseptic herbal bath. This is a great time for healing meditation or to read your favorite book.
Enjoy your own variations on this formula using arnica flowers and elderberry flowers in early summer, or heal-all and sweetgrass in late summer, or wintergreen and sweet flag in winter. One of: finest herbs to relieve foot fatigue is broadleaf plantain, which why I always plant it in the medicine wheel garden.
You may choose to make large and small versions of this aromatic pillow. You can place the small one on the back of your easy chair and slide the larger one into your pillowcase or on top of the pillow. You can harvest or purchase some of the additional sleep herbs beyond what you have grown in your medicine wheel garden. All herbs should be carefully selected, checked over, and well dried.
Select a pleasing calico or muslin fabric, double it, and cut through both layers to create two identical 6-inch squares and two 11-inch by 5-inch rectangles. Use pinking shears to keep the fabric from unraveling. Place the wrong sides together and carefully stitch around three of the sides. Now turn the pillows inside out so the seams are on the inside, and top-stitch around the three sides about ¼ inch from the edge. Next, carefully stuff them with a choice mixture of the listed herbs, which are also thought to enhance dreams.
Blend these all together well in a large bowl or plastic bag. Stuff the two pillows moderately full, then tuck in the edges of the fabric and whipstitch the last end closed. Make sure this is securely finished so none of the herbs leak out.
You will enjoy these pillows for many months, even years. I have one that has been through the washing machine and dryer and still has fine aromatic qualities.
1 cup dried bee balm leaves and blooms
1 cup dried angelica leaves
½ cup dried heal-all leaves and blooms
½ cup dried sweetgrass blades
½ cup dried mugwort leaves
½ cup dried catnip leaves and blooms
½ cup dried peppermint leaves
½ cup lavender flowers
½ cup flaxseeds
This is a variation of the dream pillow and is made the same way. Select a soft piece of calico, silk, or flannel and double it. Using pinking shears, cut out two rectangles about 8 inches long by about 4 inches wide. Stitch three sides of this eye mask together with the wrong sides together, leaving the last short end open. Turn it right side out and top-stitch around the three stitched sides about a quarter of an inch from the outer edge.
Carefully fill this medium-full with the mixed herbs of your choice. You may want to increase the flaxseed, as it is cooling and soothing for the eyes and can help relieve puffiness and redness; if so, add an additional ½ cup flaxseed to this mixture before you stitch the final edge. Then tuck in the outer edges and whipstitch it closed.
As you use and enjoy this eye mask, you may decide to make more of them. These make wonderful gifts!
These treats from the medicine wheel garden can be made two ways: with fresh or dried herbs, or with purchased essential oils. My daughter Kim inspires these refreshing creations.
Method 1. Snip a handful each of fresh angelica, bayberry, and bee balm leaves, or you may use ½ handful each of the dried leaves. Place the leaves in a medium pot and cover with 1 quart of water. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes, uncovered. Cool and strain through a coffee filter or other fine filter. Bottle the resulting strong tea in 2-ounce spray bottles. You might also add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to give this a slightly acid pH, which is best for skin and hair. Label and date each bottle. Store in the refrigerator for maximum keeping qualities and ultimate refreshment during the heat of summer.
To use, simply point the spray nozzle at your face, holding the bottle about 12 inches away, close your eyes, and spritz your face and hair with this aromatic medicine wheel herbal spray. I keep one small bottle by my computer for an instant refresher.
Method 2. Easier yet, fill a 2-ounce spray bottle almost full with spring water. Add 8 drops, more or less, of your favorite essential oil—try sandalwood, rose, patchouli, lavender, or bergamot. Place cap securely on bottle and shake well. Then, with your eyes closed, mist your face and hair, holding the bottle about 12 inches from your face.
Once you decide on your favorite herbal blends, you can make your own aromatic formulas. One of my favorite invigorating spritzers is 6 drops each of essential oils of rose, vetiver, balsam, bergamot, sandalwood, and patchouli in an 8-ounce bottle of spring water. This makes an intensely fragrant spray mist that is quite revitalizing.
several large leaves of angelica
a small handful each of pennyroyal and cardinal flower leaves and flowers
a cup each of bayberry leaves and boneset leaves and flowers
as many bearberry leaves as the plants shed
a cupful of bee balm leaves and blossoms
a handful of heal-all leaves and blossoms
a handful of sage leaves and blossoms
a large handful of sumac leaves and berries, and joe-pye weed leaves and blossoms
a generous handful of sweet flag and sweetgrass blades
a generous handful of tobacco leaves and blossoms and yarrow leaves and blossoms
Kinnikinnick is an old Cree Indian word meaning “botanical mixture.” Kinnikinnick was often used for smoking and smudging. It is basically like potpourri. Traditionally these mixtures have a great fragrance and are often carried in a special pouch. We have the benefit of making our own seasonal kinnikinnicks from selected botanicals harvested from our medicine wheel garden. Harvest fairly equal amounts of the leaves and blossoms.
Pick the fresh ingredients from your medicine wheel garden and dry them separately. It is important to dry each ingredient separately. Each herb requires a different drying time, and mixing them too soon may invite mold or mildew. You may take an entire season to collect and dry all these ingredients. You will certainly enjoy savoring the unique fragrance of each different plant that develops as water is lost and the constituents become more concentrated.
When the herbs are dry crumble or cut the material into a fine mixture. Place the herbs in a large bowl or bag and mix everything well together. You may want to put this in a series of smaller bags for storage or gift giving.
Some Great Lakes Indian kinnikinnicks were made from over thirty different botanicals. Each blend has different therapeutic and spiritual properties. You may find that you prefer to use your medicine wheel garden kinnikinnick rather than sage and other commercial blends for smudging and for rituals. Use this basic recipe as your springboard to create your own kinnikinnick formula. Try adding rosemary lavender, oregano, marjoram, willow bark, and sumac bark.
When you are ready to use this fragrant blend of medicine wheel herbs, place a small handful in a fireproof glass or clay dish or a large seashell. Ignite this, and as it catches fire, blow out the flames so that it will just smoke. This is the smudge, this fragrant smoke, that each person gently sweeps over himself or herself to help wash away impurities, sadness, anxieties, or anything unwanted. Use your cupped hand or a feather to draw the smoke around and over you, or to sweep it into the corners of a room. This is the process we use also to “secure the circle or room” before a special gathering: One person walks around the perimeter of the room directing the smoke throughout the space, up and down and into corners. Smudging is a special prayer of gratitude for whatever you wish to undertake. It can also be a simple blessing of a space, or of a place and time. We usually begin our circle gatherings with a brief time of smudging, centering, and quiet. This helps to focus our minds and hearts on what we have come together to accomplish.