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The very scent of essential oils soothes, calms, awakens or otherwise affects individuals in very positive ways, regardless of whether or not they are even aware of aromatherapy as a practice. The use of fragrance goes back thousands of years. Originally, people used herbs, and the oils derived from them, directly as a part of their spiritual or religious practice, and often, more indirectly as medicines. Even today, herbal incenses continue to play an important role in various meditative practices, especially among Japanese and Tibetan Buddhists. The use of aloeswood, cassia, cloves, sandalwood and other precious herbs in incense relies on a heat source to gently free up the essential oils of the herbs. Native Americans use herbs such as sweet grass, white sage, sagebrush and tobacco as "smudges." A smudge acts as a kind of big incense stick, releasing fragrant smoke to cleanse and purify sacred space and the people entering such space. Many religions use resins such as

Keeping Healthy with Kitchen Herbs: Herbs a la Simon & Garfunkle: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme Keeping healthy with kitchen herbs means thinking of ways to use your kitchen spice shelf as a medicinal resource. If you do little cooking, or if your spices are more than a year old, you'll need to get a fresh supply. Good quality spices make for tastier foods as well as more effective medicine. (Please note: if you have a serious medical condition, please consult a medical practitioner.) Sometimes the simplest of kitchen spices that we take for granted are among the most useful medicinally. Of the following four herbs, three of them contain very strong essential oils that can really aid in fighting off illness. Parsley, while not as strong as its other companions, nonetheless is a very useful herb. Parsley, Petroselinum crispum, a member of the Umbelliferae family, acts as a diuretic, expectorant, emmenogogue, carminative and, according to some, may even be an aprodisiac

Reiki is “universal energy” – therefore, it is safely used any time – any place. When we talk about working with the healing power of Reiki, we really need to treat ourselves in our totality: body, emotions, mind and spirit. Remember, the body is a self-healing organism. Reiki practitioners and other healing practitioners merely provide assistance in the healing process. Therefore, Reiki does NOT cure dis-ease, but assists the client in their own healing process. If you’re wondering how emotions can impact a person’s health and well being, think of a time when you were so worried about something that you were “sick to your stomach” with fear.  Or a time when you were so angry that you “saw red.” Emotions have a direct impact on our health. Fear, anger and depression can sap our bodies’ energies. Being angry can drive up blood pressure. Being fearful can weaken one’s kidneys. Being angry can even affect how well one’s liver functions. Our state of mind also impacts our health in direct

Looking to clear energy in your office, home, dorm room or apartment?   There are many occasions when you may want to perform a major purification of your residence or workplace. Smudging has been used for centuries to rid area of negative energy or spirits. It usually involves burning certain dried herbs to form a smoke bath that cleanses and purifies people, objects and homes. The ritual of smudging can be defined as "spiritual house cleaning." The smoke attaches itself to negative energy and as it clears it takes the negative energy with it, releasing it into another space where it will be regenerated into positive energy.  Smudging before you move in will give you the opportunity to clear out the energies of the previous tenants/owners. You can cleanse and then bless/dedicate the space to your household. Smudging after moving in gives you the opportunity to ensure that any negativity from a previous residence is cleared from your possessions. B ut what if you can't