Flowers & Herbs Make "Scents" to Use in Daily Life
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 ...
