All Tattvas oils are energetic adaptogens, meaning they have the ability to create perfect balance in the energetic field. Read the Gifts and Balancing sections within the Key Vibrations, knowing that what needs to be brought forward will be, and what needs to be healed will be. 

There are many dimensions to every plant. One of the most beautiful celebrations of the complex range of healing that plants offer is in the Rig Veda, in which a doctor petitions the plants for help: “Mothers, you have a hundred forms and a thousand growths. You who have a hundred ways of working, make this man whole for me." 

While the descriptions that follow cannot cover the breadth of each plant profiled, the information will get you started. When reading the descriptions, take all of the information into account to understand how the essential oils will operate in your energetic body. Know that the use of an essential oil has the following implications: awakening the archetypal associations in your being; striking the resonant chord within you that corresponds to the elemental arrangements; and stimulating the corresponding chakra. If a certain aspect of a signature resonates with you, it is beneficial to work with that aspect with focused intent and find the micro- and macrocosm within yourself that elegantly connects you with all of creation. 

Elements: Ether seed of Water 

Catalyst for: Introspection, revelation, deep wisdom 

Chakra Correlation: Vishuddha (throat, 5th), Svadhishthana (pelvic bowl, 2nd) 

Sacred Syllables: Ham, Vam 

Key Vibrations: Gifts: helps one gain an understanding of and access to the akashic field (ether); aids the mind in perceiving circumstance and environment as a gestalt; promotes openmindedness and positive boundaries. Balancing: for taking inventory of one’s personal reality with the intent to understand one’s emotions (water) and how they may be detracting from one’s full involvement with life; removing layers of reflexive emotional states to aid one in being present in whatever is authentically occurring in the moment. 

Key Concepts: The combination of ether and water gives rise to the energy of daring. This is an expansive combination that promotes reaching new heights on all levels. This process begins by looking inward. Ether is boundless space, holding all possibilities, while water, seeping ever downward, connects to and purifies the unconscious and emotional aspects of self, seeking the lowest ground to be contained (paradoxically, the “container” is boundless space or endless expansion). Are there any contracted, distorted, or unexpressed aspects of Self that need to be explored, purified, and allowed to blossom? From this inward exploration, one can move outward. Agarwood provides the framework for moving outside of your comfort zone, allowing for dynamic new growth. This may mean achieving new levels of personal success, emotional freedom, or loosening one’s current bonds and soaring to new spiritual heights. 

Deity Archetype: Sarasvati, Goddess of Wisdom Agarwood essential oil vibrates to a bright emanation of the divine feminine, Sarasvati, Goddess of Wisdom. This archetypal expression relates to the plant’s elemental arrangement of Ether seed of Water. Priya Hemenway writes that Sarasvati “is a water deity and is symbolic of the pool of knowledge that runs parallel to creation. In the form of a river she runs from the mountains to the sea, moving through and nourishing all the realms of human existence.” (Hemenway, Hindu Gods, p. 86) 

In addition to being a Wisdom Goddess, Sarasvati is also a virginal goddess in the original context of the term, meaning “unto one’s self.” She never had children and she did not favor being married--in fact, she got the boot from Brahma because she could never rally behind the idea of being a “good wife.” Instead, she devoted her time to the acquisition of knowledge and the development of self and the arts, including speech and the written word (skills that facilitate sharing the wisdom and insight one acquires). 

Agarwood’s primary element is ether, which carries the vibration of sound, expression, and the gift of speech, which are believed to be the very source of creation. This aspect of Agarwood amplifies mantra work (sacred syllables) and the ability to use speech mindfully to create one’s reality. 

These qualities make Agarwood an excellent choice for determining which path is worthwhile and ushering in, calibrating, and crystallizing new vibrational patterns--an incredible combination. 

Incantation: Sarasvati, uttering your very name helps transform mere knowledge into spiritual truth. I appeal to you to facilitate the expansion of my knowledge into wisdom. Support my desire that my heart, mind, and actions always reflect this wisdom and that I understand and become one with universal truth. 

Animal Archetype: White Heron. Self-reflection. Other traits include patience, determination, innovation, self-reliance, balance, self-evolution, independence, intelligence, strength, the wisdom of considering all options, thinking outside the box, and expressing uniqueness. 

Suggestions for Practical Use: Use to amplify communication, effective listening, and expression. Use to purify inharmonious emotional states. Use to gain access to timeless wisdom and for support of artistic expression. Use in mantra, prayer, and meditation practices. Supports being whole unto one’s Self. 

Betel Leaf (Piper betel) 

Elements: Fire seed of Ether 

Catalyst for: Balancing the ego, radical form shift, and releasing consciousness from matter 

Chakra Correlation: Manipura (solar plexus, 3rd), Vishuddha (throat, 5th) 

Key Vibrations: Gifts: enrichment of understanding through cycles; transmuting disturbances on the mental, physical, spiritual, or emotional level; allowing rebirth into new form--in accord with what has been learned through the most recent expression of Self; releasing consciousness from matter; allowing information stored at a cellular and energetic level to be made known to the conscious mind for use. Balancing: fear surrounding deep behavioral changes and change in external reality; disconnection from instinctual wisdom and body knowledge. 

Key Concepts: The combination of fire and ether gives rise to the energy of transmutation. This is the process of understanding the root of unwholesome energy and changing the energy’s form from its limiting state into its beneficial state.

 

Essential Oils in Spiritual Practice by Candice Covington, foreword by Sheila Patel, M.D. © 2017 Healing Arts Press. Printed with permission from the publisher Inner Traditions International. www.InnerTraditions.com. Availability: Usually ships within 1-2 business days. Price: $16.95. To purchase this book visit B&N.com, Amazon.com, InnerTraditions.com, or your local bookstore.