Archive: I Love Love ,,, and Crafts!

While many of my workshops at Community Pharmacy were oriented towards holiday gift-making, I also taught about DIY body care, women's health, chemical sensitivities, and aromatic herbalism. Here is an article in the spirit of those workshops, which was originally published in CP's newsletter, Infused, in Feb. 2010.

Valentine’s Day is my second-favorite holiday, a fact that most of my friends find eye-rollingly silly. Even though it may have originated as a greeting-card marketing scheme, Valentine’s has become the one day every year when we are all encouraged to think about love, and sensory pleasure. Think about it: an entire holiday for contemplating the infinite variety of loving expression in our lives. Whether you are happily relating or happily single, emotional wellbeing and sensuality are a part of a healthy life.

If our brains are our largest erogenous zones, then intentions are our strongest aphrodisiac. When we take the time to infuse oil with fragrant herbs, or flavor a honey with delicious spices, we spend time attending to our wellbeing. This attention, and time, helps us not only to slow down and focus on the important things in our lives, but also to create a durable niche in our lives for those important things. And just as there are many healthy ways to express emotions and explore sensuality, there are many delightful and daring delicacies for all your senses.

Herbs traditionally used in aphrodisiac formulas are gentle and effective, offering subtle fragrances, delicate flavors and unique medicinal nourishment. These herbs may calm the nervous system, stimulate the circulatory system and tone the adrenal system; each in their own ways soothing or exciting the body so it can more easily find pleasure. Getting to know these herbs, and the ways they benefit your individual physiology, is another exploration in sensuality.

Relaxing herbal aphrodisiacs calm the mind, lift the mood and alleviate any tension or anxiety which may be interfering with libido: Catnip, Fennel, Jasmine, Lemon Balm, Oatstraw, Rose, Vanilla

Flirting Tisane – a fragrant, floral and feisty hot drink

• 1/2 C rose petals
• 1/4 C damiana
• 1/4 C catnip
• honey to taste

    Steep 1 tablespoon tisane blend in 1 cup boiling water, covered, for 10-20 minutes, and strain before enjoying.

Pillow Talk Infused Body Oil - a sweet and fresh skin oil

• 2 C almond oil
• 1 C catnip leaves
• 1 C damiana leaves

    Combine herbs in a quart jar and cover with oil. Place jar in a pan of simmering water and heat in this double boiler for 2-3 hours. Remove from heat, strain and discard herbs. Store in dark glass and use for moisturizing, massage or as a base for salve and lip balm.

Stimulating herbal aphrodisiacs increase circulation throughout the body and raise energy levels and alertness. While strong stimulants (horny goat weed, yohimbe) should only be used occasionally and on a short term basis, gentle stimulants may be used on a regular basis: black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cocoa, coffee, damiana, ginger, maca, ylang-ylang

Sun’s Spices Honey - a warming, stimulating sweet treat

• 1 C raw honey
• ½ T powdered ginseng root
• 1/2 T powdered ginger root
• 1 T powdered maca root
• 1 t powdered cinnamon bark
• 1 t powdered cardamom seeds

    Combine all ingredients in a tempered bowl placed in a pan of simmering water. Stir constantly, till honey melts and the herb powder is incorporated, then heat for another 30 minutes. Remove honey from heat and transfer to a clean glass jar with a tight lid. Allow the honey to further infuse in a sunny spot for 2 weeks before enjoying. Drizzle 1 teaspoon into your favorite tea, onto fruit salads, or a friend!

Spice Garden Aromatherapy Body Oil - floral with a kick

• 1 C almond oil
• 35 drops lavender eo
• 25 drops cardamom eo
• 10 drops bergamot eo

    Combine essential oils in a dark glass bottle, then add almond oil. Shake well. Let steep for 7-10 days to allow scent to mature before using as a moisturizer or massage oil.

Tonic herbal aphrodisiacs are used regularly to maintain good health and improve strength, stamina and vitality: Basil, Dong Quai, Ginger, Lycii, Maca, Oatstraw, Sandalwood, Sarsaparilla (for men), Shatavari (for women), Vetiver

Bright Eyes, Big Smile Body Oil – a sunny, come-hither moisturizer

• 3 oz almond oil
• 1 oz calendula-infused oil
• 12 drops bergamot eo
• 8 drops ylang-ylang eo
• 4 drops sandalwood or cedar eo
• 4 drops vetiver eo
• 2 drops ginger eo

    Combine essential oils in a dark glass, 4-oz bottle. Add infused and almond oils, shake well. Letting steep for 3-7 days will allow scent to mature. Use after bathing, or for massage.

Daily Delight Tisane – a long-steep tisane to drink every day for ongoing stress relief and deep reservoirs of wellbeing

• ½ C oat straw
• ½ C lemon balm leaves
• 2 T rose petals

    Combine herbs in a quart mason jar, fill with boiling water. Cap tightly and let steep 8 hours or overnight. Drink 1-4 cups per day, warm or chilled.

Essential oils (eo) are the concentrated distillations of aromatic herbs prized for their therapeutic scents. In aromatherapy, there are two families of scents that are classically romantic in many people's minds: florals and sweet spices. Just as roses are a symbol of love, essential oils distilled from flowers offer us the aromas of beautiful bouquets and have nerve-calming, mood-lifting benefits. Essential oils distilled from sweet spices offer us cozy, comforting aromas with body- and heart-warming effects! Through the aromas of beautiful blooms and comforting kitchens, many people easily find feelings of affection, joy and intimacy. Using essential oils from these families in perfumes, massage oils or room scenting can be and an ideal way to invite aroma into a sensory feast for yourself and your home. 

Silk Sheets Aromatherapy Spray - a warm, sweet, spicy and deep bedroom scent

• 3 oz distilled water
• 1 oz 100+ proof vodka
• 10 drops rose geranium eo
• 5 drops cinnamon eo
• 5 drops clove eo
• 3 drops patchouli eo

    Combine in a spray bottle, let steep 3-7 days for scent to mature. Shake well before spraying anywhere.

Hothouse Flower Aromatherapy Perfume

• 2 t jojoba oil
• 35 drops petigrain eo
• 20 drops ylang-ylang eo
• 5 drops vetiver eo

    Combine essential oils in a 1/3 oz roller vial, then add jojoba oil. Letting steep for 3-7 days will allow scent to mature. Apply as desired.

Making your own Personal Lubricants can be an excellent alternative to commercially available lubricants, which are often made with synthetic ingredients that may upset delicate skin, contributing to irritation and infection. These simple recipes are made with food-grade ingredients. They are intended to be made and used fresh; having no preservatives they will only stay good for a week or so.

Flax Seed Lube – a totally organic mid-weight lube

• 1/2 C organic flax seeds
• 3 C distilled water

    Boil water in a non-reactive saucepan. Rinse flax seeds in warm water. Add seeds to water and reduce heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, cover and steep another 5 minutes. Immediately strain liquid thoroughly (through a mesh strainer and 3 layers of cheesecloth). Discard seeds and store in a very clean bottle. Latex-friendly. Makes approx. 2 cups.

Lube of the Future – a light, superslick, nontoxic lube

• 1 t xanthan gum powder
• 1 t sea salt
• 2 C distilled water

    Combine salt and xanthan gum in a non-reactive saucepan. Whisk in water, a few tablespoons at a time. Bring water to a boil, stirring constantly while formula thickens. Remove from heat and strain immediately through a mesh strainer. Discard any remaining solids and store in a very clean bottle. Latex friendly. Makes approx. 2 cups.  

Still Making Gifts

Teaching the annual holiday craft workshop series "Get Crafty" was one of my favorite projects at Community Pharmacy. I loved developing new recipes that set a scentscape for a particular year, and building a gameplan for the workshop that was equal parts skill-raising discussion and hands-on play. Here is an article in the spirit of those workshops, which was originally published in CP's newsletter, Infused, in Nov. 2014.

Get Crafty for Healthful Homemade Holidays!

With a few weeks remaining til the holiday season is in full swing, now is a perfect time to create the fresh and fragrant homemade gifts you will bring to this season's potlucks, parties, and homecomings. It's a time for gratitude and celebration – of family, food, and good health!

Holiday Party Mocktail Syrups

The complex flavors and digestive benefits of craft cocktails are also an open invitation to those of us who look for unleaded beverages. Homemade bitters and flavored sugars can take weeks to infuse, but herbal syrups can be brewed in an afternoon. Blended into sparkling water, fruit juices, hot herbal teas or coffee, they transform dull draughts into drinkable delicacies. You may want to make a double-batch – every time I bring these to holiday potlucks, I come home with empty bottles!

Rosemary Tangerine Syrup

4 tangerine's worth of zest (I carefully use a vegetable-peeler)

2 6-inch sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 C water

2 C sugar

    Add zest and sprigs to the water in a non-reactive pot over medium-high heat. When the water begins boiling, add sugar and stir until it is dissolved and the syrup begins to thicken. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 2 hours. Strain out the solids and store in a clean bottle. Makes 1 quart. Try 1-2 tablespoons in a glass of sparkling water or fruit seltzer.

Rose & Spice Syrup

¼ C cardamom pods (slightly crushed)

2 cinnamon sticks

6 cloves

½ C rose petals

2 C water

2 C sugar

    Add the spices to the water in a non-reactive pot over medium-high heat. When the water begins boiling, add sugar and stir until it is dissolved and the syrup begins to thicken. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 1 hour, then add the roses, and steep another ½ hour. Strain out the solids and store in a clean bottle. Makes 1 quart. Try 1-2 tablespoons in a cup of coffee or black tea.

Home Aromatherapy Sprays and Diffusion

Walking into a good-smelling house is always a pleasure, and especially so when the smells remind us of holiday celebrations! These essential oil (eo) blends smell beautiful, are antimicrobial to help clear the air during cold & flu season, and inspire good cheer. Each of these recipes will make 1 milliliter of aromatherapy blend, which can be used for scenting any number of formulas! For diffusion, add 10 drops of your aromatherapy blend to the water reservoir of a nebulizer and run 30-60 minutes, per room. To make a home scent spray, add 20 drops of your blend to 2 ounces of distilled water in a spray bottle made of dark (amber or cobalt) glass.

Deep Breath Aromatherapy Blend

12 drops douglas fir eo (Pseudotsuga menziesii/douglasii)

8 drops eucalyptus radiata eo (Eucalyptus radiata)

2 drops peppermint eo (Mentha piperita)

8 drops spike lavender eo (Lavendula spica)

Holiday Health Aromatherapy Blend

4 drops cinnamon leaf eo (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)

8 drops clove bud eo (Eugenia carophyllata)

6 drops oregano eo (Origanum vulgare)

10 drops sweet orange eo (Citrus sinensis)

Gifts of Glowing Skin

Homemade body care gifts are my favorites to give, they are the perfect practical luxury – fresh, useful, and custom-created for those you love. Cleansing shower scrubs are an excellent gift for our dry Midwest winters. Scrubs help keep your skin soft with nourishing oils that protect from overdrying, while detoxifying salts and exfoliants polish away dry skin. Keep your friends and family in mind while you mix!

Squeaky Clean Scrub

1 C fine sea salt

1/2 C almond oil

1/8 C unscented liquid castile soap

4 drops lemongrass eo (Cymbopogon flexuosus)

4 drops tea tree eo (Melaleuca alternafolia)

    Combine salt and oil, mix well. Then add soap and essential oils, blend gently to prevent clumping or froth. This scrub is gently antimicrobial, making it it perfect for cold & flu season. It rinses cleanly away and is very moisturizing – try it in the shower, or beside the sink as a hand-wash. Makes 12 oz.

Everything Nice Scrub

1 C fine sea salt

1 C sugar

2 T grapeseed oil

3 drops vanilla absolute (Vanilla planifolia)

7 drops lemon eo (Citrus limon)

2 drops cinnamon leaf eo (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)

1 drop ylang-ylang eo (Canaga odorata)

    Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well, store in a jar with a tight lid to preserve the scents. This is a sweetly scented, lightly moisturizing scrub that can be used in the shower or the bathtub. Makes 16 oz. Will keep 6 months in a sealed jar.

Solstice Morning Circulation Scrub

3 /4 C. oats

1/2 C. kaolin clay

1 / 2 C fine sea salt

1/4 C. almonds

1/2 C dried orange peel

1/2 C dried ginger root (or ¼ C powder)

1 T cinnamon bark (or 2 tsp powder)

    Grind the herbs and oats together and mix thoroughly with the clay. Store in a glass jar with a tight lid to preserve the fragrance of the herbs. To use, mix 1/2 cup of the scrub mixture with enough water to make a paste. Massage into your skin in the shower or bath, and rinse with warm water. This oil-free scrub leaves the skin silky soft and is perfect for those with itchy winter skin, but please be mindful of nut allergies when giving this gift. Makes 5 applications.

Seasonal Perfumes

In addition to smelling fantastic and keeping seasonal bugs at bay, the aromatherapy of essential oils can lift our emotions, boost our confidence and put a smile on our faces. Positive scent-associations help build strong happy memories, and can help us be more fully present to moments of joy and caring. Wreathe yourself in beautiful scents, and carry the holiday spirit with you!

Chocolate Box Perfume Oil

12 drops cocoa absolute (Theobroma cacao)

10 drops vanilla absolute (Vanilla planifolia)

12 drops atlas cedar wood eo (Cedrus atlantica)

12 drops rose geranium eo (Cymbopogon martinii)

6 drops sandalwood eo (Santalum spicatum)

8 drops clove eo (Eugenia carophyllata)

2 tsp jojoba oil

    This is a sensuous sugar & spice perfume for anyone with a serious sweet tooth. Combine essential oils in a 1/3 oz (10 ml) glass bottle, preferably one with a roller-ball applicator tip. Fill with jojoba oil, shake well. Let infuse for 3-7 days for the scents to mature, then apply to pulse points and enjoy!

Woodland Spirit Cologne

2 drops patchouli eo (Pogostemon cablin)

8 drops atlas cedar wood eo (Cedrus atlantica)

6 drops douglas fir eo (Pseudotsuga menziesii/douglasii)

6 drops wild scotch pine eo (Pinus sylvestris)

4 drops cinnamon leaf eo (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)

3 T (1 ½ oz) 100 proof vodka

distilled water

    This is a fresh and wild-scented spray perfume for magical creatures of all kinds; male, female and all other shades. Combine essential oils in a 2 oz (60 ml) spray bottle made of amber or dark blue glass. Add vodka, cap tightly and shake, then top off with distilled water. Let infuse 3-7 days for scent to mature. Shake well before spraying onto pulse points.

Happy Holidays – may your skin stay soft and your home always smell wonderful!

Gifts of Love

All through the mid of January I threw myself into designing a bittersweetsweet workshop. Fusing my two great loves in the world of wellbeing; the female and the aromatic. I had a two-hour window to perform a conjuring of living, breathing, healing sensuality, and I meant to make the most of every second. Figured it would mostly attract women in the night of winter, curled up inside woolen selves, missing sunshine and skin. Well, figured there'd be more like me out there. And I'm speaking now from the other side, from 4 weeks of steeping myself in sandalwood and jasmine at night, brewing honey into syrup with roses, vanilla, sweet wicked damiana by day. And remembering that, while it's our roots that place us deep in the world (like our crowns keep us hooked into the inspiration of the cosmos), it's that second chakra that keeps us solid in the world of the human (just as that third eye translates celestial inspiration into every day's insight.)

Which is certainly not to equate being a woman immersed in aromatic medicine with some kind of ambulatory womb, but is to say; if this life is about being in this body, and the thing that differentiates this body from others is skin and sensation and a particular sweetness of anatomy -- okay.

So I took all the time I might have to look outwards to perfect recipes and stretch the variations, to make little altars every day to the idea and flavors of intimacy in friendship, solitude, fantasy and memory. And it's good I think that I've been alone in this room, on these sharp winter days, to do this magic. It's gotten a little tangled, a little humid, like a dense sponge quietly living. The other, meatier side of solitude. Not the windy, heady heady satisfaction of the single mind, focused at leisure on a single point. More the deep silk and quicksand sensorium of this singular body, and the participatory insight of physical being. More incorporation, more direct experience, more living in nouns.

St. Valentine's, Modern Day of Consensual Acknowlegement that Love is a Powerful Thing We All Thrive Within, is my second-favorite holiday. I have not, for many many years, passed it without an Other to shower with all the gold of my imagination. I wrestled with that while I infused, composed and created the little labors of love with which others with shower their Others this year. And it's good now. Open hands, steady feet. And this wide gold mirror before me.

The World Scent sent me Whirling

It's a tricky thing, talking about the way something smells. Unlike our other senses, we have very little common vocabulary for scent, and what we like and don't like is tremendously subjective -- sometimes incomprehensibly so. And all this is biochemically/neurologically strung just so, with all the imagery of Irish lace or dewy spiderwebs you could want. We smell differently. Not just the fragrance of each of us, also the way each of us perceives fragrance. And the way each of us are able to perceive the fragrances of the world. (The winning 2004 Nobel Physiology Prize work explains this beautifully.) And then, there are thousands of chemical compounds in the world, and limitless combinations thereof.

But that's not why it's tricky to talk about. All that is actually totally beside the point; the biology gets us there, but to hang the experience on the wonderful, exquisite and astounding hardware that makes it possible is like talking rods and cones while watching the the Perseid meteor shower under the purple skies of Utah's red desert. (Which I haven't done yet, though it creeps higher on my list of backpack plans every year.) The experience includes and transcends the biological hardware, and the chemical software.

The experience of scent transcends sense of self and preconception, more than any other sense, scent brings us to the immediate moment. And as quick, scent floods our minds with memories and associations, and tickles our body into physiological rapport. Talk about synesthesia! Each inhalation of scent is a microcosm complete, a dream and a true transport and a visceral root. The inhalation breathes into us an expanse that touches our cores and our voids, and the exhalation looses it all to the breeze. I think scent is difficult to discuss because at its depths, scent is a truly an internal -- an individual -- experience, and one that calls up all our own personal myths.

After smelling the concentrated essential oils of strong herbs, deep flowers and sacred woods-- and the fragrant growing world of a Northern California mountainside -- for four days, I think something in my metaneurology has grown. I notice scents more, but I'm also sure I sense scents more. The world smells so beautiful.

Delight & Wonder #1

Have you noticed we taste each bite of food during our exhalation? You probably know how intrinsically intertwined smell is with taste, how smelling is the better part of tasting, but now I also think that smell and taste are two terrific way-stations on the same sense-pleasure circuit.

Try this: Take a bite, a smallish one, of something delicious. Chew with your mouth closed. With each inhale, chew, and pay attention to smelling the delicious that's still on your plate. And then exhale, chew, and taste. 

What do you think of that magic?

The Plan

In accordance with the basic patterns laid in the foundational stories of travel and transformation, I will be journeying in a circle, observing cardinal rules of three, and passing once again through landscapes long foreshadowed -- albeit at a new fractal level. The language I will observe is symbolic, the stars that will guide me are Self, Community, World. Healing within, charging these hands to heal outward, and the open heart to hold both at once.

Having tried for months now to find this progress in the small hours of the night, in one small room in my smallish hometown, I am now taking more radical steps.

At the end of July I'll fly away to my Brother's nest on the wet, wooded east coast, and roost for a while. We'll sit a retreat at the Insight Meditation Society, and bring some quiet into ourselves. Self. We'll live together and enjoy each other's company. He'll work and I'll study the next chapters of my aromatherapy course. We'll cook together and I'll cajole him into getting a library card so I can use it. We'll watch trashy movies, play in the ocean, camp a bit, and eat good things from the sea. Community. In the middle of the month I'll drive further north to the Northeast Women's Herbal Health Conference, and dip into that green witch well. Grassroots herbalism, the quietly flamboyant family of people who talk with plants. A kitchencentric health care philosophy at once revolutionary and deeply precidented. World.

In the middle of September I'll fly to the deserts of the dry, rocky west coast, and forage for a while. I'll attend an aromatherapy retreat offered by Floracopeia, and welcome the lushness of sense sensitivity well explored. Deepen my study with experience, weave into the web of healers through scent, and the herbalist activists bringing this basal bounty to every day life everywhere. Community. Then further out west to the ocean highway and some tandem time with my traveling Mother, time visiting old friends, eating duck and noodles, soaking the desert out of my pores so I am receptive for more. And then, then, then! A vision fast in the School of Lost Borders. Alone at last, out into the desert unknown, to walk right up to the crossroads and sit at that bright intersection til every piece comes rushing back. And walk, upright, through the crossroads carrying that bright peace. Self/World.

And then I'll fly home.