How To Use Attars
How To Use Attars and Sacred Oils
These are rare and precious oils. They are the soul of the plant. They are not a ‘product.’ To honor the wisdom of the spirit of the plant, we advise that you use them with respect and sparingly.
One way to really commune with and learn from each oil is to anoint yourself. Anointing is an ancient practice. There are different ways to anoint and we will describe a few below.
The Simple Anoint: Apply a drop of the oil to the inside of each wrist on the thumb side, where the pulse point is. One drop should be enough for both wrists. Then apply a drop to the area behind each of your earlobes. Again, one drop should be enough for both sides. If you want to smell the oil even more, you could rub the remains of the drop on your philtrum, which is the area between your upper lip and nose. As you anoint yourself, inhale with gratitude to receive the wisdom of the oil. Be mindful as you do this. You can set an intention before you anoint yourself and be mindful of the intention while you finish anointing.
Another way to anoint, following an ancient Muslim practice of working with attars is to apply a drop each to a small cotton ball and place each ball in the helix of your ears. The helix is the ridge-like area just outside your ear canal. Sometimes this is only done on the right ear.
“This is only done in the right ear, where at this point of placement is five cranial nerves that come together (for all the senses of the body) and form a nerve mass or ganglia. This is an important point and used in many alternative medicines such as Chinese acupuncture.” (1)
Another way to work with the oil and really learn from it is to carry a small amount with you at all times. You can get or make a medicine bag, which is a small satchel, usually made of leather, that you can carry around your neck, over your heart. It’s best to put just a few drops, or about ¼ ml in a a very small bottle (photo of small bottles and medicine bags). You can smell the oil and anoint
yourself as often as you need. Even when the oil is in the bottle in your medicine bag on your body, it will continuously teach and inspire you. Carry the same oil for weeks or even months and listen to its teachings.
Aura anointing: Place 1-2 drops of oil in your palms and rub them together. Anoint the space around your body, while visualizing your subtle bodies, i.e. your emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. Remember to cover the area under your feet and behind your back. Imagine the oil connecting with all your subtle bodies and forming a bubble of light around you as you do this. If you feel there’s a
particular area that needs more focused attention, you can flick your fingers in that direction.
There are many other ways to use the oils that we will share in our blog.