I love using essential oils both during my periods of prayer and also when I meditate, reflect or "listen" for wisdom.

Not only can essential oils help support our physical and emotional wellness, they also offer the incredible potential to support and complement our spiritual lives when used mindfully and safely.

This past year, I created several meditation diffuser blends that I am pleased to share with you on AromaWeb. They are intended to help ground and center you and support your intentions as you meditate or practice yoga.

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Added to AromaWeb's Book Shelf section is a review of the book The Sacred Art of Anointing by Allison Stillman.

Many may find that The Sacred Art of Anointing makes an enlightening secondary book on utilizing essential oils within spiritual applications, including anointing ceremonies and chakra work. I can sense that Stillman is eager to share the blessings and enlightenment that she has received over the course or her time in working with essential oils for anointing, and that energy resonates within the pages. I certainly mirror a number of her experiences/observations including Frankincense's use within meditation and its ability to enhance spiritual consciousness. The book, however, is rather disorganized in how the content is presented, and there is no index. I elaborate on these concerns within the full review.

Out of 1 million associates, AromaWeb was selected as the Amazon.com Associate of the Month for July, 2001.

I would love to see a revised edition of The Sacred Art of Anointing put into print. With some edits and better organization, this book could prove to be a much more useful and more often referenced guide to the use of essential oils for anointing, meditation, prayer and other spiritual applications.

Read the full review...

Buy the book from Amazon.com...

View all of AromaWeb's aromatherapy book reviews...

I'm happy to announce that I've just finished adding the new nine-page Aromatherapy & the Chakras section to AromaWeb's Article Archive.

The word chakra means "wheel" in Sanskrit, a sacred and holy language of Hinduism and Buddhism. Chakra is pronounced shock + ra with a "ra" sound as in oakra.

Chakras are invisible to the naked eye and interconnect our physical and spiritual selves. Each of the seven chakras is tied directly to a specific region and nerve center of the body.

It is believed that each of the chakras absorbs and filters the energy that we emit through our thoughts and actions as well as through the thoughts and actions of all those that we come into contact with. When one of the chakras is out of balance as a result of negative energy flowing through it, it begins to spin too slowly or too fast. When a chakra is not balanced, it can effect that physical region of the body and also effect very specific aspects of our spiritual and emotional selves.

Massage, reflection, meditation and energy work using essential oils can help restore specific balance to each of the chakras. Look to AromaWeb's new Aromatherapy & the Chakras section for information on the essential oils associated with each chakra.

• Introduction to the Chakras
Read this informative background and introduction to the seven principle chakras.

• Balancing the Chakras Using Essential Oils
This article includes details on how you can use essential oils and aromatherapy to help keep your chakras balanced.

The Root Chakra centers upon our core needs for survival, security and livelihood. When the Root Chakra is unbalanced, you will feel ungrounded, confused and lack the ability to move forward. Without a balanced Root Chakra, it is impossible to fully balance the other chakras. Read More...

The Sacral Chakra influences personal creativity ranging from artistic expression to creative problem solving. Healthy sexual desire and expression is also controlled by the Sacral Chakra, though communicating sexual desires is also directly affected by the Throat Chakra. Read More...

The Solar Plexus Chakra strongly influences your identity and sense of self worth. Imbalances can take on polar opposites ranging from low self-esteem all the way to arrogant, selfish behavior. Read More...

The Heart Chakra strongly influences the ability to give and receive love in a healthy way. The Heart Chakra also influences our ability to cope with the sadness of betrayals of a loved one or losing a loved one due to breakup, abandonment or death. Read More...

The Throat Chakra strongly influences our ability to effectively communicate our thoughts, opinions, desires and feelings - and just as importantly, our ability to hear, listen and understand those in our daily lives. The Throat Chakra not only influences what we hear and say through verbal communication, but it also influences body language and written communication methods. Read More...

The Third Eye (Brow) Chakra influences the areas of our mind that control our common sense, wisdom, intelligence, memory retention, dreams, spirituality and intuition. Read More...

The Crown Chakra influences our deeper understanding of ourselves beyond the physical or material. Read More...

I'm pleased to introduce AromaWeb's new Aromatherapy Spirituality & Enlightenment collection of articles. The new Aromatherapy Spirituality & Enlightenment category of AromaWeb's Article Archive currently features ten articles. I look forward to seeing this new area evolve to cover a growing and diverse range of spiritual topics. Each of these articles will discuss how aromatherapy and essential oils can enhance spirituality and enlightenment.

As a sidenote, I've been working diligently over the past few evenings to put the finishing touches on these articles for publication tonight. I reflected throughout the week on the tragedy and thought it would be meaningful for this section to be published today, 09/11/09. My thoughts & prayers are with all those lost or that lost a loved one on 9/11. If you are grieving over 9/11 or any other loss, do visit AromaWeb's Blends to Help Cope with Grief recipe page for ideas on essential oil blends that may help you during your grieving process.

I welcome you to read and explore the new Aromatherapy Spirituality & Enlightenment category of AromaWeb's Article Archive:

• Essential Oils for Spirituality
This article includes a categorized list of essential oils known for their particular value within spiritual applications.

• Meditating With Essential Oils
Proper use of essential oils during meditation can enhance the experience by grounding you and promoting a sense of calm. Read this article to learn more.

• Praying With Essential Oils
Essential oils can be diffused as you pray to help you focus your thoughts and prayers. Learn more within this article.

• Aromatic Botanicals, Aromatherapy and the Bible
In ancient Biblical times, the distillation technology needed to distill essential oils hadn't yet been discovered. Learn about the aromatic botanicals and oils that were available at the time.

• Aromatic Botanicals of the Bible
View a list of the botanicals mentioned throughout the bible. Each includes an example Biblical passage.

• Anointing With Essential Oils
Using carrier oils and essential oils, you can create your own anointing oils for use during prayer, meditation or during times in which you want to express your gratitude or intention towards a particular goal or outcome.

• Incense and Spirituality
Incense made with natural ingredients can be burned during times of meditation, prayer, general reflection or to help cleanse and clear the air and make a space sacred.

• Essential Oils to Cleanse, Purify and Combat Negativity
Essential oils have the potential to uplift our spirit, purify the environment and combat the negativity that we experience daily.

• Native American Smuding Rituals
Native Americans use fragrant natural herbs like sage, sweetgrass, juniper, cedar and pine/pinon needles to help cleanse and clear the air of negative influences and attract positive energy.

• Aromatherapy and Astrology
Aromatherapy and astrology are two fields that aren't considered closely connected. You, however, can integrate the benefits of aromatherapy into what you know about yourself and your loved ones through your insight into astrology.