This eleventh episode of the Luna Aroma series finds us in Little Spirit moontime. Look forward to my upcoming Plant Talk write up on Eastern Red Cedar. In the meantime, check out the "Plant Talk" on Juniper Berry @ nycaromatica.com! Ciao for now ..read more

Settle in and descend. Welcome to the realm of liminal spaces, darkness and crossroads. Places and spaces where Persephone and Hecate among other archetypes may guide us. This Luna Aroma episode revels in the marked transition from late summer's end to the bittersweet falling leaves of full-blown Autumn. Which brings us to root season, a time to harvest root medicine such as Ashwagandha, Valerian, Angelica and Cohosh. And get grounded with all of the root essential oils, notably Vetiver. Come along and be my guest! I'll take you through seasonal themes, a guided aromatic meditative encounter a ..read more

Welcome to the 9th Luna Aroma Session! There is so much to share and love about this time of year, including Goldenrod and Asters. Things start to slow down this time of year, simmer and humm. The days are still warm and the sun still intense, but there's a different quality, one that Goldenrod exemplifies. Join me during this episode to be an observer and invite Goldenrod's conviviality, its energizing and fortifying qualities into your mind-body-spirit-soul. Each Luna Aroma is an invitation to spend time with yourself and the world outside: a connection to nature and the celestial sphere. E ..read more

Welcome to the 8th Luna Aroma Session! This time of year, mid-summer, has a lot going on; a bittersweetness as days grow shorter. There's still an abundance of growth, but things are slowing down, simmering. They aren't as urgent as they were only a few weeks ago. We're entering a time of maturity, protection and holding. These are themes that fit with Carrot Seed essential oil and the plant who bears the seed, the lovely "Queen Anne's Lace." I feel there's a sense of loss as we turn into mid and late summer--a loss of sun, childhood. Maturation acknowledges this but doesn't cling to it, it ra ..read more

Smudging with Sage, burning Frankincense in a censer, lighting incense to visualize and symbolize your thoughts rising to the heavens through smoke. These are only some of the botanicals and ways aromatics help us connect with the divine. What is the divine, the sacred? There may be debate about that, but I think we can all agree it is something that is bigger than us that also includes us. Incorporating aromatic botanicals--not synthetic fragrances--such as essential oils, hydrosols and raw plant material help us connect and commune with the present and sacred time. This episode shares though ..read more

This episode features Thunder moontime, when the hot and humid days of summer are often visited by thunder, lightning and rain. This is a time, like most times, to contemplate change. But this time is different. Lighting and thunder are sudden and drastic. They are poignant symbols of change and transmutation. Think of something in your life that weighs on you, that you are looking to change, to shift. Thunder moontime, lightning time, can metaphorically assist along with the powerful essential oils featured in this episode. Categorically, I feel, essential oils assist in change. They are agen ..read more

Welcome to Luna Aroma. A lunar-inspired way to work with and learn about aromatic plants and their essential oils. We get out of the books and turn to direct experience. It is here that we enter moontime, learning by observing nature's rhythms as demarcated by new and full moons.  Experience, Notice, Observe, let me be your guide.  Each episode is created and shared near each new moon, which provides a reference point and rhythmic structure to the ebb and flow of this aromatic journey. Why the new moon? New moons represent beginnings, starts and transitions to the next rise of energy ..read more

This Spotlight on Aromatherapy episode features Amy Galper; a published author and expert in clean beauty, formulation, aromatherapy and essential oils. She is the founder of the former New York Institute of Aromatherapy, the first in-person aromatherapy school in New York (where I earned my certifications)! This episode tackles some big topics that Amy is immersed in every day, from the dynamically expanding market of clean beauty, differentiating a business, sustainability, aromatherapy, formulating and providing coaching and educational know-how on entrepreneurial ventures on the afore ..read more

Welcome to Amy Anthony's Spotlight on Aromatherapy series featuring Cathy Skipper whose insights on embracing your unconscious to become your true self are thought provoking, exciting and empowering. Find yourself a quiet space for Cathy to guide you through the realms of alchemy, working with the unconscious and recognizing and reclaiming the feminine. When does a woman step into her true power? Why do we need initiation rites? Tune in to learn more. Following are only some of the insights Cathy shares during our conversation: Importance of liminality and transitions; navigating the edges. P ..read more

Happy Mid-Spring! A time of new beginnings, new growth and cleansing the mind and body of what is no longer needed. You may notice how this episode is slightly longer than other Luna Aroma musings. Why? I bookended the guided aromatic encounter with poems! The first is "Grass" by Joyce Sidman, the second is "Last Rites" by Rosa Alcalá. This is a moontime to talk with GRASS! Grass is growing, it is a resilient plant family that is often the "first"...such as the some of the first plants to emerge as the temperatures increase, the first to show up on disturbed sites...in and of itself the family ..read more