The Unknown Land

Aromatic Allies, The Wounded Healer, Alchemy and the Integration of The Psyche

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Over the past six months I have been intensely working within The AromaGnosis Mentorship program, which I was honored to be accepted into and complete.

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What is AromaGnosis?

Well to oversimplify, it is using essential oils within C.G. Jung’s anatomy of the psyche and his work with alchemy to aid the integration of the Self. To make one’s unconscious, conscious. To integrate, not purge the shadowy parts of ourselves. To find the gift in our wound(s). To reclaim and rewrite one’s personal myth which is ever evolving.

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It is said that if we don’t learn to mythologize our lives we will pathologize them.

Working one’s own Wounded Healer’s Journey is central to all healing- of yourself, of your clients and of your environment. Anyone not knowing, thus not seeing their true Self cannot greet an individual as anything more than an object for their projections. The Wounded Healer can easily be The Wounded Wound-er if not continuously working to unearth, understand, and keep their own wounds in check.

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To paraphrase Cathy Skipper and Dr. Florian Birkmayer who have developed this method: Gnosis means the direct perception of Spirit in Nature. Through our use of scent, one becomes aware that Nature is not only conscious but also intelligent. Aromatic oils go right to our limbic system. Their effects are immediate as they can bypass every organ to get there. Smell makes up much of our reality and aromatics effect that, thus invoking emotional and physical responses.

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You see, we have evolved together with the plants. There is an inner knowing that happens when you work with them, especially when you smell an oil. There’s an interaction. The plant greets you as well. An energetic dance occurs. This innate knowing that comes through aroma allows reclamation of your relationship to plants and to all of Nature. In AromaGnosis there is a beautiful synthesis between aromas, personal evolution and soul growth.

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Aromatic molecules have profound powers to heal physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The oils encourage us to connect with the intrinsic aliveness all around and within us. Reconnecting us with the natural world, the invisible worlds and yourself. Working as an herbalist for over two decades has made me very aware of the healing plants provide on many levels, and essential oils are powerful. They are the soul of the plant. Absolutely the plant’s truest essence... everything else has been stripped away. There’s a palatable life force in them.

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The way AromaGnosis uses oils is not like traditional aromatherapy. We are interacting with the soul of a plant. The final potent product of a powerful distillation process. This coincides with the distillation process one undergoes in personal or soul alchemy. Working within C.G. Jung’s framework is a perfect fit for this work. Aromatic oils that are rather rare are chosen along with more well known oils to initiate and guide on journeys to achieve this process. The source of the oils used is of upmost importance. Most essential oils on the market are dead, there’s no life in them for many reasons and so they will not work here. Life recognizes life.

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My work with collage shows some of the different stages I went through while participating in the mentorship:

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The Psyche

The anatomy of the psyche (Self, ego, subtle bodies)

The psyche as a self-regulating system

Oils for each aspect of the psyche

Soul, spirit and mind

Aligning and balancing the whole person

 

The Wounded Healer and Personal Myth

Intentions and focus

Countertransference

Transforming wounds into wisdom

The importance of personal myth

Storytelling and narrative – a key element in healing

 

Embodiment

Dissociation and trauma

Oils for embodying

Oils for grounding

Exercises and tools for grounding and embodying

 

The Shadow

The importance of the unconscious

oils and allies for working with the unconscious

Exercises and journeys for accessing the unconscious

Tools for working with the unconscious – dreams, journaling, art/collage

 

Ancestral Healing

Transgenerational trauma

The motherline

Oils for ancestral healing

Tools and exercises for ancestral healing

 

Animus and Anima (Inner masculine and feminine)

Projection

Oils for working with the inner partner

How to identify and connect with inner partner

Sacred union

 

Tools and Allies

Boundaries and thread cutting

Techniques for Journeying

Inner child work

Soul retrieval

 

The Role of Psychedelics

Which psychedelics and why

Using oils and psychedelics

When psychedelics would be the right choice

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I hope you enjoy the art that came through as part of my personal process. Everything is made with paper, cardboard and glue. Some pieces took 45 minutes, others took days. I hand tear every piece of paper while smelling and journeying with the oils. I’m always surprised at what comes. The process works through me, gone is the illusion of control on my end while creating.

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May my art spark your curiosity in yourself and in AromaGnosis (aromagnosis.com) where there is a wealth of information available.

I only use oils from Cathy’s Attars (cathysattars.com) and I added brief descriptions of the oils under the pieces I created using them.

 

With gratitude,

Mary Susan Caston

July 23, 2021

 

“The world hangs but by a thin thread, and that is the psyche of man.”

-C.G. Jung