Facilitator Friday: The Art of Anointing


One of the ways to create sacred space is using essential oils in your circles.

The art of anointing has been around since ancient times.

Here is a short excerpt from Allison Stillman in her book “The Sacred Art of Anointing”:

“Anointing, whether a simple ceremony, or the more complex ceremonies of the Egyptian priestesses, will assist in the sacred declaration and consecration of our selves as holy vessels or temples of the Divine.

“Anointing heralds back as one of the oldest, and most traditional uses for essential oils. Recorded history traces this use of essential oils back more than 6,000 years. Although the actual ceremony or substance employed in anointing could vary greatly from one culture unto another, we find it nearly universal in the vast history of religion. There are more than 155 references to anointing found within the Bible alone, and it is within this context that we see the greatest written historical evidence of the reverence held for the rite or ceremony of anointing.

“Anointing with essential oils has been used for thousands of years as a method of consecration for our selves, our altars, temples, and homes to the service and devotion of the Divine, to symbolize and assure the presence and the pleasure of the Divine in a holy place.

“Anointing oils have traditionally been specific blends of consecrated essential oils known for their exalted spiritual properties, and their ability to lift us into higher states of awareness and consciousness. Essential oils are the subtle, volatile liquids, the complete essence or soul of plants, flowers, trees, roots, and seeds extracted through precise methods of distillation. Since as early as 4,000 BC, humans have used the oils from macerated plants for healing, for visionary, religious and spiritual ceremony, to scent or perfume, and for beauty preparations. We find evidence of this worldwide in many of the museums displaying artifacts of ancient cultures. In the British Museum, there are a number of antique Egyptian jars and bottles dating between 3,000 and 2,000 BC that verify the use of essential oils within the Egyptian culture.”

Resources

One of my favorite oil sets is Diana Dubrow’s Emerald Temple Holy Oils which you can find here.

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