Making Scents

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Lexa Olick, author of Witchy Crafts.

Incense, candles, and oils are valuable tools in ritual work. Even unscented candles have their own waxy aroma, no matter how slight. Sweet-smelling herbs purify and cleanse our homes and essential oils have the ability to enhance our moods.

This beautiful bouquet of aromas is just a bonus to ritual work. Originally, gods were thought to receive nourishment from the scent of incense and oils. They took in the sweet savor of the scented sacrifices as one would take in food. The ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans all honored their gods with gifts of fragrances. It illustrates how universal the belief was that gods had very discerning tastes in smells.

However, would any of the gods be impressed by the chemical cocktails that surround us today? There are synthetic scents in air fresheners, laundry detergents, lotions, candles, and essentially any product that is scented. We can try to avoid it, but eventually we are going to out into the world and sit beside that one person who wears the most headachy of perfumes. If you have a hypersensitive nose, you probably avert your eyes or else you would succumb to nausea, headaches, puffy eyes, or any of numerous allergies.

Of course, I must confess that there was a time when I had a tendency to douse myself in fragrances. Lotions, powders, and perfumes are so tempting, but mostly I wear scents to feel good about myself. Coincidentally, I came to realize that the best way to feel good about myself is to wear natural products. They have metaphysical properties, are connected to earth, and don’t disturb those around me. Plus, I find that essential oils are natural mood enhancers and are far greater at invoking memories than their chemical counterparts.

The simplest way to mix essential oils is to dilute it with a carrier oil, such as jojoba or almond. However, I offer another simple process below.

Natural Perfume:

10-40 drops essential oil (combination of your choosing)

2 ½ ounces of vodka

2 tablespoons of distilled water

Pour the vodka into a glass jar. Add the essential oil one drop at a time and stir the mixture slowly. Seal the glass jar and let it sit for 2 days in a place where it’s dark. After it has sat undisturbed for 2 days, slowly stir in the distilled water and let it sit for another 2 days.

The best part about this project is that you can set it aside and forget about it. Many concoctions are time sensitive, but when it comes to mixing your own perfume it becomes more potent the longer it sits.

Our thanks to Lexa for her guest post! For more from Lexa Olick, read her article “A Link Between Power and Image.”