New Aromatherapy Card Deck

I'd like to let you know about my new Aromatherapy Card Deck, published by Fair Winds Press. This is the third in my series of holistic healing decks, and it's beautifully produced. The boxed set contains fifty full-color cards that describe various therapeutic uses for aromatic plants, along with striking images of each plant. 

For thousands of years fragrant oils, gums, and resins have been used for both medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Ancient Chinese and Indian texts describe the therapeutic, philosophical, and spiritual properties of aromatics. The Egyptians employed them in all areas of life, from seduction to embalming. The Bible discusses special oils for anointing and healing; aromatics were so highly prized that the "wise men" gave them to Jesus at his birth.

French chemist and perfumer René-Maurice Gattefosse coined the term "aromatherapy" in 1928 when he discovered, quite by accident, that lavender oil helped heal a burn on his hand and prevented scarring.

Essential oils are extracted, usually by distillation, from the flowers, leaves, bark, or roots of aromatic plants. Some essential oils can be rubbed directly on the skin to provide therapeutic benefits. Others may be ingested. When inhaled, scents affect the limbic system of the brain, causing shifts in brain wave function that can trigger emotional and/or physical reactions. Here are some popular ways to use aromatic oils:

• Put a few drops of oil in a diffuser or vaporizer and inhale the steam.
• Add several drops of oil plus a half-cup of milk to bathwater.
• Make a massage oil by blending 10–15 drops of essential oil into an ounce of a “carrier” oil, such as almond, grape seed, olive, or jojoba.
• Combine 1 teaspoon of oil, 8 ounces of distilled water, and 1 ounce of isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle and mist the room with it.

Only pure essential oils offer therapeutic properties––synthetic concoctions lack the plants’ natural vital energy. Some essential oils should not be ingested and some can be irritating to the skin––don’t them full-strength. Citrus oils can cause sensitivity to sunlight. Pregnant women, children, and the elderly, in particular, should exercise caution when using essential oils. Because essential oils are highly volatile, store them in dark, glass bottles in a cool place. Aromatherapy should be considered a complementary therapy, not a substitute for professional medical care.

New Acupressure Card Deck

I'd like to introduce my new full-color illustrated Acupressure Card Deck, which I hope you'll find interesting and helpful--it's now available from Fair Winds Press. One of the world’s oldest healing modalities, acupressure has been used in Asia for thousands of years to relieve a wide range of common ailments. Chinese medical texts dating back to 300 B.C.E. describe the practice of acupressure. Although virtually unknown in the West until the middle of the 20^th century, acupressure is becoming increasingly popular as a self-help and first aid treatment that supports the body’s natural healing ability.

Acupressure, it’s sometimes said, is acupuncture without the needles. This gentle and effective form of therapeutic touch follows the same general principles as acupuncture, but it’s less invasive. Instead of inserting needles into certain points on the body, you apply pressure with the thumbs and fingertips to stimulate the flow of life energy––or Qi, as it’s called in China––to the affected area(s).

According to Chinese medicine, disease results from imbalances in the body’s Qi. Acupressure facilitates the smooth, harmonious flow of Qi through a system of invisible channels known as meridians that run through the body. Hundreds of acupressure points lie along these meridians, like stations along a train route. Usually they are designated by the meridian name (abbreviated) plus a number to indicate their positions. They’re also called by colorful names, such as Sea of Tranquility or Three Yin Crossing, that describe their benefits or locations.

Using acupressure to treat common complaints

Acupressure is safe, easy, and virtually painless. You can use it to treat yourself or someone else, for all sorts of common problems––psychological as well as physical. Indeed, holistic healers generally believe that most physical ailments are linked with psychological issues. Therefore, it’s no surprise that a single acupressure point might benefit various disorders. “Heavenly Pillar” (B 10), for example, eases stress and helps heal acne––two conditions that often are connected.

Pressing a point can relieve discomfort locally––that is, at the place where the point exists––and/or in another part of the body that may be quite some distance from the point’s actual position. That’s because activating a particular point affects the flow of Qi through a meridian, generating healing along the way. For best results, you may want to stimulate several points together, as the cards in this deck suggest. Pressing both “Big Mound” and “Outer Gate,” for instance, can ease tendonitis in the wrist and arm.

Use your fingertips or thumbs––or both––to apply steady, gentle pressure to a specific point. Don’t tap or pump a point. Don’t grip it so hard you cause pain. If you wish, make small circles with your finger on the point. In most cases, you should hold a point for at least 30 seconds to a minute or more at a time. It may be necessary to activate a particular point several times a day to produce continued results. 

Many people experience acupressure’s benefits quite quickly. For example, applying pressure to “Intermediary” (P 5) quells motion sickness almost immediately. Some problems, however, require regular, repeated attention over a period of time. Daily treatment can produce long-term benefits and even help alleviate chronic conditions. (copyright 2010 by Skye Alexander)

I hope you'll check out my other colorful healing card decks, too: The Reflexology Card Deck and The Aromatherapy Card Deck.

The Sixth Sense

Psychic activity can occur when you are awake, asleep, or in between. Everyone experiences it differently. Some people have visions, some hear sounds or voices. Others feel distinct bodily sensations such as chills, twitches, or a tingling in the spine. Many just know something without understanding how they know it.

Psychic experiences fall into several categories. Clairvoyance (literally “clear seeing”) is the ability to see things beyond the range of ordinary physical perception, including events that have not happened yet. Psychic visions often come to us in dreams, but they can also appear in a shiny surface –– a crystal ball, pool of water, or the hood of a well-waxed automobile. Sometimes visions of nonphysical beings –– saints, angels, fairies, ghosts, elementals –– or even entire scenes emerge unbidden, seemingly out of nowhere, right before the eyes of the startled beholder.

Painter Marc Chagall was inspired to paint angels by a vision he had when he was a young man. Living in poverty and questioning his artistic calling, Chagall one night saw a huge, brilliant blue angel on the ceiling of his room. The angel, he believed, had come to give him the encouragement and confidence he needed to continue with his work. 

Clairaudience means hearing things that don’t actually resonate with our ordinary auditory mechanism. This includes sounds too distant to be picked up by the physical ear, such as a mother hearing her child’s cries of distress from miles away. Hearing things that have no physical source also falls into this category. 

Clairsentience or “clear sensing” is the term used for those inexplicable feelings we get when we know something without having seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched it. Sometimes clairsentience may be accompanied by a physical sensation, such as a tingling, prickling, burning, or chill, but the actual awareness arrives via a “sixth sense” instead of being received through one of our five physical senses. 

Precognition or premonitions about the future, telepathy or mind reading, communicating with entities in other planes of existence (also known as mediumship or channeling), psychic healing, intuitive medical diagnosis, psychokinesis (moving physical objects with your mind), psychometry (picking up psychic vibrations from an object), near death experiences, and past-life recall all fall under the “psychic” heading. 

These forms of enhanced awareness are often referred to as extrasensory perception or ESP. However, this implies that psychic ability is something “extra” when in truth it is as common as the senses of hearing, sight, and taste.

(Excerpted from 10-Minute Crystal Ball, by Skye Alexander, published by Fair Winds Press. Copyrighted material.)

Welcome the Spring Equinox or Ostara

Pagans and witches celebrate Ostara (also known as Eostre) when the sun enters 0 degrees of Aries, which this year occurs on March 20. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Spring Equinox ushers in warmer weather, days that are longer than nights, and the advent of new life. Christianity adopted this joyful period of the year for the celebration of Easter (which usually falls near the Spring Equinox). Ostara gets its name from the German fertility goddess Ostare; the word Easter derives from the same root. Both holidays celebrate the triumph of life over death.

In an old German story, a rabbit laid some sacred eggs and decorated them as a gift for the fertility goddess Ostare. Ostare liked the beautiful eggs so much that she asked the rabbit to share the eggs with everyone throughout the world.

Some popular Easter customs have their roots in Ostara’s symbolism. Eggs represent the promise of new life, and painting them bright colors engages the creative aspect of the sabbat. You might enjoy decorating eggs with magickal symbols, such as pentagrams and spirals. And rabbits, of course, have long been linked with fertility.

The Holiday’s Significance

The Sun King’s chariot continues climbing higher in the sky, reaching the point at which day and night are of equal length on Ostara. Therefore, this sabbat is associated with balance, equality, and harmony.

The Spring Equinox marks the first day of spring and the start of the busy planting season in agrarian cultures. Farmers till their fields and sow seeds. Trees begin to bud, spring flowers blossom, and baby animals are born. Ostara, therefore, is one of the fertility holidays and a time for planting seeds—literally or figuratively.

Ways to Celebrate

On Ostara, sow seeds that you want to bear fruit in the coming months. This is an ideal time to launch new career ventures, move to a new home, or begin a new relationship. If you’re a gardener, you’ll start preparing the soil and planting flowers, herbs, and/or vegetables now. Consider the magickal properties of botanicals and choose plants that represent your intentions. Even if you aren’t a gardener, you could plant seeds in a flowerpot to symbolize wishes you hope will grow to fruition in the coming months.

Witches connect each plant—herb, flower, and tree—with specific magickal properties. Sage, for example, is used for purification rituals. Mint and parsley can be added to prosperity talismans to attract wealth. White snapdragons insure protection and roses play an important role in love magick.

Excerpted from my book The Everything Wicca and Witchcraft Book, published by Adams Media (see Skye’s Books). Copyrighted material.

Writing Contest––Call for Submissions

Twenty-first century humans have become entirely too serioso. We just don’t laugh enough. So Lyndsey Powers, my writing partner and blog-mate at The 3:15 Club, and I have decided to help make Planet Earth a funnier place. We're launching a contest––and hopefully an anthology––about absurdly humorous work-related experiences. We're looking for true tales of bizarre tasks, wacky work environments, and ludicrous predicaments you've gotten into while trying to earn your daily bread. We're so eager for a riotous, side-splitting laugh that we'll even award cash prizes for the three best tales we receive. Please view our new blog LaughAtLifeBooks.blogspot.com  for more information about entering. 

Love Alchemy

Love is the ultimate alchemical substance that transforms fear into peace, judgment into acceptance, and pain into joy. The Beatles were right when they sang, “Love is all you need.”

At any moment, in any situation, regardless of how things appear on the outside, we can choose to respond with love or fear. When other people reject, insult, or attack us with their fear, we can either draw our swords or let the offense pass through us like arrows through smoke. We can decide whether to listen to the voice of Spirit or the voice of ego.

"Keep knocking, and the joy inside will eventually open a window and look to see who's there." – Rumi

Every day we are presented with opportunities to express love instead of fear. Harried store clerks might behave rudely toward us; impatient drivers may cut in front of us on the highway. If we bless rather than condemn, we will change not only our reactions but the circumstances themselves.

“Love is the total absence of fear.” – Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D.

Aromatherapy for Colds and Flu

Many people suffer from colds, flu, coughs, and other respiratory ailments during the winter season. Aromatherapy is the natural solution for the respiratory problems associated colds in the head, sinuses, nasal passages, and lungs because essential oils are inhaled. They go to work immediately on the affected parts, offering fast, gentle, soothing relief. In fact, essential oils actually get into the blood stream faster when they're inhaled than when they are taken orally and absorbed through the stomach lining.

For many people, aromatherapy is superior in every way to decongestants, shots, and other cold medicines, not only because they are fast-acting, but because they rarely cause unwanted side effects when used properly. Children and the elderly, who are often quite sensitive to medications, can derive wonderful healing benefits from the use of aromatic oils.

Inhaling the cool, stimulating aroma of eucalyptus, spearmint, or peppermint will instantly relieve stuffy nose and sinus congestion without drying out your nasal passages or causing drowsiness. Frankincense, balsam, sweet marjoram, and lemon balm can also be beneficial in treating congestion, coughing, and irritation in the head, nose, throat, and lungs. Pine, fennel, myrrh, and eucalyptus can help bronchitis and sinusitis; cedar wood, bergamot, hyssop, and cypress are effective in treating colic, asthma, and dry coughs. Tea tree oil is soothing to sore throats and can also relieve sores in the mouth and gingivitis.

Tea tree oil, peppermint, and eucalyptus are sometimes available in inhalant sticks, but you can also simply inhale the fumes of these essential oils directly from an open bottle. Tiny "pillows" or "sachets" of some aromatic herbs are available in health food stores and can be placed on your bedside table or pillow at night to help you breathe freely while you sleep. Or, you can simply put a few drops of one of these oils on a handkerchief and keep it close enough to inhale the healing fumes. Aromatic salves can be rubbed directly on the chest, much like Vicks, to break up congestion in the chest and head.

Some essential oils should not be ingested and some can be irritating to the skin if rubbed on full-strength. (Make sure you read the label before using any essential oil to avoid problems.) In this case, you can put several drops in a vaporizer or humidifier to fill your room with refreshing, healing scent. Or, add essential oils to your tub water and enjoy a soothing, healthful bath that will make you feel wonderful inside and out.