A dab on the wrist, a splash behind the ears.
To the French aristocrats of the 17th century, these points held the allure of seduction. Perfume would waft from neck to nose during greetings, whispers, and embraces.
The wrists and neck are also known pulse points. Did our perfumed ancestors intuit how powerful anointing these places with fragrant oils could be?
Within the energetic matrix of the body, a heart protective meridian — the pericardium — runs down the arm, with a few key points along the wrist. This meridian protects the heart, helping us manage heartbreak and trauma, and opening us to joy, love, and connection.
The neck is even more fascinating. In the Daoist lineage I study, the neck holds several points within a grouping known as the Windows of Heaven — points reserved for high initiates, connecting us with our higher selves and our ability to receive spiritual wisdom.
When aromatics were still made from natural ingredients, this meant that even European perfume traditions placed plant material directly onto the body's most spiritually receptive energy points.
Now think about the perfumes humans typically wear today: Most people are are covering their wrists and necks with synthetic substances that can block the flow of energy that connects our hearts with our intuition.
The gift is just as present, though. When we wear fragrance made with real plants, we attune the meridian matrix toward harmony. We strengthen the heart and open the connection to spiritual wisdom.
This means that anointing with plant perfumes is far more than aesthetic — it is literally restoring us into humans who can live from the heart, trust our intuitive knowing, and be fully awake for the wild waves of life we’re riding.
And this is available to you today.
Anointing Ritual to Nourish the Nervous System
Choose a floral essential oil or absolute you feel drawn to — chamomile, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, lavender, neroli are all lovely choices.
Add a few drops to 1 tablespoon of a carrier oil. Olive works in a pinch; jojoba has a longer shelf life.
Find Pericardium 6 — about three finger-widths (two cun) above the wrist crease, between the tendons. This point soothes the flow of Qi in the heart and brings peace to the mind.
You don't need much oil. Place a drop on your finger or thumb and gently hold the point for one to three minutes, or until you feel a shift.
Notice what happened: you didn't wear a scent. You made a decision about where a particular plant would meet a particular place in your body, and why.
Shifting into partnering with perfume for pleasure and practice is the “heart” of sacred aromatics.
Anointing points in the energy body are a core part of our upcoming training, Sacred Aromatics Foundations.
Over six weeks we move from practices like this into the history, symbolism, sensory training, safety, plant relationship, and ritual arts that surround them.
We begin Wednesday, October 14.
→ ENROLL TODAY
In other news, I was interviewed for the New Era Sessions last week! These are lovely talks on what it is to lead in these wild times, and all are free :) Here's a direct link to watch my free talk. Think grief and the unknown, earth and embodiment, and of course aromatics ;)
Many blessings,
P.S. The Aromas for Autumn Discovery Set has arrived — six sacred all-botanical perfumes that are perfect for anointing your own meridian matrix this season.
>>>Explore the set.
P.P.S. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing more about the aromatics arts, plants, and fragrance as a path to soul coherence. If you want to opt-out of the sacred aromatic foundations series, you can simply click here.
Juniper Stokes is a botanical perfumer, soul alchemist, intuitive astrologer, and rewilding guide through mythic landscapes of the nature, spirit, and the cosmos. For over 25 years, she has been guiding soulful humans back to the heart of who they are and why they’re here.
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Find alchemical aromatics in The Botanica.
