ESSENTIAL OILS WORKSHOP

- Submitted by Sandra Fecht

On a cold, rainy, Friday evening in October a group of us gathered at Hesperus to attend a weekend of Healing through Essential Oils. The workshop was organized by Regine Kurek and Arscura faculty and led by Thomas von Rottenberg, a Berlin Naturopath.

We quickly warmed to our workshop leader. Thomas is gentle, informative, a wonderful story teller, and has an infectious passion about the healing energies of the oils. He shared that along with curative eurythmy, and artistic therapies, the proper use of essential oils is one of the most powerful healing methods.

He began by reminding us that we are made of various bodies: physical, etheric, astral and "I" or ego forces. He said that illness feeds on forces that we do not use. He re-stated that anything we do not process consciously, our body will pay the price for and have to process it.

He told us that the healing is not about the essential oil, but the oil forming process. There are different ways to interact with the oil according to the levels of our different bodies.

He invited us to get to know the oils through three different methods:

First, he put an unidentified oil in the middle of the circle in the closed bottle and asked us to sense into it.
Then we were to get to know it through smelling it over a period of a few minutes.
Lastly, we had to meditate on the oil.

Wonderful rich, heady aromas filled the room as we each experienced the essence in the oils.

Thomas assured us that each reaction was correct according to our unique way of interfacing with the principle in the oil and how the full Being of the oil arose amongst all of our individual differences. It was interesting how different our reactions were and even how our own relationship with the oil changed over a few minutes.

He explained that the most information about the nature of the oil was found in the strongest reactions. That the reactions are a potent encounter between our core and the oil's core. He said that each oil is a carrier of a divine or higher principle. If we are aligned to that principle we will be at peace with it. If we have too much sympathy or antipathy to the oil it could represent a shadow side of that principle. In that case, the oil has a message for us on where to heal our selves. If there is no reaction, we are either at peace with the principle, or numbed out to it. In this way, the oils would show us our deficiencies, wounds and strengths with the principles they represented.

We developed our own unique relationship with each of the several oils he presented. He encouraged us to spend time with the oils, to get to know them better, even to put a vial under our pillow at night to allow the active principle in the oil to teach us. It was suggested we keep an oil journal.

He urged us to be conscious of the oils when working with them. That not to be so is an abuse to the Being of the oil.

Once this relationship with the oil is established, we can call on its divine healing principles to be with us, whether or not the physical oil is present. The stronger the relationship, the stronger the healing forces.

He also warned that there is one oil he knows that is not positive, Patchouli. It has a strong Ahrimanic force and takes away our free will. We are to be careful when dealing with it. Further caveats included the use of oils with children and those in crisis.

The most effective way to access the healing qualities of an oil is through an oil dispersion bath.

He led us through a consultation, demonstrated an oil dispersion bath and left us a list of resources.

Rahim B. Habib. ND (905-597-7201, 305 Carrville Rd , Richmond Hill is setting up oil dispersion baths according to this protocol.

The book Portraits in Oil by Phillip Mailhebianx was recommended.

Oils are available from Andrea Stanton (413-297-2802)

Thomas will return to deepen our relationship with these beings who heal us through oils.

Contact Arscura at www.arscura.com or 905-763-1003 for more information on upcoming workshops.