“When you want essential oils, how do you choose between oils from organically grown and wildcrafted plants?”

The top two concerns when you are choosing essential oils are purity and potency. How do you know that you are getting the best essential oils, if you have two kinds to choose from: those made from wildcrafted herbs, and those made with organically grown herbs?

For some people, it really is a matter of preference – and it depends on which essential oils you want. For some kinds of essential oils (rose, for instance), it is important to know the country or region of origin, as well as whether it is wildcrafted or organically grown. Most people know that the best rose essential oils come from a region in Bulgaria; the roses may or may not be grown organically, and they almost certainly will not be wildcrafted.

The main difference between wildcrafted herbs or flowers and organically grown is that wildcrafted herbs generally are not grown under commercial conditions and, therefore, not subject to the chemicals and fertilizers that agricultural companies might apply to the soil or crop. So they will usually already be free of objectionable substances, which is one of the main reasons you would seek organic essential oils – for their purity.

As for the potency, some people feel that wildcrafted herbs and flowers may be more potent than their organically grown counterparts. That may or may not be true. Until widespread laboratory analyses are conducted to reveal scientific differences in compounds, you must compare the results of both kinds, to select what feels right to you.

The differences can often be simply in what you prefer: the pristine conditions of a plant grown entirely in Nature, with no assistance from humankind – or plants grown under careful organic or biodynamic standards, that ensure proper health and well-being of both the plant and the humans or animals who will ultimately benefit. Most of the time, both essential oils made from wildcrafted herbs and organic essential oils will give you the results you want – with none of the unwanted properties from commercially grown/chemically treated herbs or plants. After all, total well being is one of the reasons people turn to essential oils in the first place.

Another way to look at this situation is that sometimes you can use both oils made from wildcrafted herbs and organic essential oils. For instance, in making the Blue Eagle Invocation™ Liquid Smudge (made by traditional Native Americans in a sacred way), both wildcrafted and organically grown herbs and plants are used. The formula is stronger because of the careful way the ingredients are chosen, and in the way the essential oils and organic grain alcohol base are blended and prepared.

From long term experience with the Blue Eagle Invocation™ as well as with both kinds of essential oils, I would say that both wildcrafted and organic essential oils have merit and should be considered for any of your aromatherapy needs. Look first to what you want the oils to do for you, and how they will be used; then look for which kinds of oils will offer you the very best results for the purpose you have in mind.

“Here’s what you need to know before you start!”

If you are interested in the energy that moves through your space – and how it affects all the aspects of your life, from your health and well being to your finances to your relationships – then you should learn what the principles of feng shui can do for you. Feng shui is the art of arranging your physical space to assist the energy (or “chi”) to flow without hindrance. While the practice of feng shui originates from China, it also widely popular with people who care about how their spaces look and feel – and with what kind of life experience you have within those spaces.

Many books have been written on feng shui (find some good ones here at our Amazon.com store) especially as Westerners want and need to adapt the feng shui principles into the modern Western settings of their homes, offices, and buildings. Without going into the entire feng shui system, or all of its practices – which DOES take a book to deliver – we will share here with you the 3 essential steps you first need to know, to get you started.

1) The map. The Chinese call this 8-sided map the Ba Gua. The Ba Gua tells what kinds of activities properly belong in which parts of any given space, whether a room, an office, or an entire house. That is important information to know, if you wish to create harmony and good energy flow within your space.

The usual kinds of activities assigned to the eight areas of your space are:

Work/Career
Relationships/Love
Health
Fortunate Blessings (Prosperity)/Wealth
Center/Harmony
Helpful Friends/Networking
Creativity/Children
Spirituality/Connection with Source
Inner Fulfillment/Education

It is important to know where each kind of activity will receive the maximum life force energy – and what kinds of things will obstruct it. After you know that, it is simple to create an auspicious environment where what you wish to happen can easily and harmoniously unfold.

2) Clear the space. Before you even start to do feng shui work on a new or established space, you need to clear the energy that is already there. Why? Because energy attaches to surfaces, and can even be held within objects. It is important to learn how to clear and cleanse the area first, to remove stale or unwanted energies, and to invite new, fresh life force into the space.

While you can burn incense or “smudge” (Native American sacred herbs) before starting the feng shui process, there is a new product available that is even better at clearing energy from spaces. It is good for places where you can’t burn things, and for people who might be allergic to smoke. The product is called Blue Eagle Invocation™ Liquid Smudge. It is based on the traditional sacred herb formula and was created by traditional Native Americans in a sacred way.

The Invocation™ immediately reaches the stale or trapped energy in all areas of the space, dispels negativity, and provides a clean fresh new start. Invocation™ is actually more effective for feng shui than burning incense or herbs, because the properties of the ingredients are amplified, not consumed. And it can be used in places where it is not possible to burn things (such as office spaces, clinics or hospitals.)

In any case, you must consider how to best clear the space you wish to prepare for your feng shui work. Whether you choose to burn incense, herbs, or to use the new Liquid Smudge formula, the clearing must be done.

3) Install corrective elements to enhance and balance the energy of your space. This last step is the hardest part of feng shui work, but you can easily find what you need in any of the many great books on this topic at your local library, online, or here at our Amazon.com store.

“Most people hate change. But did you know it doesn’t have to be challenging for you?”

What is change? Basically, it means something (or someone) is not the same. You probably already know that. What feels challenging for most people is the transition from one state of being, to the next.

From my experience, it seems that change is easy to accept – and even celebrate – when we have planned for it, anticipate it, and feel that we are consciously co-creating it, rather than being the “recipient” of change.

One way to plan for – and anticipate – our changes, is to use the I Ching. Wikipedia describes the I Ching as a “symbol system designed to identify order in what seem like chance events. . . The philosophy centers on the ideas of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change.”

If change really is inevitable (as it truly seems to be) then how do you achieve a balance, and survive even undesired changes, gracefully? The I Ching works through the use of specially marked “coins” which are randomly tossed while pondering a question; a “reading” is taken from the resulting patterns. The readings reveal certain trigrams and/or hexagrams, showing how the “yin” (or receptive principle) will be balanced with the “yang” (or creative principle) within the situation. The common interpretations of all the possible I Ching combinations are recorded in a book called simply, the I Ching (of Book of Changes.)

While some may consider the I Ching a form of divination, others use it as a tool for seeking clarity about the complex dimensions of situations and relationships, to help discover more possibility and more positive outcomes. If, for instance, your goals are:

• peace of mind
• better relationships
• more prosperity

then you may find information in the I Ching that can help guide you towards actions or attitudes that will help the process unfold more gracefully than you presently understand.

If any of the above goals are what you are working on, then you probably already know that your situation is going to involve change – either yours, someone close to you, or both. Therefore, in addition to using the I Ching, you may also want to learn about other ways that you can make the changes in your life more easily.

One of the ways to make personal life changes more easily might be to smudge yourself and your space, to keep the Chi, or energy clear. You might want to learn about feng shui, to organize your space and to keep the flow of energy constant in your environment. Or you might want to learn about flower essences, which can quickly and easily help you to make the internal changes you need, without spending years in therapy to do it.

If you like the idea of clearing your aura, you can now choose from a range of products such as incense, smudge sticks, or liquid smudge (a new version of the traditional formula, made in a sacred way by traditional Native Americans.)

Whether you use the I Ching, or any of the other tools available to you, to help you make your life changes more graceful, you should know that there are many more ways to achieve the changes than just one or two. It will reward you to discover them. Change doesn’t have to be painful or challenging, if you know how to help make it easy!

“Is it bad enough yet???”

How long can you stand to live or work in a space that doesn’t feel good to you? A lot of people just put up with it – but there might be times when it’s really obvious that something needs to be done about your space – and I’m not talking about the “clutter”. I mean the energy.

Here are the top five ways you will know it’s time to take action.

1. The odors are getting to you. If there are bad smells, then the energy behind the odor needs clearing too. (Smelly tennis shoes. Kitty litter boxes that haven’t been cleaned lately. Stale cigarette or cigar smoke. Kitchen odors. Fumes from the street or furnace.) Bad odors are produced when something begins to decay; and decay is not a life-force enhancing energy. Turn it around, and get the life force moving freely in your space.
2. Something bad has happened in the space. An argument. A physical fight. Illness. Some tragic event, or news of one. Even watching TV when bad things are being broadcast, can have a negative effect on the energy in your space. Powerful feelings release powerful energy fields – some of which can linger for a long time unless they are cleared. With any of the above, you need to clear the energy of whatever happened previously in the space.
3. You find yourself getting upset or angry a lot. It’s quite likely that there is some energy in your space that is helping to disturb your peace of mind. You may not know what it is (and you don’t really need to know) – you just need to change the energy so that you are not continually stimulated in negative ways.
4. You can’t seem to relax, or go to sleep, even when you intend to. The energy in your space may be keeping you from being as relaxed as you want to be. Some energy, even if it isn’t “negative”, can be too stimulating to promote relaxation. For instance, if you’ve been playing hard rock music all day and then you want to go to sleep in that space, you may find that the energy from the music has created an unexpected energy.
5. You don’t feel peaceful or calm in your space. This is the time to clear any energies and start fresh, to return the energy field to “neutral” so that you can enjoy your activities. Anything that prevents you from feeling very peaceful, is not promoting optimum life force, health, balance, or peace. Change it.

Finally, whenever your space just doesn’t “feel right” trust your gut – and clear the space, using some sage or cedar, incense, or Blue Eagle Invocation™ Liquid Smudge. The worst that can happen is the small amount of time it takes, and the best that can happen is that you can completely enjoy being in your space again. And wouldn’t that be a refreshing experience for you?