Nectar & Alchemy
The School of Sacred Aromatics
Nectar. The gift of flowers. The sweetness of blessings. A metaphor for the gifts of the gods in traditions throughout the world.
Alchemy. The art of transmutation. Alchemical traditions from West and East on inner and outer alchemy of transformation.
Dear Alchemist,
Sacred aromatics have offered humans a bridge between the spiritual and the physical for millenia. With Nectar & Alchemy: The School of Sacred Aromatics, you are invited to reangage with the wild mystery schools of our ancestors.
These are the temple arts.
And these are the wild ways.
And plant perfumes bridge the two.
The first course I’ll be sharing is on Plant Spirit Aromatherapy. This will introduce you to the sacred nature of distillation and plant spirit communication, as well as offer a foundation in the healing nature of sacred oils.
Further courses will focus on sacred anointing oils, the art of spiritual perfumery, clairolfaction, and more.
Courses through Nectar & Alchemy will be offered online, both live and prerecorded, with occasional in-person workshops in Oregon.
Those on the wait list will receive a few special gifts as I prepare for the official launch of The School of Sacred Aromatics.
I look forward to walking this mystical, aromatic path with you.
Many blessings,
Juniper
Nectar & Alchemy
The Elixirs of Life
To delight in the nectar of life, embodied and shared by our aromatic plants, is one of life’s true joys. We need the beauty of this fragrant generosity to uplift our spirits in this often challenging dimension of reality, to alchemize our collective transformation into the divine beings we truly are.
Traditions throughout the world agree…
In Hindu mythology, "Amrita," is the divine nectar that grants immortality.
In Buddhist traditions, nectar is symbolic of the bliss experienced through enlightenment.
In Greek mythology, nectar is the drink of the gods, conferring immortality upon them.
Honey, the sweet nectar of flowers and bees, appears in Christian mysticism. The "milk and honey" mentioned in the Bible represent divine abundance, grace, and the sustenance provided by God's love.
In many indigenous traditions, honey was a staple food as well, revered for its life-giving properties.
Alchemy is how we absorb the gifts of nectar.
The philosopher’s stone, a symbolic representation of alchemical pursuit of immortality, is a central theme in Western alchemical traditions — and do you know what the philosopher’s stone is also called? The elixir of life.
And it just so happens that Taoist alchemical practices share similar aims — the creation of an elixir of immortality. These elixirs were created both physically as well as internally, through inner alchemy practices.
These alchemical elixirs are literal nectars of immortality.
Immortality, in this sense, does not reflect some Highlander or vampiric version of eternal life. Rather, it is a reflection of our true state. Our souls are immortal. To touch into the truth of immortality is to bring awareness of our divine nature into this human world. Immortality is our spiritual connection.
the Healing power of nature’s perfumes
Humans have always known the power of plants to heal, cleanse, protect, adorn, beautify, and nourish — and the use of sacred aromatics is woven throughout our evolution.
Nature’s perfumes are the foundation of culture. The ancient Egyptian origin story holds that the universe was born from the fragrance of the lotus. The first material element was that of aroma.
And nature’s perfumes rewild us. Just try to walk through a fragrant forest without the aroma of fir and earth stirring your soul’s memory of its true nature.
With Nectar & Alchemy, I hope to weave us back into reverent relationship with the transformative nature of aromatic plants.
(And…I’m including flower essences as an honorable mention here. While the essences themselves do not carry any aroma, they hold the vibrational imprints of aromatic plants and are perhaps the most accessible form of alchemical nectar.)
origin story
The Creation of The School of Sacred Aromatics
I’ve had a lot of dark nights of the soul in my lifetime. I think it's just the way I’m made — I’m super sensitive with way too many existential questions swirling around my head.
Sometimes, societal issues overwhelm me. It just doesn’t seem like humans are “doing life” right, you know? My heart knows that we don’t have to keep experiencing so much suffering. We don’t have to keep causing so much harm.
And sometimes, it’s just all about me. My own bad decisions, regrets, and failures.
Either way, the shadows of life are familiar territory…perhaps some of you can relate ;)
Yet, I never stay in the shadows permanently. The beauty of life calls me into the light to participate more fully again and again.
I share this not to indulge in an epically self-centered dive into my own psyche, but to bring us to the allies that have helped me the most along this path: the plants.
Plants are magical.
Literally magical.
And when we partner with plants, we become more magical, too.
A few years ago, a series of personally traumatic events left me feeling completely broken.
I could barely get out of bed in the morning, and when I finally did crawl from bed to chair, I would stare at the wall and cry. This whole period led to a level of physical and mental burnout that I’m still recovering from years later.
During this intensely challenging time, the spirit world brought me a surprising form of support: smoke. Fragrant smoke.
I stumbled upon (or perhaps was divinely guided toward) a series of classes on Egyptian aromatics. Taught by a doctoral candidate working on her dissertation (Dora Goldsmith), these classes investigated, from an academically rigorous perspective, the use of aromatic materials in ancient Egypt.
I learned how to recreate Kyphi incense based on new translations of scripts from temple walls. I discovered ancient perfume recipes and learned about the priests and their process for creating sacred oils. I found resonance with the rituals of opening the mouths of the gods by anointing their statues. I meditated on the scentscapes of Egyptian gardens, funerary rites, and aphrodisiacs.
Though these classes were purely academic in nature, the Egyptian neteru delighted in my participation. I’ve dreamt of Thoth since I was a wee little girl and have had visits from Isis for as long as I can remember. Now, these beings were joined by Sekhmet, Hathor, Osiris, and more.
Inspired by the classes and encouraged by the gods, I began burning sacred resins each morning.
Kyphi for a general blessing and cleansing. Frankincense to connect with Ra. Myrrh for Hathor. And many, many, blends of locally gathered evergreen resins, copal, dragonsblood, opoponax, and more.
I used charcoal discs, grounding resins by hand with a stone mortar and pestle. I offered the smoke to spirit. And offered it to myself, immersing my entire being in fragrant clouds.
My soul began to speak more loudly during this time. It remembered these fragrances. It remembered this ritual.
And, as if by magic (because it was), I began to feel better.
I’m going to be sharing the Egyptian-inspired perfumes and incense blends that came out of this healing cocoon. Keep an eye out this August — I’ll be releasing this line with the heliacal rising of Sirius.
When I was deepest in the dark, exhausted and wrapped in layers of grief, the divine blessings of fragrance brought me back to life.
I have devoted my life to apprenticing in the sacred aromatic arts.
The innate connections that begin as messy backyard “elixirs” in childhood have evolved into sacred perfumes and wildcrafted remedies.
I’ve apprenticed with the gods and the plants. I’ve studied ancient source material. And I’ve devoted decades of time, energy, and money to studying with elders on the path:
I’m a clinically certified aromatherapist, as well as an herbalist and flower essence practitioner. My mentors and trainings include study with Roxanna Villa of Illuminated Perfume, Anya McCoy of the Institute for Natural Perfumery, Mindy Green of Aveda, Tiffany Carol’s aromapoint therapy, certification with the Herbal Academy, and ongoing apprenticeship in shamanic Taoist anointing practices as taught by Jeffery Yuen.
I’m not kidding when I say that I am fully devoted, on every level of my being, to the aromatic arts.
I’ve long imagined myself sharing these sacred arts with others, but it was always in the “someday” category…
Until my deep, dark night woke me up.
There is no more time to wait, the goddesses whispered in my ears.
Our time is now, spoke the plants.
This will heal you, said my soul.
And so, Nectar & Alchemy was born.