I hope that you are inspired by the content and visual energy of this reformatted Shining Sun Aromatherapy e-news.  I have created this new look and am committed to more consistent communication with you, my dear friends, clients, colleagues and students.

The body intrinsically knows that the warmth of Summer means bountiful, fresh food supplies and craves lighter, cooling foods like steamed vegetables and salads. Longer days mean more time outdoors and an abundance of fresh air. Add medicinal essences to the mix and you have a perfect combination for cleansing, detoxifying and healing. It is absolutely possible to reinvent and revive one’s state of health and fortunately there are many oils that support doing just that.

• Vetiver
• Patchouli (heavy metals)
• Red Pine (emotional toxicity)
• Santolina (kidneys, gall bladder, liver)
• Ginger Lily (liver)
• Fennel
• Rhododendron
• Ginger
• Black Pepper
• Rosemary
• Juniper Berry
• Cypress
• Laurel Leaf
• Peppermint (liver, intestines)
• Balsam gurjun
• Calamus (liver)
• Sweet Basil (liver)
• Turmeric.

• Black Cumin (nigella sativa):  We use this as a general tonic. I personally take about 30 drops a day, and can REALLY tell if I forget to take it.  Black Cumin is wonderful for increased energy and stamina, as well as mental clarity.  Black Cumin contains 21% protein, and is an excellent source of EFAs (essential fatty acids), necessary for cell maintenance, the stabilization of cell membranes, and the metabolization of cholesterol and fat in the blood.  The EFAs’ linoleic acid and gamma linolenic acid are used by the body to produce prostaglandins, vital hormone-like substances that regulate many body processes. Nutritional information from the book Black Cumin, the Magical Egyptian Herb for Allergies, Asthma and Immune Disorders, by Peter Schleicher, MD and Mohamed Saleh, MD.
• Rose Hip Seed Oil (rosa rubiginosa): The dried form (rose hip fiber) contains Vitamin C, with about 1700 to 2000 milligrams per 100 grams in the dried product. In contrast, an orange contains 50 milligrams of vitamin C per 100 grams and a kiwifruit 90 milligrams per 100 grams.  Rosehip seed oil contains retinol (vitamin A). It is also high in the essential fatty acids, linoleic acid (omega-6) and linolenic acid (omega-3), as well as the antioxidant lycopene and beta-carotene. Wisdom of the Earth offers two types of the oil – “regular” Rosa rubiginosa, and Rose Hip Lycotop, which is made from only the red seeds (which contain greater amounts of lycopene).  We also have the Rose Hip fiber (mentioned above) which is great to put in smoothies, and some people make a tea of it.
• Cucumber Seed Oil:  Rich in Vitamin C and B1, cucumber seed oil is a powerful antioxidant that can prevent the onset of premature aging caused by free radicals. Cucumber seed oil is also high in Omega 6 fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory.  I love to use this to calm and soothe my skin after using a mild exfoliant (our Rose Hip Seed exfoliant).  When chilled, it is very cooling and soothing to sunburns, along with Lavender essential oil.

• Violet (fear, vulnerability)
• Vetiver
• Blue Chamomile
• Blue Yarrow
• Lavenders (particularly Highland and Albanian)
• Wild Chamomile (anxiety, worry)
• Scotch Pine (overwhelm)
• Red Spruce (confusion, consumed by “what ifs”)
• Sandalwood
• White Spruce.

The fact that few could recognize the sugar cane, though it had been a local staple less than 20 years before, underscores how quickly a generation can lose valuable knowledge once the need for a particular crop is gone. Today, the vast majority of Americans have lost the knowledge of how to grow and produce food. We, for the most part, have handed that responsibility over to someone else or, more likely, to someTHING else. Giant companies like Monsanto count on this disconnection to facilitate their plan to control the seed of the planet. Either the typical person has no idea that these companies are buying up patents on our seeds and staging a food coup to wrest control over the seed from farmers all over the world, or they hear it and dismiss it as unimportant or irrelevant.

The time will come when we need to regain these skills. To learn the personality of the land and weather again, to learn how to read the soil, to share seed with our neighbors as well as planting tips and soil secrets. Perhaps you will be the one in your community growing medicinal plants and distilling them for your neighbors while they supply you with corn and eggs. Success will depend upon your relationships with your neighbors, not fierce Yankee independence. Sustainability will be—IS—the key. Self sustaining practices as well as planetary sustaining practices. It is time to restore that age old bond between humans and the natural world and not let anyone tell you it is “unimportant” or “irrelevant.”

It is time we stand up for farming policy that honors local food production and respects the integrity of natural food. There is NOTHING natural about a Genetically Modified Organism (like corn or potatoes) that has within its cell structure man implanted pesticides designed to ward of insects, bacteria and fungi. I remember one of the famers interviewed by Michael Pollen for his fabulous book, The Botany of Desire. He broke down crying while discussing his farming practices over dinner with Michael, saying he HATED the way he had to farm. He remembered how his grandfather had farmed and yearned for that simpler time when the Monsantos of the world did not dictate how and what we would plant and would legally prohibit him from saving seed from the crops for use the next season.

If you are not aware of seed sharing opportunities in your community perhaps this will inspire you to create them!