Love Potions and Essential Oils
Throughout time, people have been fascinated with the idea of creating something magical and alchemical to inspire love and ignite passion – a love potion if you will - made with mysterious ingredients like herbs, enchanted water, or rare objects – like essential oils and crystals.
The term "philtre" is another name for a love potion, and it is thought to come from the ancient Greek word philtron which means "love charm.” Here’s a historical overview of the origins and cultural significance of love potions:
Ancient Greece: Many love potions were believed to have aphrodisiac or mystical properties. In Greek mythology stories like that of Medea and Jason depict the use of magical herbs and potions to influence love and loyalty.
Ancient Rome: Romans were known to use perfumes, oils, and herbal creations as tools of seduction, sometimes under the guise of love magic.
Ancient Egypt: Essential oils were sometimes offered to love deities such as Aphrodite, Venus, or Hathor, the goddesses of love and beauty. Priests and priestesses used herbs and other substances to create love potions for rituals to gain the gods' blessings for love, relationship harmony, and fertility. They valued essential oils like myrrh, frankincense, and lotus oil for their associations with beauty and sensuality. These oils were often used in romantic rituals or to prepare the body for love.
African and Middle Eastern Practices: Love potions were tied to broader spiritual practices, often involving healers or shamans who prepared personalized potions for clients.
India: In the time-honored practice of Ayurveda, oils like sandalwood and jasmine were integral to enhancing relationships and creating harmony between partners. Often rituals involving sandalwood, rosewater, and jasmine were used to enhance connections and harmony.
Europe: In Shakespear’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon instructs Puck to use pansies to make Titania fall in love with him. The love potion in the play symbolizes the irrational nature of love.
Modern: In the Harry Potter series, Jacob's sibling and Penny Haywood brew a love potion to trade for an Invisibility Cloak.
Aromatherapy Love Potions
Essential oils have been used in love potions throughout history due to their luscious, euphoric aromas and symbolic associations with love, attraction, and sensuality. In ancient cultures, essential oils were believed to carry the essence or "life force" of plants, making them powerful tools for emotional and spiritual influence. Here's how essential oils have been used in love potions:
Essential Oils for Love Potions
Rose Oil: For all matters of the heart, Rose is the answer. Rose allows love to flow freely and deeply, opening the heart chakra, easing emotions and inspiring romance. For centuries Rose has represented love, passion, and beauty, making the oil a staple in many love potions. Science backs up that amorous reputation, as the fragrance molecule indole in roses is said to be what gives it aphrodisiac properties.
Jasmine Oil: Prized for its highly floral, exotic and intoxicating scent, Jasmine has long been renowned for enhancing love and joy, to open emotionally and express warmth freely. It has often been used to boost self-confidence and inspire feelings of intimacy and desire. Its sweet, romantic scent is said to lift mood, energies, and arousal, as well as to dissolve emotional barriers and promote feelings of intimacy.
Sandalwood Oil: Sensual, seductive, grounding and deep, the scent and natural chemical effects of Sandalwood are said to be similar to those of androsterones – human pheromones. This may be why it has so long been said to increase libido in both men and women. Reputed to enhance emotional connection and attraction, it is a prized ingredient in men's cologne, as well as in certain perfumes.
Patchouli Oil: Though some may associate Patchouli with the 60’s, there is a reason why it was so popular at the time – and still is! Linked to passion and physical desire, its deep, musky, earthy scent calms and uplifts moods, warms the body, and has been used to inspire desires for decades, if not centuries. Its potent energies were harnessed in matters of love, lust, and fertility, enhancing romantic relationships and heightening sensuality.
Ylang-Ylang Oil: Aphrodisiac and euphoric, folklore has it that Ylang ylang can release inhibitions, promote relaxation, open the heart chakra, ignite romantic feelings and increase physical intimacy. Its euphoric, exotic, fragrance is said to unite emotional and sensual natures, boost libido, heighten sensual arousal, and elevate the sense of touch, which makes it excellent to include in a romantic massage. In some cultures, the flowers are spread on the wedding bed to encourage intimacy and bonding between couples.
Blending with Intent
Essential oils were often used in conjunction with prayers, chants, or visualizations to focus the user's intent. For instance, a person might meditate on their desired outcome while inhaling the aroma and visualizing their desired outcome. Specific combinations of essential oils were chosen based on their symbolic properties.
For example:
Rose + Jasmine:
For passionate romance.
Ylang-Ylang + Sandalwood:
To foster deep emotional and physical connections.
Patchouli + Lavender:
To recreate calm yet also spark attraction.
Create Your Own Love Potion
Crystals:
- Rose quartz: Love
- Garnet: Passion
- Moonstone: Emotional Balance
- Other love-attracting crystals such as pink tourmaline, garnet or morganite.
Symbols:
- Hearts: Represent love and emotional connection.
- Roses: Symbolize passion and romance.
- Knots: Represent binding or strengthening bonds.
Colors:
- Red: Passion
- Pink: Romantic Love
- Green: Fertility and emotional healing – also the colors of the heart chakra
Essential Oils:
- Rose
- Jasmine
- Sandalwood
- Ylang Ylang
- Patchouli
Candles:
- Pink Candle: Love and Romance
- Red Candle: Passion
Luxury Bath Ritual
What could be more romantic than a candle-lit, lusciously scented bath?
Add a total of 5 drops of essential oil to one cup of salts (Epsom and/or Sea Salt), mix and pour into a stream of warm flowing water. Light candles and sprinkle rose petals to float on top of water. Immerse yourself in the decadent magic of LOVE!
In the moonlight’s soft and silken glow,
A secret brew begins to flow.Rose petals kissed by morning’s dew,
Whisper tales of a love so true.
A dash of honey, golden and sweet,
To mirror hearts when they first meet.
Jasmine blooms with a fragrant sigh,
Inviting stars to light the sky.
