About the Weekend:
CREATING OUR PERSONAL BOTANICAL PERFUME – AROMA, PSYCHE AND OUR SENSES
Friday, April 24, 9:00a-4:00p
Come a day early and explore aroma and our senses of olfaction (smell) and gustation (taste) and their powerful influence over the psyche and body. Erika will explore the anatomy and physiology of these two senses, as well as examples of how our psyche can influence our body’s physiology. There will be hands-on, experiential opportunities to interact directly with different aromas as well as create your own botanical perfume / anointing oil. Our work with aroma will be followed up with a leisurely herb walk adventure.
AROMATIC DISTILLATION: A RITUAL JOURNEY OF SELF-REFLECTION
Saturday & Sunday, April 25 & 26
Join Erika Galentin, for a two-day workshop exploring aromatic distillation as a ritual journey of self-reflection and an empowering platform for the development of sacred plant-human relationships. Day one of this workshop will dive deeply into honoring the plant we will be distilling using Goethean and phenomenological techniques of subjective observation. Through various exercises, the expression of the plant will reveal itself to us in preparation for the following day’s distillation. Day two of this workshop will focus on the aromatic distillation itself, including a primer on the ‘anatomy and physiology’ of aromatic distillation using a cooper alembic still. In addition, we will utilize this ancient alchemical process as both a physical and metaphorical platform for journeying with our psyches, our hearts, and our spirits.
Participants will be asked to bring with them an object of personal significance which speaks to them of something they wish to transform in themselves. This could be a totem, talisman, piece of art, written word, or poetry. These objects will be placed on a distillation altar as a means of creating safe, sacred space for our collective work. They will also be drawn upon in a facilitated discussion as the aromatic distillation is taking place. With these gestures we will seek to not only distill the aroma of the plant itself, but to also distill an essence of our personal and collective transformations which will ultimately be inherited by the hydrosol that is produced. At the end of the workshop participants will take a bottle of the distilled aromatic hydrosol home which can be used for further support, inspiration, and guidance in our personal journeys.
Participants are also asked to bring a journal with them to capture the reflective exercises. In addition, please bring your favorite drawing/painting medium including colored pencils, crayons, pastels, watercolors, etc. Bottles for hydrosol will be provided.