Aromas of Woods: Strength & Persistence

Woods and Endurance

An amazingly beautiful range of aromas come from woods of the tropical Asia and the Pacific Northwest. There we look to Sandalwood and the Cedars for spiritual contact with the divine. Another deeply spiritual scent comes from Palo Santo, native in South American countries, along with Rosewood: both are endangered species. And the oleo-gum resins of Frankincense, Myrrh, Opopanax are native to deserts of Africa, Oman, and India. In this wide ranging collection of scent types, there are also balsam and benzoin, exudates from trees native to Central and South America, and one from Elemi, native to the Philippines.

Wood represents sustenance and shelter

We borrow the idea of strength and resilience from what we know of Wood as a physical material. This is so perfect, I think, avoiding the need to get intellectual about it. By instinct or by millennia of use, our impressions of wood have become part of our lexicon for shelter, food, beauty. As with other words, such as the color green, the symbolism of wood has visceral meaning for human beings.

With our notions of Wood in mind, imagine that inhaling blends from these essential oils can change your mood, reduce worry, calm inflammation, provide antiseptic and disinfecting properties, clarify the breath, and more.

Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Rosewood, Elemi, Peru Balsam

are well-known Wood-Balsamic essential oils. Click on the bold name (i.e., Sandalwood) to read its profile. For the torchwoods, see profile for Frankincense and the oleo-resins under resins, here.

Plant Parts: Woods

“Plant parts”, is another term for the anatomy or morphology of a plant. A chosen plant part is seen as a source of remedy in aromatherapy. An aspect of this harkens back to the idea that a plant looks like, or appears like a human body part, and thus the plant would have a reputation for healing that part of the human body.

Plant morphology concentrates on specific therapeutics provided by plant parts. Aromatic woods are the most ancient of aromas in the human lexicon of incense plants.

Woods of aromatic plants:

Woods are those parts of a tree that we see as maintaining strength and vitality.

Sandalwood

Santalum spicatum

Family: Santalaceae.

Origin and Biological status: tropical South Asia, South Pacific islands. The species of Sandalwood known in history is Santalum album, and yet it is endangered and extremely expensive. This monograph cites Santalum spicatum, grown on plantations in Australia. The tree is hemi- (or partly) parasitic, it must take nutrition from the roots of another plant in order to live.

Part distilled: the heartwood, and sometimes roots

Adulteration: highly possible with other species of Sandalwood.

Season: Harvested by chopping down the tree after 30 years’ growth. Aromatically, Sandalwood has qualities represented by the elements Earth, and Water which are cooling and harmonious.

Energetics: cool and moist

Sandalwood in Rituals: Sandalwood chips were burned as incense in ancient times. The scent defined sacred space in Asian religions. Besides the exploitation of the wood for scent alone, it was also a prized material for wood carvings due to its fine texture.

Sandalwood in Medicine: Sandalwood has a history in Chinese medicine specific for the heart, and it is considered spicy and warm in energy (opposite to the aromatherapy definition).[i]

Perfumes: accords are formed when two, three, or more single note fragrances are combined. Sandalwood is in accord with Jasmine absolute, and Rose absolute, and also combined with Patchouli, Labdanum, and Vanilla[ii] Rhind writes that it’s a feature at 2-3% in many perfumes.

Sandalwood has been studied for: preference for its scent versus other essential oils, its use in skin care, for its sedative & hypnotic effects, for relief of excessive mucus, for its relieving actions on tension and anxiety

Unusual characteristics: classed in the same botanical family as misteltoe; popular not only for its scent but also for carvings, temple buildings, and statues. Native to India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Olfactive features: a primary reason to choose Sandalwood is its persistence and ability to blend with scents from the plant parts of flowers, seeds, fruit, resins, roots, other woods, and leaves.

Aromatic characteristics: Sandalwood excels as a base note in perfumes; it has a reputation as a spiritually-uplifting scent, and as Peter Holmes describes it, “an integral psycho-spiritual smellscape” is created in the environment where the aroma of true Sandalwood is in the air.

REFERENCES for this page include:

Arctander, Stephan. Perfumes and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. Published 1960 in Elizabeth, NJ.

Holmes, Peter. Aromatica: A Clinical Guide to Essential Oil Therapeutics, Vol 2. Published by Singing Dragon Press, London and Philadelphia, 2019.

Rhind, Jennifer. Fragrance and Wellbeing: Plant Aromatics and Their Influence on the Psyche. Published by Singing Dragon Press, London and Philadelphia, 2014.

[i] MTierra, Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine, Vol. II, c1998. Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.

[ii] JPRhind, Listening to Scent, c 2014. Singing Dragon Press, London, Philadelphia

Contact me, here, with any comments or questions!