Recently a member wrote:
I have a question - wondering if you would comment on some information I've been seeing put forward recently that essential oils are only good for a maximum of 2-4 years, even when stored properly.
In some ways, this can be regarded as a trick question. A great deal of the answer to this is related to the QUALITY of the oils we are working with.
Commercially produced oils, (and this includes MANY brands that are sold as therapeutic quality, organic, artisan distilled, etc.), have been mass produced by distilling at very high temperatures.
The SOEF's (subtle organizing energy fields) that preserve the energetic integrity of essential oils is compromised by chemical changes that take place at these high temperatures. My experience has been that the more heat a plant is exposed to during the distillation process, the less energetic integrity it's oil maintains.
When the energetic blueprint is not as strong as it can be,
the substance--essential oil in this case--it can begin to degenerate, and the physical oil itself breaks down. I believe this is why the myth about oils breaking down has taken hold in many circles.
In the case of essential oils:
- That have been stored away from direct light or in light-protective bottles
- That were hand produced with intention for maintaining the SOEF (or "spirit") integrity
- That have been distilled at the low temperatures common to artisan distillation
- That are stored in energetically enhanced surroundings
I do store my oils in Violettglass, and the bottles are placed on a marble tile. This preserves the vibratory frequency. I have stored oils for years without ever losing an essential oil to degeneration.
There was one exception that I recall, years ago. A chiropractor that I was working with complained that her oils were going bad on the shelf. I checked them with dowsing and found that there was a spoilage issue.
She stored her oils (already combined with carrier oil), in a small shelf directly above the chiropractic table where she treated all of her patients. My belief was that the released energies following treatments of patients was impacting the oils vibrationally. Sure enough, when she tried moving them to another location, she no longer had the break down issues.
We need to remember what started this whole renaissance with plant oils and extracts; the opening of King Tut's tomb in Egypt in the 1920's. Scientists found a huge amount of balms, essential oils, and plant products that were viable still, after over 2000 years of "storage".
During the Middle Ages, Crusaders travelled into Egypt and the Holy lands, fighting a religious war. When they returned to Europe, they brought pieces of Egyptian mummies with them. The essential oils that were used to embalm the mummies, were still potent and viable medicinal oils. European doctors of the time quickly learned to distill the mummy pieces to get the oils out--to make medicines! That is how powerfully intact some hand made oils can remain!
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Still the best way to identify whether or not your oils are still viable, is to educate your nose! Smell them every so often to see if they still have that lovely little spark of energy and light that you feel when you inhale. If they do degrade, the aroma will become faded first. Then it can go sour or just simply lose its top note.
If you leave a citrus oil in a cup or bowl on a countertop, exposed to air for a few weeks, then compare its aroma to the one stored in your bottle, you might get an opportunity to experience how an oil can change as it degrades. Citrus oils are the most fragile, especially those that have been cold-pressed, so they are a good oil to experiment with. Always compare oils that are stored differently, to see if they are changing. Your nose will give you the best information possible.
In Gratitude,
Kathryn
How does a marble tile help the integrity of an oil? My husband and I are making displays and this would be helpful to understand and possibly uses marble as part of the display.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Marble is primarily made of quartz. It was used inside the Egyptian pyramids, and is still inside the interior of the Great Cheops Pyramid in Giza, above the King's chamber. It's frequency does not deteriorate over time, like a quartz crystal; it carries what scientists call a "coherent, life enhancing" frequency.
DeleteThese coherent frequencies actually act to neutralize the incoherent frequencies of degenerative processes, such as mold, bacteria, and degeneration--things which will cause the oils to break down on a molecular level.
We first began using marble tiles at DiamondHeart when we found through dowsing that they held regenerating frequencies that could actually restore the integrity of an oil if it was beginning to break down (confirmed by testing the aroma). We are so convinced of the value of this, that we now store ALL of our oils on marble tiles.
Hope this helps! Kathryn