Free Mixing Essential Oils for Magic: Aromatic Alchemy for Personal Blends by Sandra Kynes

especially helpful for creativity, the emotions, love, and spirituality. If you find that a scent group is limited for expressing your intentions, you might still find it useful for blending a ritual perfume or creating a deity offering.
    Table 4.1 Essential Oils and Their Scent Groups
    Woody
    amyris, birch, cajeput, cedarwood, cypress, eucalyptus ( blue gum ), fir,
    juniper, oakmoss, patchouli, pine, sandalwood, spikenard, spruce,
    valerian, vetiver
    50 Blending by Scent Group
    Table 4.1 Essential Oils and Their Scent Groups (continued)
    Herbaceous angelica, basil, carrot, catnip, citronella, clary sage, helichrysum,
    hyssop, labdanum, lavender ( spike ), marjoram, mugwort, niaouli,
    oregano, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, sage, savory, spearmint,
    tagetes, tea tree, thyme, yarrow
    Citrus
    bergamot, eucalyptus ( lemon ), grapefruit, lemon, lemon balm,
    lemongrass, lime, litsea, mandarin, orange
    Floral
    cananga, chamomile, geranium, jasmine, lavender ( true ), lavandin,
    neroli, palmarosa, rose, ylang-ylang
    Resinous
    camphor, frankincense, galbanum, myrrh, opopanax, storax
    Spicy
    allspice, anise, bay, benzoin, caraway, cardamom, celery, cassia,
    cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin, dill, elemi, fennel, galangal, ginger,
    hops, lovage, myrtle, nutmeg, pepper, petitgrain, snakeroot, star anise,
    tarragon, turmeric
    Once you have selected and purchased your oils, follow the steps as laid out in Chapter 2 to create your aromatic treasure. This will be the same for all of the blending methods as the actual steps for mixing and assessing remain the same. It is the planning and selecting of oils that differs. As with botanical families, when you purchase a new oil you may want to label it with the name of its scent group as well. This makes it easier when you are planning new blends or gathering your oils for mixing.
    The second way of using scent groups is what I call good neighbor blending. As this name implies, each group mixes well with members from its neighboring groups. The
    woody oils go with the spicy and herbaceous oils, the citrus with herbaceous and floral oils. All around the circle, each group blends well with its neighbor on either side.
    Blending by Scent Group 51
    Woody
    Spicy
    Herbaceous
    Resinous
    Citrus
    Floral
    Figure 4.2 Good neighbor blending by scent groups.
    When blending this way, select your three oils from two groups at a time. For exam-
    ple, woody and spicy or woody and herbaceous. That said, remember these methods are
    simple guidelines. Once you are familiar with your oils and you feel that combining spicy, woody, and herbaceous scents would create a good blend, go for it.
    The third way of using scent groups is to select an oil from an opposite group. As you can see in Figure 4.3, these are not quite straightforward. The woody and floral groups and the spicy and citrus groups are directly opposite in the circle and these combinations work nicely. However, although herbaceous and resinous are opposites and some of their members go well together, this pairing of groups does not always work as well as the others. Even though they are not opposites, the pairing of the spicy and floral tends to work well. Using one of your three oils from an opposite group adds interest to a blend and opens the door for a wide variety of possibilities.
    52 Blending by Scent Group
    Woody
    Spicy
    Herbaceous
    Resinous
    Citrus
    Floral
    Figure 4.3 Opposite group blending.
    The following tables provide information on which oils are known for working partic-
    ularly well together. These details are offered to help you get started and not to limit selection. Gaps in the tables where my experience and research did not find a match does not mean that a combination does not work. Let your intuition and imagination guide you.
    Table 4.2 The Woody Scent Group
    Woody
    Within the
    Neighboring Groups
    Opposite Group
    Scent
    Woody Group
    Spicy