Essential Oil – Patchouli

Botanical name: Pogostemon cablin 

Color: Medium amber

Consistency: Medium-thick

Perfumery note: Base 

Related Planets/Deities: Earth/Gaia

Aroma: Richly complex, earthy-woody, spicy, exotic

Energetic Properties: Grounding, regenerative, detoxifying

Aromatherapy Properties: Patchouli oil is an amber to dark orange-colored viscous liquid with a sweet, rich, herbaceous-earthy odor that improves with age. It blends well with bergamot, cedarwood, cinnamon bark, clary sage, clove bud, geranium, labdanum, lavender, myrrh, neroli, oakmoss, opoponax, rose, sandalwood, vetiver, and oriental base oils. A musky aroma that lingers. With its sensual and grounding properties, Patchouli both soothes and uplifts the spirit.

Patchouli is one of the world’s most popular essential oils and is used heavily as a perfumery component. It is widely worn by itself as a personal scent for its exotic provenance and down-to-earth appeal. 

Spiritual Uses: As one of the most basic and powerful earth scents, Patchouli has a variety of magical and spiritual uses. Patchouli is a popular component of money spells, and is also a favorite ingredient for sex magick practices. It has a regenerative and restorative essence, and is an excellent choice for grounding spiritual work. Patchouli is commonly used for magickal protection, banishing negative energies, and purification. As the earthiest of  all the Earth scents, it is useful for those working with the element of Earth.

Blends well with: Lavender, Myrrh, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Rose, Cinnamon, Ginger, Copal, and Cypress.

History: Found in the wilds of Sumatra and Java, Patchouli has long been used in Asia for a wide variety of purposes: it was though to be an antidote to snake venom and a remedy for headaches. During the 18th century, silk traders from China traveling to the Middle East packed their silk cloth with dried patchouli leaves to prevent moths from laying eggs on the cloth, thus bringing Patchouli to the West from Asia. Supposedly, Patchouli was used as both a fragrance and insect repellent in the linen chests of Queen Victoria. Patchouli is now widely cultivated in India for the worldwide essential oil market.