Essential Oil – Sandalwood

Botanical name: Santalum album

Color: Clear to pale yellow

Consistency: Medium to thick

Perfumery note: Base

Related planets/deities: Moon

Aroma: Woody, floral, exotic 

Energetic Properties: Clarifying, grounding

Aromatherapy properties: Sometimes referred to in scriptures as ‘Aloeswood, sandalwood is one of the oldest and most revered essential oils known to man. This true Indian sandalwood oil has been used for centuries in Buddhist and Hindu spiritual practices.

Spiritual uses: Sandalwood oil is often applied to the forehead chakra before meditation to open the third eye and facilitate inner contemplation and higher awareness. Clarifying sandalwood oil can help one gain a sense of stability, inner peace, unity, and acceptance of reality as it is, making it easier to let go of distracting thoughts and emotions during meditation. Sandalwood oil may also help one overcome emotional blocks that often lie at the root of sexual difficulties. 

 

Blends well with: Floral oils such as Geranium, Lavender, Rose, and Ylang Ylang, as well as Basil, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Pine, and Radiata. 

History: Native to India, sandalwood is a parasitic evergreen that lives in the heartwood of other tree species. Sandalwood is central to Hindu ceremonies that mark life transitions such as births, marriages, and funerals. It is used to embalm the deceased and is burned in Hindu funeral pyres. It is also burned as incense, used to construct parts of Hindu temples, and made into an anointing paste for religious ceremonies. As an item of trade, sandalwood spread far beyond India: as early as the year 78 AD, the Greek physician Dioscorides had already written of it in his De Materia Medica, an ancient text on medicine. Due to its rarity, sandalwood products are more expensive today than in times past.