Essential Oil – Vetiver

Botanical name: Chrysopogon zizanioides

Color: Medium amber

Consistency: Medium-thick

Perfumery note: Base

Related Planets/Deities: Earth/Kali/Pachamama

Aroma: Velvety, mysterious, woody, herbaceous, sweet undertones

Energetic Properties: Grounding, nourishing, stabilizing, replenishing

Aromatherapy Properties: Vetiver oil is a dark brown, olive green or amber-colored viscous liquid with a deep, smoky, woody-earthy odor with a sweet persistent undertone. The color and scent of vetiver oil may vary according to the source. It blends well with cinnamon, clary sage, jasmine, lavender, mimosa, oakmoss, opoponax, patchouli, rose, sandalwood, violet leaf, and ylang-ylang.

Spiritual Uses: Its inherently grounding nature is one of Vetiver’s main strengths. The oil is valuable to those seeking magickal or spiritual stability. Vetiver is also used in love magick, as it is believed to promote love, especially in same-sex couples. It may be used to promote restful sleep and offer protection in the dream-world from nightmares or malevolent spirits.

Blends well with: Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Lemongrass, Rose, Grapefruit, Clary Sage, Patchouli, and Sandalwood.

History: Native to South India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, Vetiver has a long history of practical, aesthetic, and medicinal use in South and Southeast Asia. In India, Vetiver grass is used to make blinds that cool a house in summer; the blinds are periodically sprayed with water, allowing Vetiver’s signature cooling scent to be released as breezes pass through the woven screens. Since the scent repels insects and rodents as well as promotes restful sleep, it was a natural choice for bedding. Due its incredible chemical stability, Vetiver is an ideal perfume fixative and is used in 90 percent (!) of all Western perfumes and colognes today.