I wonder at word groups and know there are no mistakes.  The root of the word altar stems from the concept of burning up or consuming.  When we light a candle at the altar, we ask for the transformative nature of fire to catalyze that behemoth we have created that begs us believe we are in control.  This surrender returns us to union.  Alternate means the other.  When we are not in union with ourselves and our creator and all of nature, we are indeed THE OTHER – an alien, and thus feel alienated.  Which do you choose?

Bergamot essential oil consistently speaks to me of this surrender and willing purification.  Joy bringer galore, she urges us to shed and strip and to do so with such a comforting smell of fresh and love and sunshine.  Bergamot reminds us that all of life is our altar.   Each day beckons our reverence.  This essence has an unbelievable capacity to purge all manner of unwanted guests in our life, mentally through our belief systems, emotionally with ties to old wounding or stories, and physically should we be overpopulated with any parasites.  I kneel, and ask Bergamot to show me the way home, for my grandest humility will show me when life’s grievances become alluvial deposits that threaten to bury my heart.