On this Full Moon day and partial lunar eclipse, I think of how much power an experience can hold for us as individuals, when things become imprinted and we are willing to be open and sensitive.  Full Moons are powerful and lunar eclipses are as well.  Anyone can attest that smells hold the power to invoke the full force of the initial and seminal experience- in which we imprint the memory that is being triggered.  Grandfather’s tobacco smoke and the feel of his collared shirt as we snuggled onto his lap… Grandmother’s kitchen, infused with clove or garlic as she hummed to herself….or the look on a friend’s face as she broke down crying while her cup of coffee spilled on the table and into her lap…. 

As the only sense of ours- that has a direct channel, so to speak, to the brain with no relay systems or bypasses... it is no wonder that smell, holds such power.  Everything...  "every thing" is, energy and holds an energetic signature.  (“Everything is energy, and that’s all there is to it.”)    - Albert Einstein

The freeze frame moment is a snapshot into a space-time event.  It can often be captured and summed up with a smell because the neural patterns (or neural pathways in the brain) for that memory, are then triggered and re-enlivened - while all the other senses  come into to play.  Then sometimes years later, when we are re-exposed to the smell again... We may- "all of a sudden feel the warmth", of Grandfather’s hand on our back , or the sticky tile underfoot as Grandma prepares dinner.  

Just as humans and lovers communicate with pheromones, "subtle chemical exchanges" which we are not usually aware of, so too do humans as well as the plants and trees, communicate.  As co-inhabitants on this precious planet,  when we have conversations with a plant or tree, really smelling all the nuances and rich diversity that emanate from each, it is like wine tasting- and we hone our ability to refine our sense of smell.  With every layer that reveals itself, we are willing to fully breath in.  So too, begins a whole host of complex chemical/hormonal reactions inside our bodies, guiding us back to homeostasis and vital health.  Don’t fool yourself…..while many of us call ourselves medicinal phyto-aromatherapists, there is no shame is saying simply: aromatherapist, for it is powerful in and of itself as a science.  These arts have proven true and continue to do so,  not just because it smells good...   but because these magnificent imprints that let the smells of nature guide you, guide you back home- to health and happiness.