Winter solstice Blessings on the cedars of Lebanon for peace
Saturday December 21st 2024 5pm GMT.
About the Winter Solstice Blessings Ceremony...
The war in the Middle East is raging. If you have any friends or loved ones over there, I am sure you will share the dreadful feeling of watching people go through pain, when there is nothing you can do to help.
This was the beginning of my dream to hold a winter solstice blessings ceremony with Cedar.
I am grateful to Frances Bartlett for unfailingly "getting" my strange brain waves and even more so, for jumping in with both feet.
Frances and I feel incredibly honoured and privileged that we will be joined by a very special guest.
Nicole Bou Khalil is the Lebonese Director for the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy.
Frances and I would like to present this as a gift to Nicole, as support for her in this awful time, but also to Nicole's people in Lebanon, as well as all innocent parties involved in this dreadful conflict.
Winter Solstice Blessings is a multicultural, multifaith ceremony.
Winter Solstice Blessings is a multicultural, multifaith ceremony. There is no requirement that you have any experience with essential oils.
There is no charge for participation.
The more, the merrier, we feel.
With regards to essential oils, you have a few choices. The delux experience for this Winter Solstice Blessings ceremony would be to have a blend of oils that have been distilled by Frances and Oriol of Essiencecat.cat. (Scroll down the page for details of how to aqcuire that, if you would like to.)
Alternatively, you could use Cedarwood atlas, or cedarwood Himalayan (Cedrus atlantic or Cedrus deodara).
However, even if you do not have cedarwood essential oil, please don't let that stop you attending.
Also as part our odyssey to become "Tree Wizards", please feel free to also to access the complementary module about the Cedarwood Mysteries. The research will undoubtedly deepen your experience and potential power doing this work, however there is no requirement or expectation that you do so.
A link to the lecture will be attached with your ticket, but can also easily be accessed through this site.
So, without further ado, there can surely be nothing left to say but to please join us to call back the sun on a new solar year, and to send Winter Solstice Blessings to the Cedars of Lebanon, and Mother Earth.
Aromatic Blend for Peace
Frances has created a beautiful blend for the Winter Solstice Blessings Ceremony.
Mastic
The base of this blend for peace is the essential oil of Mastic leaves and fruits. Mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) is a resilient shrub found growing between wild Olives and Fennel in every verge and path. It creates the essential lower canopy of the Aleppo Pine forests that blanket the hills of the Mediterranean basin. It brings sanctuary and sanctity, transforming the mundane into the sacred. It marries Yin and Yang, Earth and Heavens in an expansive state of peace, balance and clarity.
Sweet Fennel
The middle note is Sweet Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare, var. dulce), the first plant to grow invasively in ‘no-man’s land; where all hope is destroyed, fennel shoots funnel into the hard, dry, baked soil and burst upwards in delicate yellow stars, 2m above the ground. A spiritual protector of evil and related to fertility and the menstrual cycle, we invite Fennel to protect the people and land and to bring vigorous fertility once again to the dust and desperation in people’s hearts and psychic gardens.
Aleppo Pine
The top note is Aleppo Pine, (Pinus halipensis). “Mine is the Pine whose air tremblesthrough fragmented hands. Regenerative sap claps ecstatically over me.” Also known as White Pine by our local Catalans, curiously the name coincides with the ‘White Pine, Tree of Peace’ of the Iroquois Native peoples, Keepers of the Eastern Door in, what is now known as, the USA. We respectfully apply the synchronicity of meaning to Pinus halipensis. We also invoke the power of being vertical, of being human, of draining our dense thoughts and emotions into the ground in order to open ourselves to the sensuality of life, in all its beauty, colour, flavour, inspiration and sensation.
We celebrate our human-ness in deep connection with our plant ancestors and call for Serene Joy and Joyful Serenity to the land, peoples and plants of the Holy Lands.
Olive
And finally, for our anointing, our sacred oils are held in the warm cradle of Olive, (Olea europea) the Jewish and Christian tree of Peace. A wild Olive appears as a silvery pompom shining in the sun, attracting murmurations of Starlings at this time of year. It is the consciousness of ONE.
We are all not merely interconnected, but embody each other - we each embody the inner tyrant, the tortured victim and the running child. We ARE this war. The war is within US. We are also light, love and pure consciousness. We ask Olive and her bitter black fruits to bathe us in her golden warmth, connect us to these sacred oils and the divine Cedars of Lebanon.
Introducing Our Special Guest
Nicole BouKhalil
Nicole BouKhalil
We are thrilled that Nicole has agreed to join us as our special guest at this Winter Solstice Blessings Ceremony for The Cedars of Lebanon.
Nicole BouKhalil is a Doctor of Pharmacy and a Clinical Aromatherapist. She holds a Master in Public Health and a diploma in natural cosmetics. She studied Phytotherapy, Aromatherapy and Medicinal Plants at the faculty of Pharmacy of La Timone in Marseille (France) and underwent further trainings in clinical aromatherapy and cancer-care support in France and the UK.
Integrative Approach
A pioneer in introducing aromatherapy practice to Lebanon, Nicole gave the first aromatherapy classes for the general public in 2016. She also initiated clinical aromatherapy services for the first time in a hospital setting in Beirut.
In July 2019, Nicole organised an international aromatherapy workshop in Lebanon with Carla Vescovi from Aromaluz school in Brazil. This 2-day workshop entitled: “Healing family bonds and Trauma with Aromatherapy” gathered therapists from all around the country. Dr BouKhalil is committed to promoting aromatherapy, both among the general public and the healthcare professionals. She continues to give trainings, classes, lectures and workshops.
Nicole believes in the holistic approach to reach optimal health care and well-being. She offers clinical aromatherapy consultations in a multi- disciplinary clinic in Beirut, as part of the clinic’s integrative approach for the patients. In her pharmacy, Dr Boukhalil counsels on natural and plant derived products and creates personalised aromatherapy blends, tailored to her customer’s needs.
Lebanese Essential Oils
Nicole’s deep passion for essential oils has driven her to actively engage with local communities in preserving and celebrating Lebanon’s most precious resource: its native medicinal and aromatic plants. Committed to promoting Lebanese essential oils, Nicole champions the efforts of small-scale artisan distillers, striving to sustain their craft, amidst the challenging circumstances facing the country today.
International Speaker
An international speaker, Dr. BouKhalil has presented at notable events, including Botanica 2022, the International Symposium on Aromatherapy & Essential Oils (Brazil, April 2024), Botanica Congress (May 2024), AromaSummit (June 2024), and Phyt’Arom Congress (Grasse, France, September 2024). She frequently attends aromatherapy workshops and congresses worldwide. She will be a speaker at the upcoming NAHA World of Aromatherapy Conference in Florida in October 2025.
Hobbies
An avid hiker and marathon runner, Nicole brings the same energy and dedication to her pursuits in aromatherapy and health advocacy.
Your Hosts For The Winter Solstice Blessings
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley is an aromatherapist and a Melissa bee priestess.
A lifelong explorer into achaeological and textual evidence into ritual, she is currently a student with the Open University studying towards a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Studies.
An experienced host of workshops and community ritual spaces. Her unique combination mythological story telling and essential oils' knowledge creates a dreamscape like no other.
As an Aromatic Priestess she is adept in helping people to walk between the worlds, by creating liminal moments of the betwixt and between, where things cease to bee as they were, and seemingly impossible changes bee-come possible.
You can find out more about Liz's credentials and work here.
Frances Bartlett
Frances Bartlett co-founded EssenciesCat, Spain's leading artisan distillery in 2014 with Oriol Blanch, psycho-aromatherapist. Together with Oriol, she shares her knowledge and experience creating and using essential oils for body, mind and soul in ‘Rhizome, Healing Arts Centre’, Pontós.
Frances’ background in music enables her to approach plants and their extracts sensorially. She is a modern bard, weaving poetry, song, and cello with early music and improvisation in multidisciplinary projects that dialogue with nature.
She created the installation Breathe Tree with artist Marina Berdolet in 2023
Her first solo album, 'Dream me Green, Dream me Again' was recorded in 2024.
She uses music and aroma in collaborations with Oriol in group therapeutic settings and especially designed courses with Sònia Isart - Nomad Yoga & Jaya Ashmore - Open Dharma (Meditation & Jin shin jyutsu.
Website:
Listen to her album:
Thank you for taking time to visit the Aromatic Mystery School, and we hope very much that you will join us for the ceremony of Winter Solstice Blessings for The Cedars of Lebanon.