*This brief, and admittedly drunken, hydrosol encounter with laurel (Laurus nobilis) was inspired by Cathy Skipper‘s work with hydrosols, and was first published at Quail Bell Magazine* Last week I ordered my little arsenal of sensory indulgences from Aromatics International because they were the only (recommended) online aromatherapy shop I could find that was not sold out of this delicious hydrosol. It was my first time ordering from them, but I’ll definitely order from them again. I must confess that …
Tag: Cathy Skipper
Alchemy, Aromatherapy, and Distillation: An Interview with Cathy Skipper
Cathy Skipper is English by birth and spent much of her adult life in rural France, where she farmed, trained and worked as a herbalist and aromatherapist, and taught practical herbalism, botany and aromatherapy. Together with her husband Florian Birkmayer, she founded Aromagnosis.com. They live in New Mexico and offer courses live and online centralized around the work of Carl Jung, alchemy, aromatherapy, aromatic molecules and the mind. Her new book The Alchemy of Menopause helps women transform “the time …
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Individuation & the Power of Scent: An Interview With Florian Birkmayer MD
Florian Birkmayer is the kind of multidisciplinary spirit we love at Aromatica Poetica. Trained as a psychiatrist, deeply influenced by Jung, and devoted to the healing power of scent and the natural world, particularly aromatherapy and equine therapy, his practice has led him to found Aromagnosis with his wife Cathy Skipper. Together they are developing an online and live learning curriculum that is truly unique, including classes such as Alchemy, Aromatherapy and Medicine of the Soul, Intuitive Plant Communication, Hydrosols …
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‘There’s Rosemary, That’s for Remembrance,’ With Recipes!
Ophelia, as her wits unwind, uses the language of flowers to express what her modesty as a young maid won’t let her say directly. She says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember,” to her brother Laertes, perhaps as a stand-in for the lost Hamlet. Rosemary has long been renowned for its stimulating effects on the brain, and modern science seems to be catching on. I remember well a roommate in Santa Cruz who burned rosemary sprigs to …
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The Appreciation and Distillation of Milkweed Hydrosol in Three Acts
Act One, by M. Leona Godin, is about her encounter with milkweed hydrosol in a class taught by Cathy Skipper & Florian Birkmayer MD. Act Two is a poem written by Cathy Skipper, who created the online hydrosols certification program through The School for Aromatic Studies. Act Three details the collection and distillation of milkweed in the beautiful Taos region of New Mexico by Cathy Skipper & Florian Birkmayer MD. Act One: Drinking Monarch Nectar, AKA Milkweed (Asclepias) By …
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Cooking and Cocktailing with Hydrosol: Rose Geranium Martini, Bay Laurel Marinade, Clary Sage Punch
When we were nineteen, my best friend and I backpacked through Europe from Germany to Greece, ending our epic adventure in Athens. In the final days before returning to the US, we found a bottle of rose–not rosé–wine and took it to the rooftop hostel where we drank with bats swooping over our heads. The dark floral richness, like theatrical curtains opening on my tongue, stuck in my imagination as a pallet-expanding experience that busted through the confinement of the …