Cathy Skipper

To thank you for being a loyal follower of my blog, I wanted to offer you a special opportunity to purchase our new attars and sacred oils before Florian and I  launch our new websites (one for our new school, Aromagnosis- the school of alchemical aromatherapy and plant medicine’ and one for Cathy’s Attars. The time has come to  finally close this blog.

But first let us tell you why we decided to sell these amazing aromas.

I  have been researching my maternal lineage. I always knew I had Indian ancestry through a great-great-grandmother and that I was the first woman of my maternal line to be born outside India. After doing a DNA test and being surprised that I had more Indian blood that I had even suspected, I went deeper into my research, which included a journey to India.

Florian and I pulled at fragile threads and began to unearth not only a tapestry of personal history that had been hidden from me, but a hidden collective history between the British and India and the ‘Secret Race’ Anglo-Indians.

During our journey to India, we took the opportunity to visit Moosa Khan’s family attar-making business in Kannauj, which is called the ‘attar capital’ of India, where we discovered these out of this world aromas and watched them being made. Attars are aromatic oils in which the fragile, hard-to-capture aromas of certain flowers, such as rose and jasmine, are distilled into sandalwood essential oil, which captures and stabilizes them.

We felt called to weave together the threads between India, us and our work. We decided to work transparently with Moosa and his attars and share these powerful, sacred and ancient aromas with those who understand our approach to healing through scent.

We are launching our new website, cathysattars.com, at the end of July. It will include travel journal entries about our trip to India. (In the future, we hope to organize aromatic adventures to India for those of you who may be interested.) It will also include musings about my journey of healing historical trauma and the detective work involved. We will also share regular up-dates about Moosa’s distillations and other sacred oils we choose to work with. There will be information about how to use these oils, including anointing, journeying with them, their healing properties, etc.

We would like to offer you, our loyal reader, the special introductory prices we have been offering our students. These prices will only last until the website is launched.

If you would like to take advantage of these prices, please send us your order before June 1^st!!

“Of all the senses, none surely is so mysterious as that of smell … the nature … the emanations that stir it to activity is still unknown … its effects upon the psyche are both wide and deep, at once obvious and subtle.” Aromatics and Soul by Dan McKensie

Here are short descriptions of each of the oils we are currently offering:

Rose Attar: We witnessed the rose harvest when we visited and watched the local farmers bringing their huge jute bags of roses (Rosa damascena) to Moosa’s distillery to be processed. In this attar, the gentle, soft smell of roses is cradled by the underlying notes of the sandalwood. I find it intoxicating and nurturing, like coming home into the warmth after being caught in a storm. It is the sweetness I have been searching for all my life. I feel loved, held and understood with this attar. The rose sings and opens the heart while the sandalwood provides a safe ground for this purring aroma. Its soft vibration is instant, embracing the skin, bringing a smile to the face. It provides a feeling of safety, unlike any other aroma. As I smell it, I let go and fall into its arms.

Mitti Attar: This attar made out of half-baked clay called khapra and collected nearby. It is said that in Kannauj, they have bottled the smell of rain. This attar really does smell of rain on the dry earth after the monsoon. It is subtle, dusty, intimate, deep and once again very Indian. India’s earth is expressed and held by the sandalwood that really takes a back seat to enable the subtleties of this aroma to come through. The minerals of the baked earth seem to dance and sing in the vibration and aroma of this attar. There is nothing quite like it. It draws me inwards and calls me to the depths of myself.

Sambac Attar: This night-flowering jasmine attar is really powerful. It instantly speaks to me of sacred communication, touching both the throat chakra and sexual organs. It reminds me that feminine sexuality is something that needs to be expressed. It has a very high, strong and quick vibration, which connects us to the higher realms while still retaining the organic connection with our body and sexuality. It reminds us that the two are inextricably interwoven. Sexuality, communication and spirituality seem to blend together in this attar in an extremely powerful, feminine manner. An attar to be enjoyed, but not to be taken lightly!

Tuberose Attar: This is one of Florian’s favorites. Its Hindi name, Rajnigandha means “night-fragrant” as it is among the rare flowers that open at night. It invites us into a powerful sensuality in our bodies and was considered dangerously seductive in former times. At the same time, it is one of the most powerful openers of the crown chakra. It rises straight up to the sky and connects us of the divine in ourselves. A bridge between heaven and earth, it births something new. The scent is otherworldly, full of hidden layers that reveal themselves only as we are ready to receive.

Sandalwood Essential Oil: Indian sandalwood is the most revered sandalwood in the world. This one is soft, creamy, rich. It is elegant, round and smooth, with a velvety like texture that sets it way above many of the other woody oils for me. Santalum alba is native to India and has been harvested for perfume, ceremony and ritual for many thousands of years. It is extremely calming to the mind connecting the crown with the base chakra making it a very helpful oil to use in meditation. This is the sandalwood oil used for making attars.

Ruh Khus (Wild Vetiver) Essential Oil: Vetiver is an important oil in our work and so we are really excited to find this one that was grown and distilled in the Kannauj area. It has a deeply earthy pulse, with a slightly smoky note, which then leads into a smell of texture. The texture of embodiment, grounded reality and dried, cut wood. Vetiver encourages us let go of using the intellect as our armor and to really feel at home in our bodies. It helps us discover what it feels like to fully live and be present in our physical bodies joyfully. By building a solid, loving relationship with our physical bodies, we begin to feel more confident and centered. Our feelings, thoughts, emotions and interactions are anchored in our flesh and bones.Note: This is not an attar. Vetiver yields a lot of essential oil, so the attar process is not required.

Patchouli Essential Oil: Patchouli often reminds people of cheap scent from the hippie periods in our lives. This one is in a different league altogether. It has a sweet fruitiness mixed with the smell of leather. It seems to pull the energy downwards along the spine, grounding and yet with an aliveness that is common to all the oils we have ordered from Moosa. Note: This is not an attar. Patchouli yields a lot of essential oil, so the attar process is not required.

Limited-time, Introductory Prices:

Prices are for 5ml

Rose Attar $60

Mitti Attar $60

Jasmine Sambac Attar $60

Tuberose Attar $65

Sandalwood EO $65

Ruh Khus EO $45

Patchouli EO $10

Shipping & Handling in US $15

Shipping & Handling to other countries: Contact us for a quote.

To Order: Simply send us an email with your order. You can also call us at 505 362 3369.

Payment: You can send payment via paypal to the account thebirkmayerinstitute@gmail.com. You can also call us (Florian) at 505 362 3369 with credit card information. (We have Square.)

We hope you’re able to enjoy this limited-time offer and welcome you to share in the magic of these aromas.