“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Haruki Murakami, in Kafka on the Shore
In the following article, I first begin with a discussion of archetypes and miasms as they are understood in the Spiritual PhytoEssencing (SPE). This paves the way for the main focus of this article: the Separation Miasm. The Separation Miasm is something that I have conceived and elaborated upon to be included into the matrix of the theory and practice of SPE.
Table of Contents
- Archetypal Blending
- The Eternal “I”
- Soul Archetypes
- Miasms
- The Separation Miasm: A Zeitgeist Miasm
- The Kabbalah and the Theme of Separation
- Otto Rank: The Trauma of Birth
- SPE SEPARATION MIASM RELIEF BLEND Harmony Waves Part II Link (Members only)
Archetypal Blending

The art ofSPEuses customized blends of essential oils for deep soul-level healing work, which involves archetypal blending.
The term archetype refers to a unique intangible construct of the soul that generates a characteristic pattern of perceptible emotional and physical expressions. In turn, these expressions—such as temperament, personality traits, reactional tendencies and diverse symptoms of dysfunction, such as anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, stomach weakness, etc.—are considered to be archetypal images.
The basic premise of SPE is: In order to be able to ameliorate soul-level disharmony, the essential oil blender must engage with the archetypes embedded within the fabric of the soul rather than with the archetypal images that manifest as emotional and physical symptoms.
Spiritual PhytoEssencing is a synthesis of certain aspects of: aromatherapy, doctrine of signatures, classical homeopathy, modern physiology, Kabbalah, philosophy, anthroposophical science, Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, depth psychology, gemstone healing and color therapy.
I have used this synthesis to develop individualized portraits of the inner soul nature of each of the oils used in SPE blending. Thus far, I have elaborated highly detailed portraits of 123 different oils. Accordingly, each of the oils represents a unique plant soul with a characteristic mixture of prominent archetypal qualities.
Since each soul is characterized by an array of archetypal patterns, soul-level healing work is best approached with a customized blend of essential oils rather than a single oil. In SPE, the construction of a custom essential oil blend is similar to painting a portrait. Accordingly, the custom blend development process can be characterized as “painting a portrait in oils.”
The relative effectiveness of a custom oil blend will depend upon the degree of congruence there is between a person’s soul archetypal organization and the archetypal organization that emerges from the combination of plant souls within the blend. It is this congruence that will encourage the person’s soul to absorb the soul-force generated by the plant soul combination and use it to reorient toward alignment with the inner spiritual self.
Given the wherewithal, the soul’s first priority is to overcome the estrangement between the self-conscious personal self and the higher self. When these aspects of soul existence are reintegrated, the latter reassumes its natural hierarchical superiority and once again contextualizes and guides the operations of daily existence. Clearly, this wholeness of being is a crucial component of mind/body wellness.
The Eternal “I”

The “I” is the immortal aspect of the soul which journeys through the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. It carries with it the “DNA” of past life qualities and brings them to the portal of rebirth where it picks up new ones. But these exist only as potentialities, all of which coexist in seamless harmony.
The “I” is core of being. It is the I-Am. It is that which is aware. It is the true self and its actualization is required for one’s ability to develop conscious relationships with others, animals, plants, rocks, stars, all the elements of the natural world as all of these are imbued with a level of consciousness as well. If all derives from the divine than some element of divine consciousness must be in-dwelling.
The “I” is a distillate of divine consciousness which has become individuated, or attained singularity, via its journey through the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
The real self is that aspect of the self-structure which is in direct association with the “I.” To an extent, it is a tangible, reflected image of the archetypal pattern associated with the “I.” And so, the real self is the portion of the self-structure that emerges from the “I.” Thus, via the “I,” the real self is the pole of the self-structure which never breaks contact with spirit.
The ideal self arises from the real self to serve as the ego-mind and as a “survival personality” to navigate through the difficult waters of mortal life. However, it is strongly influenced and modified by the influential figures in one’s youth as well as the formative experiences and circumstances of one’s life.
Soul Archetypes

In Jungian psychology, the term archetype refers to inherited patterns of thought or symbolic imagery, present in the individual unconscious, which derive from the infinite inventory of past experiences stored within the collective unconscious.
While Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious is undoubtedly a rich source of the formative archetypes of the soul, SPE emphasizes genetics, miasms, childhood constitutional remodeling (generally directed by the conditions of worth set by the parents and the character of the emotional milieu in which the child grows up) and past lives as primary sources of influential archetypes.
As noted above: In SPE, the term archetype refers to a unique intangible construct of the soul that generates a pattern of characteristic potentials. Accordingly, particular patterns of emotional and physical symptoms are viewed as tangible expressions of underlying psycho-spiritual archetypes. Thus, these symptoms are considered to be archetypal images.
As regards the “structure” of the soul, the eternal “I” can be compared to the nucleus of an atom, and the electrons correlate with the orbiting electrons. The “I” accumulates archetypal “electrons” via genetics, non-genetic intergenerational transference (see miasms discussion below), carryover from past lives, and constitutional remodeling occurring during early childhood via consistent reaction to the domestic influences and other aspects of early psychosocial conditioning.
Spiritual PhytoEssencing case-study analysis largely depends upon the ability to perceive archetypal modes, and then, trace these back to specific archetypes.
An archetypal mode (a type of archetypal image) is a specific combination of selected perceptual filters (how the individual evaluates his life experiences and then perceives them in his or her consciousness) employed by the ego-mind and a particular psychosocial role (persona) that the ego activates in relation to everyday experiences. Archetypal modes are essentially a combination of behavioral and reactional modes.
Miasms

The concept of constitutional miasms is a homeopathic one that I have adapted into SPE. Accordingly, a miasm is an archetype with a characteristic pattern of archetypal images and modes that is transmitted from generation to generation bioenergetically, rather than genetically. In SPE, it is further believed that miasms can also be transmitted from one incarnation to the next along the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
The term miasm is also an archaic medical term referring to a harmful or noxious vapor or mist, or an evil humour (a fluid or semifluid substance) within the body. In its failed state, an archetypal miasm acts as a type of pervasive energy field that establishes itself as a resistance barrier to deep-seated healing on both physical and psychospiritual levels.
Although most of the miasms are named for particular diseases such as cancer or tuberculosis, a miasm itself is not an actual disease state. Rather, a miasm is an archetypal field that generates a complex of physical symptom propensities and emotional reactional tendencies, which resemble those manifested by someone who is actually afflicted with the disease for which it is named.
Accordingly, each of the miasms has characteristic physical and emotional qualities and symptoms (i.e., archetypal images), which, in conjunction, announce its presence. Similarly, essential oils, based upon their plant characteristics and history, the nature of the symptoms for which they are specific, as well as their diverse portfolio of synchronicities (e.g., Six Element, gemstone, homeopathic remedy, etc.) have a special affinity for one or more of the miasms.
The identification of an individual’s prominent miasmatic influences helps in differential diagnosis regarding essential oil selection. Also, it opens up a new, heretofore unexplored, dynamic in work with essential oils that enables the practitioner to more effectively penetrate the layers of chronic symptoms (archetypal images) in a case and gain access to the germinal, central disharmony on the psycho-spiritual plane.
The Separation Miasm: A Zeitgeist Miasm

While in classical homeopathy each of the miasms has a specific disease lineage and is transferred intergenerationally, in SPE, it is believed that an overarching zeitgeist, via its impact upon collective consciousness, can imprint a miasm on even a fully established, mature human constitution.
The German term zeitgeist (meaning spirit of the age) derives from eighteenth- to nineteenth-century German philosophy. Accordingly, a zeitgeist is an invisible consciousness force that is highly influential regarding the collective consciousness during a given historical era. Each era has a unique zeitgeist, a unique consciousness environment that sets it apart from all other epochs. The zeitgeistdefines the spirit or mood of that era, manifesting as specific popular ideas, beliefs, attitudes and reactional qualities. In 1933, Aldous Huxley wrote in a letter that the zeitgeist “is a most dismal animal and I wish to heaven one could escape from its clutches.”
The zeitgeist of the current era is most prominently the product of separation; more specifically, separation behaving as an active force. This force of separation permeates virtually every major societal influence. In this reference, the most prominent influences, and thus, contributing factors to the emergence of the 21st century Separation Miasm, include:
1) The COVID 19 Pandemic
Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the zeitgeist like no other disease has since the 1918 flu epidemic. There is a very prominent, characteristic pattern of archetypal images associated with this pandemic era.
The theme of separation was an overarching one during the years of the pandemic. Everyone was required to wear masks, infected people had to isolate, schools closed and classes no longer consisted of groups of interactive students, but rather, individual students trapped at home, learning via their computer monitors.
Perhaps the most highly charged separating factor was the “vaccine” (not actually a conventional vaccine, but rather a gene-modifying drug). Highly controversial, not only from a scientific standpoint, but because of the imposition of divisive vaccine mandates. This injection factor separated entire families along the lines of those who believed in the officially approved narrative about the drug and those who didn’t. There was also separation within the community of health practitioners, with those who disagreed with the questionable science used to promote the injection being angrily ostracized, and others having their scientific evidence censored.
2) Political Polarization
The 2016 presidential election resulted in the election of a narcissistic miscreant who willfully placed to this country’s electorate on a stump and split it like a piece of firewood into two rival factions. This act of aggressive polarization was a strategic one intended to organize his base into a loyal army of partisans that would sustain his ability to aggrandize power and influence indefinitely. The scars of his rule are long lasting, and it will take time to effectively knit the wound of division he inflicted upon this nation. Ever since, the left and right polar ends of the electorate have been emboldened to launch invective and radicalized rhetoric ordnance at each other, with everyone else experiencing collateral damage, as they hunkered down in the no man’s land of the center.
3) Cultural Divide
This country has always been multicultural, but somehow, throughout its history, this diversity has always been able to blend together, enabling a functional national identity. However, in recent years, this dependable miscibility is gone. In its place is a clash of cultural ideas emanating from the progressive and conservative wings of the sociopolitical spectrum, which the reasonable majority of the populace, caught in the crossfire, neither asked for nor resonates with.
4) Generational Divide
Of course, there has long been a generational divide. I grew up in the 1950s when rock and roll first appeared on the musical scene and contributed to what was then called the “generation gap.” However, the ideas that are becoming the norm among those of the current generation, are often more radical and difficult for older folks to either comprehend or digest.
Most of the music of this era has abandoned melody, and is cacophonous, monotonous and superficial. Being trapped in a dentist’s chair for an hour, forced to listen to this piped-in, vacuous racket is just as tortuous as the dental procedure itself. The humor that modern comedians offer is often mean-spirited and insensitive. Seemingly, the idea that a comedian should tell inoffensive, funny jokes has fallen out of fashion. Instead, a typical comedian’s set consists of a small-minded, opinionated, profane rant. Thus, the older generations who simply want melodic, soothing music and good-natured humor have been abandoned by an entertainment industry obsessed with the market potential of the younger generations.

The Kabbalah and the Theme of Separation

A central feature of Lurianic Kabbalism (the Kabbalistic system based upon the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria, a great 16th century Kabbalist) is the concept of tsimtsum (Hebrew for concealment or contraction): God’s withdrawal from the central point of the universe, which resulted in a vacated space in which finite Creation could unfold.
According to the Lurianic Kabbalah, the creation of a finite world is predicated on God’s self-limitation. Without this self-limitation, expressed in the act of tsimtsum, God would fill the entire universe with infinite light and nothing whatsoever could be distinguished from God. In creating a finite world, therefore, God must contract or conceal an aspect of the divine to “make room,” as it were, for finite, independent things.

This withdrawal or self-banishment of God’s essence into itself is the primordial exile that, while facilitating Creation, is the template for all the forms of separation and exile that underlie the existence of harsh judgment and evil. Evil, which existed only as a potential within the uncreated Light, was activated by the separation of the semi-autonomous material world from spirit. Accordingly, as a general rule, separation is a prerequisite for the manifestation of evil.

The Kabbalah uses the word “exile” to describe human existence ─ an existence where everything is “out of place.” Human effort is required to effect both a repair of the material world and its reunification with spirit. Until this process of Tikkun is complete, life will always be characterized by great yearning.
“When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti in Freedom From the Known
“Psychologically speaking, an original unitary psyche must differentiate into all of the details, conflicts and particularities of an individual life, only to seek, and ultimately discover, an essential unity which informs and reconciles each of the details and contradictions of actual lived experience. This is the process through which a human subject becomes a fully individualized Self.”
Sanford Drob, Ph.D. in The Lurianic Kabbalah: A Psychological Interpretation
Otto Rank: The Trauma of Birth

Early 20th century, Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank (1884-1939) in his classic book The Trauma of Birth emphasizes the central importance of the factor of separation in human psychology. He writes:
“The human being needs many years—namely his whole childhood—in which to overcome the first intensive trauma [the birth trauma] in an approximately normal way. Every infantile expression of anxiety or fear is really a partial disposal of the birth anxiety. Just as the anxiety at birth forms the basis of every anxiety or fear, so every pleasure has as its final aim the reestablishment of the intrauterine primal pleasure.”

“When one loses a closely connected person, this loss reminds one again of the primal separation from the mother… [It] corresponds to a psychical repetition of the primal trauma.”


“Animals differing from the pouched animals, such as the kangaroo, have no partial return to the mother’s body for protection. So they substitute for this in a way that can only be called symbolic. For example, birds building nests. What we call animal instinct contains in its essence the tendency to make the outer world resemble as faithfully as possible the previously experienced primal state.
The essential factor in the development of neuroses seems to be that man, in the biological as in the cultural overcoming of the birth trauma [i.e., process of adjustment], comes to disappointment, etc.
In the anxiety dream, the birth trauma, the expulsion from Paradise, is often reproduced with all of its experienced physical sensations and circumstances.
We have surveyed the whole circle of human creation from the nocturnal wish-dream to the [postnatal] adjustment to reality as an attempt to materialize the primal situation- i.e., to undo the primal trauma. The newborn child could not live at all unless that part of the external world lying nearest to it, and, finally, the world itself, were immediately made into a substitute for the mother (midwife’s hands, warm water bath, soft swaddling, etc.).”

Clearly, the theme of separation that permeates the current era, in part via its reanimation of the “primal trauma,” is highly influential in fueling the epidemic of anxiety and related neuroses that have become so commonplace. Annually in the United States, nearly 1 in 5 adults manifests symptoms of a full-blown anxiety disorder. 1 in 4 teenagers struggle with chronic anxiety. Many people simultaneously experience multiple anxiety disorders, or anxiety along with other mental health symptoms, especially depression.
Thus, the informed use of the SPE Harmony Waves – Separation Miasm Relief Blend, as part of a focused effort to reduce the impact of the Separation Miasm upon an individual’s psychospiritual operations, may exert a highly beneficial impact.
In Part II of this article, I present the details of how, using the SPE Repertory of Essential Oils and Berkowsky’s Synthesis Materia Medica/Spiritualis of Essential Oils, I determined which oils to include in this blend.
Note: Part II of this article is available only to those registered in the NHSS/SPE Membership Program.