The Art of Spiritual PhytoEssencing
Deep Soul-Level Healing Work with Essential Oils
The basic premise of Spiritual PhytoEssencing 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 which 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 and folklore, depth psychology, gemstone healing and color therapy.
Dr. Berkowsky has used this synthesis to develop individualized portraits of the inner soul nature of each of the oils used in Spiritual PhytoEssencing blending. Thus far he has elaborated highly detailed portraits of 120+ different oils.
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 Spiritual PhytoEssencing, 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 inner soul image and the soul image constructed by 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 its divine source.
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.
Berkowsky’s Synthesis Materia Medica/Spiritualis of Essential Oils and the Spiritual PhytoEssencing Repertory Of Essential Oils are the reference material to practice SPE. The materia medica is over 760,000 words spanning across 120+ chapters with each chapter covering one plant. Individual Chapters from Synthesis Materia Medica / Spiritualis of Essential Oils are also available.

Interested in Joining Dr. Berkowsky's Student and Practitioner Group?
Join the membership program to have access to guidance, lectures and workshops and more by Dr. Berkowsky on the theory and practice of the Natural Health Science System (NHSS) and Spiritual PhytoEssencing (SPE).
NHSS will include instruction in healthful natural diet and cooking, strategic nutritional supplementation, Vital Chi Skin-Brushing, naturopathic hydrotherapies, herbal medicine, cell salts, homeopathy, acupoint therapy, chi kung (Qi Gong) exercise (chi kung is actually apart of both the NHSS and SPE) and much more.
SPE will include the in-depth study of specific essential oils and gemstone essences, guided blending exercises, case-study analysis work, the basics of blend formulation, interactive cosmic light projections, and more.
Articles on Spiritual PhytoEssencing
Therapeutic Value of Gray Light
Learn about the Therapeutic Value of Gray Light, Left/Right Brain and Psychical Balancing with Gray Light, Gray Agate, Gray Agate Gemstone Essence, and Frankincense Essential Oil
Essential Oil Blending, Surrounding Essence Alchemy Technique and Copaiba Oil
When you are preparing your next essential oil blend, consider beginning with a surrounding essence. You will find that this simple Spiritual PhytoEssencing alchemy technique will enhance the power and overall dynamics of the blend.
Soothing the Abdominal Brain with Synergy of Blue Chamomile Essential Oil, Labradorite Gemstone Essence and Blue Light Therapy
Disturbances of the abdominal brain require a broad spectrum therapeutic response featuring dietary change, nutrient supplementation, exercises, breathing exercises, hydrotherapy, therapeutic sunbathing, improved rest and sleep habits, etc. The protocol presented in this article is being offered as an example of adjunctive measures that may prove of good service when implemented in concert with the more fundamental elements such as said dietary changes and breathing exercises, etc. .
Spiritual PhytoEssencing and the Tao of Essential Oil Blending
“The Tao that can be told, is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named, is not the eternal name. The unnamed, is the origin of Heaven and Earth. Naming, is the mother of all things. Without desire, one views the mystery. Desiring, one can view only the...
The Bloodstream: The River of Life
The Importance of Normal Blood Velocity and 3 Ways to Help Maintain it - Part I In this article: The crucial importance of maintaining normal blood velocity Atherosclerosis Vital Chi Skin-Brushing for supporting normal blood velocity Alternate Warm/Cool Shower...
SPE Separation Miasm-Relief Blend – Harmony Waves – Part I
Read this article by Dr. Bruce Berkowsky to learn about 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.
One of Carl Jung’s Cases Analyzed from a Spiritual PhytoEssencing Perspective
In the this article, Dr. Bruce Berkowsky demonstrates the unique SPE art of case-study analysis using one of the cases Carl Jung which he describes in his book Memories, Dreams, Reflection. These ideas are another of the foundation stones in the theoretical context of SPE.
Gingergrass and Palmarosa Oils: Differentiation via Gemstone Synchronicities
Gingergrass is a close sibling species of Palmarosa, these two oils are oils are distilled from two different varieties of the exact same plant species. Learn about the subtle differences between the two plants and understand the inner nature of these two oils via their gemstone synchronicities.
Spiritual PhytoEssencing Repertory of Essential Oils: An Invaluable Tool When Preparing Soul-Healing Blends
When I developed the SPE interview, data interpretation and blending protocol, I adapted some of its central features from classical homeopathy; another very creative yet highly disciplined healing art, which I have practiced for many years. One of these features is the development and use of a repertory.
Coming of Age Memories, Miasms and Essential Oils
This anecdote about nascent teen summer romance can serve as an object lesson about the Psoric miasm and anise oil.
Staying Healthy During The Long, Hot Summers In The Age Of Global Warming Part II
Learn about essential oils, gemstone essences, cool water hydrotherapies and molecular hydrogen for responding to heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Return To The One Essential Oil Blend – Part I: Foundational Themes of the Formulation
Recently, I formulated a new Spiritual PhytoEssencing (SPE) blend (that my students will be blending and working with) called Return To The One that has great relevance in this era of general divisiveness, separation from one’s real self, and estrangement from spirit,...
The Neutral Bath: A Relaxing Bath for 21st Century Stress
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Neutral Bath—a type of full-bath—served as an important sedative therapy for institutionalized, emotionally agitated individuals. In this era of unrelenting emotional and physical stresses, the Neutral Bath may be effectively used to soothe and relax the mind/body organism, affording it the opportunity to restore equilibrium. Learn how to take a Neutral Bath and the complementary essential oils for the Neutral Bath.
What Inspired Me to Develop the Art of Spiritual Phytoessencing
In the mid-1990s, after nearly 20 years of clinical practice, I came to two crucial conclusions. The first is that all chronic disease, and to a great extent human unhappiness, is characterized by inertia or “stuckness.” The second is that disharmony on both physical...
The Inner Nature of Essential Oils
Essential oils are both biochemical and bioenergetic entities. The practice of Spiritual PhytoEssencing involves the use of phytoessences (i.e., plant essential oils) that are generated and stored by the plant in specialized cells. Virtually every part of the plant...
The Self-Actualizing Tendency, Real Self and Ideal Self
The self-actualizing drive is the innate creative force within the soul regarding the actualization of one’s potentials. A person who is continually evolving on a deep psychospiritual level is someone whose self-actualizing drive is active and sustaining its...
Homeopathic-Style Potentized Dilution of the Custom Blend
Given my background as, among other things, a classical homeopath, and my focus upon the bioenergetic potential of essential oils, the use of a homeopathic-style potentized dilution is prepared from a customized essential oil blend (in addition to the use of the blend...
Miasms
In Spiritual PhytoEssencing, one of the central archetypes that needs to be determined in each case are the miasms. A miasm is the homeopathic concept that I have adapted into Spiritual PhytoEssencing, of an archetype with a characteristic pattern of archetypal images...
Archetypal Blending
In Spiritual PhytoEssencing, the practitioner is taught how to identify the archetypal pattern that characterizes a particular individual’s soul dynamics. Various components of this pattern are then proficiently matched with corresponding essential oils. The resultant...
A Holiday Miracle, Santa Claus and Douglas-Fir Essential Oil
Fortunately, you don’t have to believe in Santa to appreciate this particular miracle. We’re all experiencing some degree of hard times right now. I thought that passing along this tale would sprinkle some soul-light among the clouds. Read on to learn more about the Douglas-Fir individual, Hospitalized Children and Santa Claus.
Essential Oils, Fearfulness and the Arrow of Time
The faster the pace of one’s daily life, the shorter the duration of periods of time seem to be. Learn how to prepare
deep-acting, soul-level healing blends for individuals whose lives seem to be caught up in the racing river of entropy and whose perceptual filters, reactional tendencies and decision-making processes are strongly influenced by the awareness of the acceleration of the arrow of time.
Essential Oil Blending, Magic Drops Alchemy Technique and the Archetypal Nature of Tea Tree Oil
Today’s article is a follow-up to my previous article in which I discussed the surrounding essence, an alchemy technique that I have developed for the Spiritual PhytoEssencing (SPE) blending. In this article, I describe another blending SPE alchemy technique called...
Essential Oils and the Chakras: Understanding the Inner Nature of Champaca Oil via its Chakra Affinities
A chakra can be viewed as being a type of archetypal form. Once one identifies which chakras are more influential than others in a person’s mental and physical nature, then oils whose pattern of chakra affinities have a high degree of congruence with that person’s pattern can be selected for inclusion in a personalized blend that encourages soul-level healing.
Spiritual PhytoEssencing Light-Glow Emitter Technique
I developed this SPE technique to subtly diffuse the Light within plants and essential oils into the atmosphere to counteract pervasive darkness and to assuage the negative emotions that derive from it.
Gandhi Root, Camel Jasper and the Long, Rewarding Journey of Self-Actualization
Learn about the properties of a lesser known essential oil called gandhi root and its spirit-level synchronicity with the gemstone camel jasper, the mystical symbolism associated with the camel, and when correlated, how all of these reveal the inner nature of an individual for whom gandhi root oil is specific.
Essential Oils And The Divine Feminine
Modern life features an ongoing degenerative process, whose impact on a soul level is comparable to the destructive effect climate change exerts upon our planet. This degenerative process is fueled by the disappearing influence of the Divine Feminine. In fact, climate...
Peppermint Oil and The Phosphorescent Personality
Archetypes and Archetypal Images Plants are living organisms and all living things, plant and animal, are ensouled. Accordingly, the essential oil is the carrier of the most concentrated portion of the plant's soul essence. In this reference, anthroposophy founder...
Mind/Body “Wholing” Precedes True Healing
Wild Mind; Understanding Symptoms; True Nature of Fever; Connecting Therapeutics to the Laws of Nature; Wholism vs. Reductionism; Mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) & More!
Pine Oil and the Aftermath of the Death of a ‘GLADIATOR’: The theme of guilt feelings associated with unintentional harm
Pine oil is an important oil to consider when blending for a paralytic emotional state characterized by traumatization and related guilt feelings. Relative to soldiers and other warrior types, pine oil harbors powerful astral body forces.
Roman Chamomile and the Theme of Ambiguous Loss
Ambiguous loss, sometimes referred to alternatively as frozen grief, is associated with a lack of closure or clear understanding of the circumstances. Roman chamomile has specificity for a number of varieties of ambiguous loss involving some feeling of guilt, difficult choices and conflicted personal leadership.
Marjoram Oil and the Perception of Threat to One’s Self-Concept
A discussion of Dr. Carl Rogers’ foundational concepts and their relevance regarding the inner conflict of the marjoram oil individual.
Humble Radiance: The Central Importance of Humility in Soul-Level Blending
Activating the Soul-Level Healing Potential Within Essential Oils Via Soul-Level Humility; The Tree Of Life Vessel Of Keter; Angela of Foligno; Humility and Essential Oils as Teachers.
Prelude To A Kiss: Jasmine Oil And Overcoming The Fear Of Intimacy
The fear of intimacy may be the product of a diverse array of causative factors. Learn how and where Jasmine oil can be utilized in SPE for overcoming this fear.
The Art of the Blend Part II: The Zen State Required For Soul-Level Blending
In Spiritual PhytoEssencing blending, the blender must operate from an inner point of Nothingness and Silence in order to transcend the purely physical mechanics of blending and gain entry into the inner domain of the oils where the “divine sparks” are most concentrated.
The Art of the Blend Part I: Creating a Customized Blend for Deep Soul-Level Healing
Spiritual PhytoEssencing features the use of two types of essential oil blends: constitutional and situational. The constitutional blend is referred to as the “custom blend,” because it is customized to reflect the unique inner soul nature of one particular individual. This is Part 1 of a series of articles I’m presenting regarding the art of preparing essential oil blends for the purpose of deep soul-level healing, which is devoted to the rationale underlying the customized constitutional blend and the methodology used to create them.
Loss And Remembrance: An Essential Oil Blend For Those Who Have Been Deeply Affected By The Loss Of Children
Details for the preparation of an essential oil that can be used to help those wounded by the loss of a child. This blend is designed to penetrate beyond the emotions to the soul.
My Encounter with the Spirit of Cora: A Transitional Journey Using Essential Oils
In the process of writing the Douglas-fir chapter for my Synthesis Materia Medica/Spiritualis of Essential Oils, I have discovered that paternal nurturing is one of the central themes of the inner nature of Douglas-fir oil. Elaborating this theme rekindled a vivid...
Essential Oils Fall Webinar Training Intensive: Live Distance-Learning Training with Dr. Berkowsky
Copyright 2012-2022 by Joseph Ben Hil-Meyer Research, Inc.By Bruce Berkowsky, N.M.D., M.H., NCTMB Learn the Art of Soul-Level Healing with Essential Oils in the Comfort of Your Own Home For many years I taught an annual in-person training intensive in my home state of...
Pemou Oil and Life Here in the Going, Going, Gone
Looking back through the mists helps us learn about Pemou oil’s theme of extinction, relation with body and adrenal fatigue.
Why The Spiritually Sensitive Person Is Prone To Physical Ailments: The Life-Path Of The Clove Oil Individual
Learn about the the spiritual consciousness/physical-suffering conundrum and about clove oil that has relevance regarding soul-level disharmony in certain spiritual, sensitive, physically vulnerable individuals. Article Topics include: Health Challenges Among Mystics; Spiritual PhytoEssencing and Archetypal Blending; The Clove Oil Type; The Natrum silicatum Individual
The Art of Using Essential Oils To Integrate the Higher Soul and Personal Self
The Difference between Spiritual PhytoEssencing and Aromatherapy; The Concept of the Custom Essential Oil Blend; Identifying the Unique Soul-Nature of Each Essential Oil; The Importance of Intent in Spiritual PhytoEssencing Blending and The Role of the Spiritual PhytoEssencing Blender.
Essential Oils and the Transition from Life to Afterlife: The Art of Dying
Typically, when a patient is dying, conventional medicine switches into palliation mode. Accordingly, all its efforts are directed via pain medications and other drugs to control suffering. Certainly, the control of suffering is a leading priority. However, there is another equally vital aspect of treatment that is virtually ignored: the need to prepare that person’s soul for its transition to the next plane of its existence.
After The Tornado: Creating a Soul-Healing Essential Oil Blend for the Survivors
Like most Americans, I was dismayed this past week by the scenes of utter destruction and despair left in the wake of the tornadoes that, like malevolent mythological creatures, laid waste to populated areas throughout the South. I observed the razed houses and heard...
Essential Oils and the Transition from Life to Afterlife
Copyright 2011-2022 by Joseph Ben Hil-Meyer Research, Inc.By Bruce Berkowsky, N.M.D., M.H., NCTMB I am going to devote this issue of the Journal Of Spiritual PhytoEssencing to some of the important insights I gained through my all too brief work with Eve Rosenbloom, a...
The Trauma of Birth, Separation Anxiety and Essential Oils: Part II
Many essential oils, within a soul-level healing context, have varying degrees of relevance regarding birth trauma or particular aspects of birth trauma and/or separation anxiety. In this article I focus primarily on cinnamon oil. Topics include the Death-Rebirth Miasm; Using Homeopathic Remedy Cinnamomum; Cinnamon Oil and more.
The Trauma of Birth, Separation Anxiety and Essential Oils: Part I
Trauma of birth and seperation from the mother sets up a deep-seated fear, ingrained into both psycho-spiritual and physical memory. Thus, the theme of separation is a crucial one to note when analyzing a case study.
Essential Oils, Soul Archetypes and the Six Element Paradigm
Essential Oils and Direct Engagement with the Soul; Elements As Archetypes; The Six Element Paradigm; Air Element, Astral Body and the Animal Soul & Essential Oils Associated with the Air Element.
Essential Oils and Soul-Level Healing 3-Class Webinar Series
Copyright 2010-2022 by Joseph Ben Hil-Meyer Research, Inc.By Bruce Berkowsky, N.M.D., M.H., NCTMB Dr. Bruce Berkowsky will be presenting a 3-class Essential Oils And Soul-Level Healing Teleseminar Series with the first 2-hour teleseminar class scheduled for Wednesday,...
Anxiety, Solar Plexus and Essential Oil
Read this article to learn about anxiety; it’s connection to the solar plexus chakra; essential oils, gemstone and homeopathic remedies for anxiety based on the spiritual phytoessencing.
Essential Oils and Faith, Maternal Love, I-Thou Relation and Creating Angels
Cedarwood, carrot seed, lemongrass and angelica oils are integrated into a narrative concerning faith, nurturing via food and reciprocal soul-to soul relation not only between two people but between an individual and God.
Douglas-Fir Essential Oil: Primal Fear, Inferiority Complex and the Themes of Paternal Nurturing and Protection
A hard wind blowing off the Cascade Mountains; St. John’s Wort Essential Oil; Douglas-Fir Essential Oil; Douglas-Fir and Adler’s Concept of the Inferiority Complex; Themes of Paternal Nurturing and Protection
The Last Of Dass: Essential Oils and PTSD, Courage, Duty and Clairvoyance
It was late afternoon in November of 1984 when I heard someone enter through the front door of my combination office/natural apothecary. The office, where I conducted my practice was at the back; and, fronting the street, was the store that primarily served my clients...
Maternal Essence: Mother’s Day Essential Oil Blend Project
Copyright 2009-2022 by Joseph Ben Hil-Meyer Research, Inc.By Bruce Berkowsky, N.M.D., M.H., NCTMB I have designed a collaborative blending project for the attendees of my upcoming Essential Oils And Soul 3-Class Teleseminar Series that is certain to be a...
The True Nature of Eve of the Garden of Eden and Relevant Essential Oils
This articles demonstrates how to take scriptural archetypal maternal figures such as Eve (of the Garden of Eden) and translate the mystical qualities and symbolism associated with these mythical mothers into essential oil selections for inclusion in the Maternal Essence blend.
Maternal Essence Essential Oil Blend Part I: Corrrelating Mystical Qualities and Symbolism of Scriptural Maternal Figures With Specific Essential Oils
This article is Part I of a series of articles in which I will demonstrate how I am taking certain mystical qualities and symbolism associated with scriptural archetypal maternal figures such as Eve (of Adam and Eve) and translating these into essential oil selections...
Interpretation of Rose Oil’s Plant Signatures
Imaginative Consciousness: Developing “Pure Relation” With Essential Oils Philosopher J.N. Findlay in The Transcendence of the Cave remarks: “The other world [i.e., spiritual world] is, in fact, not so much another world as another half of one world, which two halves...
Remembering a “True” Holiday Gift
When I was young I enjoyed the Christmas season even though I'm Jewish and never celebrated it. The Christmas season coincides with the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, the Festival Of Lights. However, it went beyond that for me because the 1950s and 1960s Christmas had a...
Essential Oils and Birth-Family Relationships
Dysfunctional birth-family relationships are major catalysts in the development of an individual’s pain body. Learn which essential oils can be important regarding dysfunctional family relationships.
Archetypal images, Juniper Oil and Cowboy Jack
In June of 1973 I was teaching biology and general science in a very rough school in Brooklyn. Like many people who eventually became practitioners of the natural healing arts, I am driven by a strong Tubercular miasm current. Thus, like a fire-horse straining at the...
Basil Oil and the Scorpion-Type Individual
One of the basic synchronicities employed in Spiritual PhytoEssencing is long-term associations between an oil and a particular animal species. Learn about Basil and The Scorpion, Homeopathic Remedy Androctonos and Healing The Scorpion-Type’s Victims.
The Soul-Nature of Essential Oils
Phytoessences (plant essential oils) exert emotional and physical effects via the perception of their respective scents. The olfactory nerves: nerves related to the sense of smell are directly connected to cerebral centers, including the hypothalamus: a crucial...