Journey to the spiritual heart of Japan

"People from all over the world come to pray at Koyasan. Koyasan, the sacred area above the sky, is known as ‘Issan Keidaichi’ which means that the whole area of Koyasan is the sacred area of the temple. So the place has a very magical, mysterious, and soothing atmosphere."

Taurus, Rose and the Virtue of Balance Reading Journey to the spiritual heart of Japan 4 minutes Next The Creation of Koyasan Sacred Mountain Room Mist

By sal battagliaJun 13, 2023

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I recently received an email from a friend who has just returned from her first trip to Japan. It was so wonderful to read of her heartfelt experience of Japan. Her words were – the trip was beyond magical. I love the energy of Japan. … I could sense the conscious reverence for nature. … I had some profound experiences there.

This made me realise how privileged I have been for the last 15 years to travel to Japan regularly; to visit our Perfect Potion shops; to catch up with our Japanese Perfect Potion team and customers. I am so grateful to have had the same experience that my friend spoke about every time I visit Japan.

When Kiyo san, our business partner introduced me to local distillers of Japanese essential oils, you can imagine how excited I was. It has been a privilege to obtain a small quantity of some very special and rare essential oils that are unique to Japan.

Together with Kiyo san and the Perfect Potion team in Japan we discussed how we could use the beautiful and rare kuromoji essential oil, which is often referred to as Japanese rosewood. The oil comes from the leaf and branches of a small shrub and it is sustainably wild harvested. The scent is delightful; it nurtures, warms, and comforts the heart – it protects the heart. The scent of kuromoji reminded us of omanori, otherwise known as amulets that can be purchased at temples and shrines around Japan. These amulets provide protection and are used to ward off misfortune and provide luck.

This gave us the idea to create a scented omamori, which we called Mamori – the verb for ‘to protect’. You can think of Mamori pulse point as an aromatic amulet to provide protection against stress and lift our spirits when they are down. As I could only receive a small quantity of kuromoji, I blended it with beautiful essential oils such as lavender, hinoki wood, fragonia, neroli, sandalwood, tea tree and petitgrain.

The second very sacred essential oil comes from one of the most sacred sites in Japan, the Koyasan mountains, in the Wakayama prefecture.

Koyasan is a UNESCO World Heritage Protected area that was established in 816 by Kobo Daishi (Kukai) to learn the teachings of an esoteric form of Buddhism.

One of the Perfect Potion team in Japan explained Koyasan as follows;

People from all over the world come to pray at Koyasan. Koyasan, the sacred area above the sky, is known as ‘Issan Keidaichi’ which means that the whole area of Koyasan is the sacred area of the temple. So the place has a very magical, mysterious, and soothing atmosphere.

Many of the trees on the Koya mountain are hundreds of years old, and the Koya forest is recommended for the practice of forest bathing.

When our distiller was able to share with us a small quantity of koyamaki leaf essential oil, from the sacred pine tree – Sciadopitys verticillate, I was so elated. I discussed with our Japanese Perfect Potion team how we could best use this oil and we decided to create the Koyasan sacred mountain room mist to embody the ambiance and feeling of the Koyasan mountains.

The mist is a beautiful blend of koyamaki leaf essential oil, blended with hinoki wood oil from Koyasan and a dash of uplifting yuzu oil. The mist truly embodies the atmosphere of Koyasan.