How to Make Your Own Luxurious Aphrodite Offering Oil
The Graces bathed her with heavenly oil such as blooms upon the bodies of the eternal gods - oil divinely sweet, which she had by her, filled with fragrance. She left sweet-smelling Cyprus and went in haste towards Troy, swiftly travelling high up among the clouds.
Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite
Aphrodite has long been associated with beauty, scent and perfumed oil.
Mythology tells us that after Aphrodite’s miraculous birth, the Kharites adorned her with sacred fragrant oils.
In this post we’re going to explore how we can create our own perfumed Aphrodite oil to use as an offering to her.
To get some historical context for what kind of scents we can include in our sacred offering oil.
Let’s turn to the birthplace of Aphrodite and one of her most important ancient cult centres:
Cyprus.
an Excavation in Cyrprus
Cyprus is an eastern Mediterranean island considered separate from Greece in the modern day.
Cyprus is often described at the birth place of Aphrodite.
One of her ancient epithets is Kypria ‘Of Cyprus’ and Kyprogeneia ‘Cyprus-Born’.
Whether due to the islands connection to the goddess of love or for some other reason.
Cyprus itself has enjoyed a long history of perfume making.
In 2003, archaeologists excavated a well preserved perfume site in Cyprus.
The excavation was led by Maria Rosaria Belgiorno of the National Research Council in Rome.
The ancient site appears to have been abandoned in 1850 BCE following an earthquake after a fire broke out fuelled by the huge amounts of oil held on site.
Tests carried out from the remnants of the site revealed that fourteen different oils were distilled there:
Bitter almond, bergamot, chamomile, coriander, lavender, laudanum, laurel, oak moss, myrtle, marjoram, parsley, pine, rosemary and sage.
According to Belgiorno the plants were likely ground up and then mixed with olive oil in clay jugs to be distilled into essential oils.
Perfume in ancient times were oil based.
Ancient Greek writers such as Theophrastus (270–285 BCE) and Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) discussed ancient perfumes in several ancient texts.
We know that a mixture of flowers, resins and leaves were used to create fragrance using a variety of methods.
So when it comes to making our own Aphrodite oil we’re going to be sticking to simple modern methods.
The Mystery of Aphrodite Oil
The excavation of the Cyprian perfume site caused quite a stir in the press.
Many articles linked the archaeological findings to the goddess Aphrodite.
It was speculated that the perfume site exported a specific type of perfume associated with Aphrodite.
This piqued my interest.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any perfume recipes from ancient writers, or from the excavators, linked to Aphrodite.
There’s no way to recreate a historically accurate perfume that was associated with Aphrodite.
How to Create Aphrodite Oil
So, how did I choose the ingredients that went into creating my Aphrodite offering oil?
Why, I’m so glad you asked.
To guide my decisions about the ingredients I looked at:
Primary sources
Mythology
Native botany of Cyprus
Plants found at the perfumery site in Cyprus
I chose to use dried plant matter and essential oils because these impart more scent and are less likely to spoil.
Feel free to use essential oils instead.
I also used to the cold infusion method because it’s the simplest method.
Also, allowing a long languid infusion process feels more in alignment with Aphrodite’s energy.
The Oil Ingredients
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (carrier oil)
Olive oil was produced at the perfumery site in Cyprus as a base for the distilled oils.
Olive oil was also given to the gods as offerings in ancient Greece.
Olive oil seems like a historically robust choice for a carrier oil.
The carrier oil will carry the scent of the rest of the ingredients during the cold infusion process.
Bergamot (top note)
Bergamot grows throughout the Mediterranean region including in Cyprus.
It was also found amongst the plants used in the Cyprus distillery by the archaeologists.
Bergamot is included in this recipe because I felt like the oil needed a fresh, zesty top note to balance out the other more earthy scents.
I used bergamot essential oil in my oil.
Rose (top note)
Roses are frequently associated with Aphrodite in mythology.
One myth describes the creation of red roses when Aphrodite bleeds on a white rose from a cut on her foot.
Rose acts as a light, fresh top note.
I used dried rose petals in my oil.
Rosemary (middle note)
The word rosemary comes from the Latin rosmarinus meaning ‘dew of the sea’ which feels appropriate for a seaborn goddess like Aphrodite.
Rosemary is included in this recipe because it’s native to Cyprus and the wider Mediterranean.
It was also amongst the fourteen plants found at the ancient Cyprus perfumery site.
I used dried rosemary in my oil.
Lavender (middle note)
Lavender was used in the Cyprus perfumery and is a useful middle note to round out the scent I wanted to achieve.
I chose to use lavender essential oil in my Aphrodite oil.
Frankincense (base note)
In ancient Greece, sweet smelling frankincense was widely burned as an offering to the Ouranic gods.
Frankincense has been included because of its use as an offering.
I used sustainable frankincense resin in my oil.
The resulting scent is both earthy, floral and fresh. I love it, but feel free to adjust the ingredients as you see fit!
Aphrodite Oil Ingredients
A 500ml wide mouthed glass jar and lid
30ml glass pipette bottle
Organic cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of frankincense resin
6 teaspoons of dried rosemary
6 teaspoons of dried rose petals
30 drops of bergamot essential oil
10 drops of lavender essential oil
How to Make It
1. On a Friday, set up your working area and light a pink beeswax candle.
Add one teaspsoon of frankincense resin, six teaspoons of dried rosemary and six teaspoons of dried rose petals to the 500ml wide mouthed jar.
Fill the jar to the top with the extra virgin olive oil.
3. Allow the oil to cold infuse for up to six weeks.
Gently shake the jar every day.
Once six weeks has passed, strain the oil to remove all of the old plant matter.
Pour the clear oil back into the wide mouthed jar.
4. Now that the oil has been cold infused it’s time to add the final essential oils.
Add thirty drops of bergamot essential oil and ten drops of lavender essential oil to the olive oil.
6. Pour the oil into the glass pipette bottle.
Add a small pinch of dried rose petals to the pipette bottle.
7. Light some rose incense, shake the oil and recite the Homeric hymn to Aphrodite.
Tell her that you’re going to dedicate this bottle of oil as an offering to her.
Leave the oil on your Aphrodite altar and by the following Friday your offering oil will be ready to use.
You can offer the oil to Aphrodite by filling a dish with water and dropping several drops of oil into it.
Or you can add a few drops of oil to a sacred bath.
It goes without saying, but please use precaution when putting anything on your skin.
Caution: If you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive you should avoid creating this oil altogether.