Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens) is a mystical tree that grows near the coast of South America and is related to Frankincense, Myrrh, and Copal. Botanically, Palo Santo is a member of Burseraceae family; it is a close relative of the Elephant Tree (Bursera microphylla), an aromatic tree that grows in the desert of the southwestern United States and Baja California, and a more distant relative of frankincense trees (Boswelia). In Spanish, the name translates to “Holy Wood - Tree of Life”. It is traditionally used to purify bacteria from the air; and above all, it is believed to clear bad energy and spirits that stagnate within spaces.
Palo Santo is one of the most important trees used in traditional ethnobotanical medicine of South America. Widely used as an incense for repelling mosquitoes, the wood is also cooked into decoction and taken for fevers, infections, and skin diseases. It’s still widely used by shamans of the Andes in curing ceremonies. Although the oil is present in young trees and saplings, the highest quality is distilled from the aged heartwood. Palo Santo Essential Oil is golden yellow, with a fresh and intense citrus aroma. Under the lemon top notes are subtle resinous wood notes and a slight medicinal pungency, which give the oil an intriguing complexity.
Throughout time, Palo Santo stands as a revered symbol of spiritual significance and natural healing across indigenous cultures. This mystical tree has a rich history dating back to ancient civilizations, where it was utilized for its potent aromatic properties in rituals of purification and healing. Used traditionally in South American tribal ceremonies known as limpias, Palo Santo's smoke is believed to cleanse negative energies and promote spiritual renewal.
Beyond its ceremonial use, Palo Santo Essential Oil holds a profound ethnobotanical legacy, which is deeply intertwined with cultural worship and holistic healing practices. In contemporary wellness practices, Palo Santo has garnered attention for its versatile benefits beyond spiritual rituals. Its aromatic essence is harnessed in aromatherapy to alleviate stress, anxiety, and fatigue, while its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties make it a natural choice for soothing respiratory issues and enhancing overall respiratory health. Diffusing the warm, resinous scent of Palo Santo within living spaces not only fosters an atmosphere of tranquility but also nurtures creativity and mental clarity, offering a serene sanctuary amidst the demands of daily life.
As we delve deeper into the multifaceted allure of Palo Santo, its ancient wisdom and modern applications renew our sense of reverence for nature’s healing gifts. Whether experienced through its sacred smoke in rituals or its therapeutic essence in holistic remedies, Palo Santo continues to embody a timeless connection between humanity and the sacred trees who offer us protection.
However, the sustainable harvesting and ethical sourcing of Palo Santo have become pivotal considerations, ensuring its preservation for future generations and upholding its ecological and cultural significance. Palo Santo trees have been seriously exploited in South America, especially in Ecuador. In many parts of the country where the trees once grew abundantly, the populations are now decimated, deforested for use as incense, medicine, fuel, or for making aromatic boxes. The preservation of the last remaining forests of this precious tree is critical.
Be mindful that most of the Palo Santo you see in the markets is not ethically harvested from naturally fallen and dead trees, nor is it directly supporting indigenous families to receive livable wages. We aim to provide sustainable Palo Santo to support the preservation of native lands, and culture that surrounds the sacred and ceremonial harvest of this sacred tree. Supporting proper harvesting supports the preservation of indigenous lands and consciousness.
We proudly source our essential oils from various ecological projects worldwide, each with a unique story of community empowerment, sustainable agriculture, and the preservation of ethnobotanical heritage. It’s critical to us that our products leave positive footprints on their journey to you.
Bursera graveolens is native to the Galapagos Islands and thrives in northern Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, and Ecuador’s coastal dry forests. The largest population of Palo Santo trees in South America resides in Parque Nacional Machalilla, Ecuador, where our distiller practices careful ecological harvesting. Only naturally fallen branches and trunks are gathered, adhering to strict conservation laws; every piece of wood is either distilled or used for medicinal or incense purposes. Our distiller’s efforts have prevented destructive logging practices in the park, ensuring sustainable management and employment opportunities for local communities.
Despite legal protections, Palo Santo trees in Machalilla face threats. Recent attempts to exploit the park’s resources were thwarted, thanks to advocacy efforts by our distiller. Now, the Ecuadorian government is exploring sustainable harvesting and oil distillation as a specialized industry that benefits local villages and safeguards the forest for future generations.
In addition to harvesting, our distiller conducts research into Palo Santo propagation and cultivation, saving young trees from deforestation elsewhere. Your purchase supports these conservation efforts and helps preserve the cultural significance of Palo Santo.
Our commitment also extends to Peru, where we ethically source Palo Santo from the Chiclayo-Lambayeque region. Harvested by a small family committed to natural tree death, not induced for commerce, this Palo Santo is grown on their land, supporting local reforestation efforts and upholding ethical standards in extraction. By choosing our Palo Santo oil, you’re supporting sustainable practices and contributing to the preservation of this ancient and revered tree species.
Palo Santo wood has been burned for centuries for meditation, sacred ceremonies, and to cleanse and purify the air. Our ancestors knew about its benefits long before scientific methods would prove them. In medical aromatherapy, the oil can be used as an anxiolytic agent that counteracts stress, panic attacks and anxiety, a respiratory remedy for asthma, cough, cold and flu symptoms, for headaches and migraines, depression or emotional pain, and in massage therapy for pain and inflammation of the muscles and joints.
Our Palo Santo oil contains high levels of limonene, a monoterpene compound that has been found to have chemo-preventive and chemotherapeutic effects against several types of cancer. This powerful essential oil produces far more than spiritual ambiance—it’s high in terpenes, including limonene, making it a valuable botanical for overall well-being.
Palo Santo oil is extremely powerful for fighting illness by purifying airborne pathogens while lifting your mood—easing depression, anxiety, and the effects of trauma. Healthline states that limonene “has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-stress, and possibly disease-preventing properties”. Therefore, Palo Santo oil has great healing potential, as confirmed by this scientific study noting its “remarkable antimicrobial activity.” A natural purifier, you can use it in your diffuser to keep you and your family healthy with the changing of each season.
As a psychosomatic healer, Palo Santo can bring peace to your heart, flooding your energy field with light. In spiritual aromatherapy, it can be beneficial for meditation, concentration, and for enhancing creativity and learning. Here are two more ways the Holy Wood supports spiritual bodies:
Rebalancing Vata Dosha
Naturally derived and potent, Ayurveda utilizes essential oils to gently restore balance to your energy. Ayurvedic medicine posits that there are five elements that make up the world: ether (or space), water, earth, fire, and air. We are each made up of these elements, too, represented by the doshas. You may have any combination of these elements, but your dosha reflects which elements factor most prominently into your constitution.
An Ayurvedic practitioner can help you determine your dosha, but here are the basics on the elements each dosha expresses the most:
- Kapha: Earth and water
- Pitta: Fire and water
- Vata: Air and ether
Let’s take a deeper look at how Palo Santo essential oil can support and rebalance Vata dosha.
Air and ether dominate a Vata dosha. They are cool, flowing, spacious, and light—and their dry qualities are represented by autumn, for its cool, dry days. Vatas are known to be slender, creative, and sometimes eccentric. They’re often flexible and easy breezy, yet their moods can change with whatever’s happening around them.
Mentally, they can become easily overwhelmed. stressed, and forgetful. Emotionally, they may experience high levels of anxiety and can have trouble sleeping. Physically, they have poor circulation and generally don’t like the cold. They may have irregular eating habits and experience digestive issues.
The best oils for a Vata will be warming and alleviating the mental and emotional stress that often builds up in Vatas, including Palo Santo, Jatamansi, and Clary Sage, which help Vatas relax, go inward, and center. These oils may help soothe an agitated nervous system, calm an overactive mind, and support strong vitality.
The Seventh Chakra
Chakras are spiritual energy centers in our bodies, and each of the seven chakras is associated with a specific energy and healing theme. Essential oils, flower essences, and other botanicals can work with these healing themes to bring us into balance and flow.
Transcendence. Bliss. Spiritual Connection. The seventh chakra is the gateway to spiritual connection and enlightenment. Balancing this chakra brings spiritual growth, sacred communion, and the transcendence of our past limitations. We experience a mindful connection with the universe, no longer bound by feelings of isolation or separateness.
Balance Your Crown Chakra: Euphoric temple incense Palo Santo has been used extensively in Andean and other shamanic purification rituals. Palo Santo oil can also be used during massage work to seal intentions while calling in spirit allies for support and protection.
Renowned for its distinctive fragrance and pronounced healing powers, Palo Santo is a true aromatic treasure. Worshiped by indigenous cultures for its purifying and healing powers, it’s primarily celebrated for its ability to help cultivate an inner space that makes healing possible. With its antimicrobial, antidepressant, and anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) powers, shamans say it attracts good fortune, repels negativity, supports creativity, removes obstacles, and is extremely beneficial for panic attacks.
Palo Santo is also said to have an emotionally uplifting and balancing effect. Often used in shamanic rituals, it is considered an especially valuable tool for meditation, enhancing creativity and tasks that require sustained concentration. With a softness and sweetness similar to some species of Frankincense, it is an ideal additive to massage oils.
Furthermore, Palo Santo oil is among the best oils to use via direct palm inhalation for its clearing and inspiring properties. It has settling, calming and grounding qualities, thus making it a great ally for maintaining emotional equanimity, as well as a superb oil for spiritual uplifting.
