Palo Santo
“Palo santo oil has been found to contains cancer-fighting compounds that lower oxidative stress and protect cells. Its protective phytochemicals seem capable of helping to stop disease formation within the digestive, endocrine, cardiovascular and nervous systems.”
~ Dr. Axe
Directions
- Light the stick with a match and allow to burn for a few moments.
- Once it is well lit, you can blow it out and use your hand to direct the smoke all over your body/home. It should continue to smoke without burning. If it stops, simply relight and begin again.
- Visualize the smoke taking away all negativity, allowing peace and Life to fill the space.
- Enjoy as an incense until stick is consumed, or safely extinguish and re-use.
From My Supplier
"We are very proud to work with a vendor who takes great care in the collection of Palo Santo. The trade of Palo Santo is highly regulated in South America and it is illegal to cut down trees for consumer use. Therefore all of the Palo Santo we get comes from naturally fallen trees that have been laying in the sun for years. This processing is verified, as are other treatment and quality standards, in several ways. SERFOR is one of the first in the line of defense of the forest. It is a program of the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture and their job is to strengthen forest management in a productive and sustainable manner in the Peruvian Amazon. Permits issued by SERFOR are required to collect and export Palo Santo to the US and other countries.
The United States Department of Agriculture works alongside US Customs & Border Protection to ensure that all documentation is up to date and all permits are on hand as required to import Palo Santo and wood products into the US. Several permits are required and verified with several internal departments of each program.
There are communities that live around the forests where Palo Santo trees grow in Piura, Peru, and they are responsible for collecting the Palo Santo wood. They never cut down trees mainly because it's illegal but also because there would be no scent. Palo Santo trees have to lay in the sun and dry for a very long time to accumulate the scent that they have. The communities describe their "harvesting" or "collecting" as if they were walking through the forest and cleaning it up - picking up branches and dead trees.
New Palo Santo trees are planted around the forest and the communities are working hard to get these areas classified as a protected forest to prevent damage and logging. Thousands of new trees are planted every single year to make sure the Palo Santo species sticks around for a very long time. Not only are we doing everything we can to work with the proper vendors who care about the environment and this sacred medicine, but this Palo Santo trade actually supports and feeds the local communities in Peru - they depend on it as a primary source of their small local economy."Cropwatch & The FairWild Foundation
Cropwatch
Is an Independent Watchdog for Natural Aromatic Products used in the aroma (fragrance/cosmetics, flavour, aromatherapy), traditional herbal medicine and phytochemical industries. Many of these natural commodities are under threat via their over-exploitation in the wild (see articles in Cropwatch Files section), or their continued use and availability faces uncertainty via the imposition of restrictive & over-precautionary legislation.
Established in 2008, the FairWild Foundation promotes the sustainable use of wild-collected ingredients, with a fair deal for all those involved throughout the supply chain.
The Numen Blog and the Sustainable Herbs Project
The Sustainable Herbs Project is a new project by the producers of the award-winning documentary, Numen: the Nature of Plants, the first feature length film on the healing power of plants. We are creating an interactive documentary following medicinal plants through the supply chain to provide you with the information needed to feel more confident about the herbal remedies you purchase. With stories, videos, and facts, we’ll bring the supply chain to life with interviews with men and women involved in all aspects of the industry.
http://www.numenfilm.com/blog/sustainable-herbs/