LOTUS - essential oil

Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), is also known as Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, or simply lotus, and it is one of two species of aquatic plant that has long been associated with purity, rebirth and divinity. Under favorable circumstances its seeds may remain viable for many years, with the oldest recorded lotus germination being from 1300 year old seeds recovered from a dry lake bed in northeastern China.

It is native to tropical Asia and Queensland, Australia and is commonly cultivated in water gardens. The lotus has the remarkable ability to regulate the temperature of its flowers to within a narrow range just as humans and other warmblooded creatures do.

An individual lotus can live for over a thousand years. Lotus is sacred to many religions; Hindus revere it with the divinities Vishnu (often described as the 'Lotus-Eyed One', a lotus comes from his navel with Brahma on it), and Lakshmi. Many deities of Asian religions are depicted seated on a lotus flower - goddess Sarasvati sits on a white lotus, as do Ganga and Ganesha. Its unfolding petals suggest the expansion of the soul.

The growth of its pure beauty from the mud of its origin holds a benign spiritual promise. In Buddhist symbolism, the lotus represents purity of the body, speech and mind as if floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire. According to legend, Buddha was born with the ability to walk, and lotus flowers bloomed everywhere he stepped. In Christianity, the St. Thomas Cross features a lotus underneath a cross.

The lotus is present in figurative form in many Asian cultures, representing elegance, beauty, perfection, purity and grace, being often used in poems and songs as an allegory for ideal feminine attributes. In Sanskrit the word lotus (padma) has many synonyms - since the lotus thrives in water, ja (denoting birth) is added to synonyms of water to derive some synonyms for the lotus, like ambuja (ambu = water + ja = born of), and names derived from the lotus, like padmavati (possessing lotuses) or padmini (full of lotuses) are often used to name girls and boys, in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos. It is associated with the Sun in Egyptology.

Health benefits
• Skin: astringent, moisturiser, anti-aging
• Anti-oxidant
• Anti-inflammatory
• Hypertension
• Digestion: releases gastric juices, improves appetite
• Cools the nervous system
• Improves concentration