Ylang-Ylang

What this is

Ylang-Ylang (Cananga odorata). The flower of flowers, the heavy sweet bloom of the tropics whose oil is the heart of the richest perfumes. Worn for love and to calm an anxious heart, strewn on the marriage-bed in its native islands, it is desire and peace breathed in together.

What it governs

Ylang-Ylang answers to Venus and the element of Water. Its seat in the zodiac is Libra and Taurus, and its day is Friday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the full moon. In the old practice its office is plain: A drop on a pulse point for sensual opening; tropical Venus at her most opulent.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning ylang-ylang is warm and moist, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the flower oil. Its working colour follows Venus, green and rose; its metal is copper, its stones are emerald, rose quartz, its number 7, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Netzach. It is a herb of scent, working through the nose as much as the hand and it is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

One sweet calm in many hands: in the islands of its origin the petals are scattered on the wedding bed for love and union; the perfumers of every age build the heart of their love-scents upon it; folk craft reaches for it to ease an anxious heart and draw affection. The scent that calms the nerves is the same that wakes desire, peace and longing in one breath.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Ylang-Ylang on Today's Herb, Scent of the Hour, Angelic Herb, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its office: A drop on a pulse point for sensual opening; tropical Venus at her most opulent. As the Scent of the Hour its message arrives through the nose, so let its smoke or its smell set the temper of the hour. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Anael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with Venus's love and gentle harmony. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while full moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Ylang-Ylang draws love and calms the anxious heart. It teaches that desire and peace are not opposites but can be breathed together, that to be at ease is to be open to love. It asks you to let the anxious heart settle, and to meet affection from a place of calm rather than need.

Correspondences

planet

Venus

element

Water

zodiac

Libra, Taurus

number

7

sephirah

Netzach

day

Friday

colour

green, rose

metal

copper

stone

emerald, rose quartz

tarot

The Lovers