A Weekend Immersion in Scent, Psyche & Lineage
June 27–28, 2026 | Full Moon in Sagittarius
Saturday & Sunday / 10am - 5pm
Illuminated Perfumer, Santa Fe, New Mexico
with Cathy Skipper (AromaGnosis) & Roxana Villa (Illuminated Perfume)
"Our ancestors speak in many languages: through the soil of their homeland, the myths and stories from their histories, the medicines and foods from the earth they sprang from, the incense of their altars and the flowers of their rituals. But the most direct language, the one that bypasses logic and lands straight in the body, is scent."
Join us for an ancestral re-connection through scent in an immersive weekend of olfactory archaeology, guided journeying, collage, and blending, rooted in the deep wisdom of Jungian psychology.
Whether you know your family tree back ten generations or nothing at all, the ancestors will guide the journey. You need only arrive with a sense of discovery and a willing heart.
What You Will Experience
- Explore how geography, ethnicity, religion, and spirituality can be experienced through scent. Burn incense as a bridge to the unseen.
- Work with marigold (cempasúchil), the flower with thousands of years of tradition in connecting the living and the dead. Understand its role in ancestral ritual across cultures.
- Discover how smell bypasses the rational mind and speaks directly to memory, emotion, and the ancestral body.
- Using sandalwood as your guide, map the Jungian terrain of psyche and see how ancestors shape every layer.
- Work with colors, textures, images, and landscapes that evoke your lineage, creating a visual key for your blend.
- A guided Journey to meet an ancient, healthy ancestral guide. Receive their wisdom, their scent, their blessing.
- Using your collage, your journey, and the anatomy of the psyche, formulate a personal natural perfume that encodes your healing.
- Review your blend, receive support, and learn how to continue your ancestral work after the weekend.
What to Do If You Don't Know Your Ancestors
Many people carry this fear: "I don't know my ancestors. I was adopted. My family history is lost. There is trauma I cannot name."
You do not need names, dates, or DNA results. The ancestors know you, they have been waiting for you to turn toward them. In this weekend, we will teach you how to trust their guidance, even in silence, and even in the unknown.
Cathy and Roxana will support you with concepts, grounding, and gentle structure. No one will be forced to share. No one will be left behind.
Your instructors
Cathy Skipper (aromagnosis.com cathysattars.com menopausealchemy.com)
Cathy is a pioneer in the fusion of aromatherapy, depth psychology, and ancestral healing. Her work guides participants into the shadow and the lineage with fierce gentleness. She has taught this work in Brazil, Taiwan, Europe, and now Santa Fe.
"Cathy doesn't just teach. She holds. I felt safe enough to cry, to remember, to create."
Roxana Villa (illiumintaedperfume.com)
Roxana is a master natural perfumer whose Santa Fe studio is a sanctuary of botanical scent. Her teaching is precise, intuitive, and deeply artistic. She will guide you from raw essence to finished perfume — without intimidation.
“A grounded, sensory awakening… I walked out with my very own handcrafted perfume.”
— Amruta
“I ultimately walked away with a beautifully crafted scent made by my own hands—and the confidence to begin creating on my own.”
— Eren M.
“This workshop opens up a whole world of perfume… an authentic experience with a master perfumer.”
— Cynthia Jones
Together, Cathy and Roxana, offer a rare alchemy!
Location
This workshop takes place within a dedicated botanical perfume studio in Santa Fe’s arts district, home to Illuminated Perfume and the School of Lost Arts. The space functions as both a working lab, a scent bar and a teaching environment, offering access to materials and practices not typically available outside a professional setting.
Workshops are intentionally kept small to allow for individual guidance and a focused, immersive experience. Group size maximum: 12 participants
Lena Street Lofts
School of Lost Arts / Illuminated Perfume
1600 Lena Street, A6 / Santa Fe, NM 87505
Nestled in the high desert arts district, Roxana's studio is bathed in natural light and lined with rare absolutes, tinctures, and essential oils. The air smells of piñon, rose, and sacred smoke. This is an olfactory temple.
To preserve the integrity of the scent environment, participants are asked to arrive free of fragrance (including personal care and laundry products).
There are plenty of local restaurants at Lena Street Lofts and nearby for lunch.
What's Included
- Two full days of instruction (approx. 12–14 contact hours)
- Snacks, tea, water
- A 5ml bottle of your personal natural perfume to take home
- Ancestral collage materials (papers, images, scissors, glue)
- Guided journey audio (for post-weekend integration)
- Full Moon closing ritual
Materials
You will work with a curated palette of natural perfumery materials, including marigold, labdanum, sandalwood exotic flowers and other rare absolutes—many of which are costly and seldom encountered outside a professional perfumery.
Illuminated Perfume has been part of the natural fragrance movement since the early 1990s, with the brand formally launched in 2007. The teaching palette reflects decades of study, practice, and direct sourcing.
No isolates, nature-identical materials, or animal ingredients are used.
What's Not Included
Accommodation (curated list of nearby Santa Fe lodgings provided)
Transportation to/from Santa Fe
Dinners (evenings free for integration and Santa Fe's restaurants)
Who This Is For
- You feel a pull toward your ancestors but don't know where to start
- You are a therapist, coach, healer, artist, seeker, creative…
- You love natural perfume and want to understand its structure, psychological and spiritual power
- You are ready to work with shadow, symbol and scent in a safe, contained environment
- You crave a small-group, high-touch. immersive weekend (max 12 participants)
“Transformational… I created a scent I’m truly proud of.”
— Katherine
Pricing
- Early-Bird (by May 30, 2026) -> $1,095
- Standard Tuition -> $1,350
- Returning Student (any prior Cathy or Roxana workshop) -> $998 (contact us for special discount code)
- Deposit: $650 non-refundable to secure your spot
- Balance due: May 28, 2026 (30 days before the weekend)
- Payment plans available -> 2 or 3 installments. Email to arrange.
Cancellation Policy
Deposits are non-refundable but transferable to another person for the same event. If you cancel 30+ days before the weekend, any paid balance beyond the deposit is refundable. Within 30 days, balances are non-refundable unless we can fill your spot from a wait list.
“From the moment I stepped into the perfumery, I was transported into a world of creative scent exploration.”
— Anna Levy
“It was exactly what I needed… the motivation and confidence to pursue my love for botanical fragrance.”
— Tiffany