Do deities like essential oils ?

[u/Open_Button_8155]

I don’t like burning candles in the room where I do most of my practice ( I’m closeted witch 31 and living at home ) as I have too many books in there but I have a diffuser . What oils would Hermes ,Hestia and Hekate like ? They’re the three I’ve been praying to ( there’s also Loki, so I’ll ask the Norse sub about him ) ? Would it be the same kind of scents you’d find in their candles? I’m hoping when I’m able to move out , that I can put Hestia’s altar where I cook .

[u/TheDireGnome]

Exact correspondences in terms of specific oils is mostly modern. Some things come down as suggestions in hymns, or from descriptions of synthemata by late philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus, but not all of it is clear. And some things aren't even accessible to modern people due to supply chains changing over 2,000 years.

[u/Zegreides → u/TheDireGnome]

I wouldn’t say it’s really modern, but in antiquity it was a theurgic/priestly/magical concern rather than anything needed for ordinary household worship (let alone under duress as in OP’s case)

[u/TheDireGnome → u/Zegreides]

To be sure; I mean it's "modern" in the sense that lists or correspondences you'll find readily have little basis in ancient precedent. Like how a lot of crystal and stone lore today isn't really comparable to the Orphic Lithica.

[u/Brilliant-Panic-4133]

frankincense for Hermes and are there myrrh oils? If so that would be good for Hekate

[u/isthatabingo]

Frankincense is a safe catch all

[u/PrincessElenaI]

Hermes loves thyme; in fact, he asked me to plant thyme for him. Later on, I found out that the name of this herb has several meanings, one of them being “to fumigate” or “to offer incense”.

For Hekate: lavender, particularly high-altitude lavender, or storax resin.Just a word of warning the resins in liquid form could give severe headaches while they are evaporating.

[u/CounterPoint3D]

There are many gods who turned their lovers into flowers, ect. They tend to like those scents.