History of Aromatherapy:
The value of natural
plant oils has been recognized for more than 5,000 years, for their
healing, cleansing, preservative and mood-enhancing properties, as well
as for the sheer pleasure of their fragrances. Aromatherapy can be
traced through the religious, medical and social practices of all the major
civilizations.
In China, in 4500
BC, the emperor Kiwant Ti wrote a medical book on his discoveries about
the healing properties of plants.
The ancient Egyptians
are generally regarded as the true founders of Aromatherapy. The
Nile Valley was known as the Cradle of Medicine. Egyptians made extensive
use of rose, jasmine, frankincense and myrrh for embalming, perfumery,
medicines, cosmetics, massage, etc. The discovery of remarkably well-preserved
mummies up to 5000 years after their preparation is a tribute to the embalmer's
art. The formulas for many medicinal and psychoactive concoctions
were carved into the walls of the temple "laboratories" by the priest/healers,
thus allowing us partial access to some of the most potent aromatic blends.
Unfortunately, we can't decipher their local names, so until pollen samples
and other residues of the blend are found and analyzed by modern techniques,
the blends cannot be replicated. We do know that one blend called
Kyphi was a luxurious and heady brew consisting of at least 16 ingredients,
including calamus (which contains a narcotic and hallucinogenic substance
called asarone), saffron, cassia, spikenard, cinnamon and juniper, bound
together with honey, raisins and wine. It was called a perfume welcome
to the gods. As well as being burned as incense, it was taken as
medicine, or applied externally as a treatment for wounds and skin disorders.
There was also a recipe called Theriaque, said to banish anxiety, and was
a remedy against every kind of poison or pestilence; including animal bites
and even the plague. It consisted of 57 to 96 ingredients, depending
on the recipe used, including myrrh, cinnamon, juniper and cassia, and
less aesthetically, serpent skin, crocodile dung, and saliva.
The Greek, Hippocrates,
who is considered the father of modern medicine, used essential oils and
Aromatherapy extensively in his methods of healing. He extolled the
virtues of a daily aromatic bath and scented massage to prolong life.
The Romans used essential
oils for perfumery, massage, and their famous, "Roman baths". Wealthy
families would while away their days at the baths, being massaged with
aromatic oils. A costly unguent called susinum originated in Athens
and was composed of lilies, roses, saffron and myrrh. As well as
its cosmetic value, it was employed as a treatment for vaginal inflammation
and excessive fluid in the system.
In Babylon, a tablet
dated 1800 BC shows an order for oils of myrrh, cypress and cedar.
There are many references
to the use of plants and their oils in the Bible. Two of the most
notable were frankincense and myrrh, which are beneficial for coughs, wound
healing, and skin care, among other things. Both frankincense and
myrrh essential oils sell for approximately $40/oz today.
The Arabs were merchants
and traders and were quite involved with aromatics. Around 600 AD
they were importing incense from Ethiopia and woods and spices from the
Far East. The Persian physician, Avicenna, perfected the art of distillation
in the 11th century AD. This process was so advanced it has barely
altered in 900 years. He also advocated massage, traction for broken
limbs and a detoxifying all-fruit diet as part of his healing regime.
As for perfume, rose became an all-consuming passion with the Persians.
Legend has it that some of the caliphs had fountains of rosewater in their
palaces.
The legendary "perfumes
of Arabia" were brought back to Europe by the crusading knights, along
with the knowledge of distillation. Europeans back then, felt bathing
was very detrimental to their health because it opened up the pores and
"let disease in", so they used essential oils to mask odors, prevent infection
and deter fleas and lice. Throughout the history of the world, aromatic
wood fires, along with the copious use of incense and perfume were employed
to halt the spread of infectious disease. In 1655, when the bubonic
plague struck in England, perfumers, who were pervaded with essential oils,
remained immune.
In 1722, this discovery
led to the development of the famous "Four Thieves Vinegar", a potion thought
to ward off the plague. It was so called because a quartet of robbers
in Marseilles would rub themselves all over with it before plundering the
bodies of stricken victims. This prophylactic mixture contained garlic,
rosemary, camphor, lavender, nutmeg, sage and cinnamon, suspended in vinegar.
By the late 17th
century, the emergence of synthetic and chemical drugs began to sideline
the use of herbs and essential oils in medicine even though the side effects
of the chemicals were often worse than the disease it was trying to cure.
It was during the 19th century, however that Chemists began sifting out
the so-called "impurities" of plants in order to isolate their "active
principles". But those components are often a necessary part of the
whole. According to herbalists, the numerous trace elements work
in harmony with the active principle, thus reducing the possibility of
side effects. Many people who have developed an allergic sensitivity to
modern day chemical perfumes do not exhibit this reaction to natural e/oils.
It is important to point out that not all substances in nature are benign.
Take laurel leaves, from which cyanide is derived, and foxglove, which
contains the heart medicine digitalis - both plants in sufficient quantity
can be lethal. It is possible to replicate fragrance with chemicals, but
not the therapeutic properties of plants.
In the 1920's, two
Italian doctors, Gatti and Cajola, demonstrated that e/oils have psychotherapeutic
benefits.
The word "Aromatherapy"
was first used in 1937 by the French cosmetic scientist Rene Gattefosse.
He was conducting experiments on cosmetic use of essential oils when he
badly burned his hand in an explosion. He plunged it into a bowl
of lavender oil, thinking it was water. His pain was instantly relieved
and his hand healed very quickly and left no scar. Thus began the
rebirth
of essential oils as medicines.
The French ex-Army
surgeon Dr. Jean Valnet is credited with having contributed most to the
acceptance of the medical use of essential oils. He was successful
in treating battle wounds in World War 2, and later, treated several long-term
psychiatric patients with essential oils and herbal remedies along with
a strict diet. According to Dr. Valnet, essential oil of lemon neutralizes
typhoid, diphtheria and pneumonia in less than 3 hours.
In the 1950's, the
Austrian-born cosmetologist Marguerite Maury introduced the idea of combining
e/oils with massage. Her clients reported dramatic improvement in
their skin condition, but also found that the treatment improved their
rheumatism, insomnia, sexual responses and mental state.
In the 1970's, Italian
professor Paolo Rovesti of Milan University also concluded that e/oils
have psychotherapeutic benefits.
British Aromatherapist,
author and researcher Robert Tisserand wrote one of the first books in
English on the therapeutic properties of e/oils, and Aromatherapy in general,
in 1977. It is felt this book, above any other, has sparked the greatest
interest worldwide.
Due to the work of
the Aromatherapy pioneers, a number of medical schools in France now include
the study of e/oils as part of their curriculum. In Germany and Switzerland
health insurance covers Aromatherapy treatment if carried out by a medically
qualified practitioner. During the past two decades, with the emerging
trends toward holistic health and natural skin care, the escalating costs
of conventional medicines, the side-effects of the meds, and the growing
concern over the environment, Aromatherapy is experiencing its greatest
popularity in centuries. Contemporary research is beginning to understand
the scientific foundations of the oils' properties and application, discovered
by trial and error over thousands of years.