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History & Development of Aromatherapy
Although the word Aromatherapy was only coined recently, it has it’s origins in the most ancient of healing practices, for the plants from which we derive what are termed ‘essential oils’ has been used in one form or another as long as man has existed on the planet.
Before we take a closer look at Aromatherapy, let me first take you on a brief history of herbal, or plant based medicine, if only to demonstrate that the benefits you will enjoy from using these oils are not some pet theory I dreamed up, but based on evidence gathered from all four corners of the world since the dawn of early civilisation.
No-one is sure how humans first discovered that what
was growing all around them
could also help them cure their
illnesses or ward off disease, but it's likely early
hominids
made the discovery by accident, after observing that some
of the roots and
berries they gathered for food also made
them feel better or helped heal wounds
more quickly.
They may also have taken note of the plants sick animals chose to eat and be curious why the creature suddenly appeared to regain its health not long afterwards and tried it on themselves. Perhaps, by design or accident, certain leaves, stems and flowers were burnt in the fire or fell into the cooking pot and were breathed in or ingested in ignorance but their effects brought enlightenment
Such herbal wisdom would have been of great importance to primitive tribes who depended
on their immediate environment for survival. Once discovered, it is likely that such
knowledge was handed down first verbally and then, as language became more sophisticated,
by the written word.
The Ancient Egyptians
Every great civilisation
we have known, be it the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese or South Americans, developed
to one degree or another, a sophisticated herbal law from which healers of the time
made pills, powders, teas, ointments and pastes from a wide variety of local trees,
plants, animal and mineral substances.
Papyrus documents dating from around 2,890 BC show that the ancient Egyptians were
using aromatic plants for medicine, beauty and to embalm their dead 3000 years before
the birth of Christ. They utilised a wide variety of now familiar products such as
castor oil, coriander, cumin, garlic, grapes and water melon for the treatment of
all manner of common ailments.
The Egyptians invented a rudimentary distillation machine that
allowed for the crude
extraction of Cedar wood oil. It is also thought by
some that Persia and India may
have also invented crude distillation
machines to extract oils from plants, but very
little is known.
Oils of Cedar wood, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and myrrh were used by the Egyptians to embalm the dead. When a tomb was opened in the early 20th century, traces of the herbs were discovered with intact portions of the body. The scent, although faint, was still apparent. Although the Cedar wood the Egyptians used was distilled by a crude distillation process, the other oils the Egyptians used were most likely infused oils.
The Egyptians also used infused oils and herbal preparations for spiritual, medicinal, fragrant and cosmetic use. It is thought that the Egyptians coined the term perfume, from the Latin per fumum which translates as ‘through the smoke’. Egyptian men of the time used fragrance as readily as the women. An interesting method that the men used to fragrance themselves was to place a solid cone of perfume on their heads. It would gradually melt and would cover them in fragrance.
Ancient Babylonia and Greece
Further to
the east, the sophisticated Babylonians were well versed in plant medicine, planting
gardens of therapeutic cucumber, coriander, juniper, myrrh, pumpkins, garlic, onions,
fennel, saffron, thyme, mustard and many others.
Perhaps one of the most famous and influential of ancient
civilisations was the Greek
Empire. More than any other, this
ancient world power has done more to shape the
modern world
than any other. Many of the concepts of civilised behaviour and
government,
such as democracy, were devised in ancient
Greece. Modern medicine too owes much
to this antiquarian
society. The most famous and revered of all Greek physicians
was Hippocrates, born about 460 BC.
In his writings he catalogues a vast number of medicinal plants still used for their therapeutic benefits, such as rhubarb, quince and Myrrh. We all know the Christian story of the three wise men from the east that carried gold, Frankincense and Myrrh to the infant baby Jesus. Myrrh was considered a very valuable medicinal plant long before the birth of Christ and was well known to Hippocrates.
In his time, Greek soldiers carried Myrrh into battle for the treatment of wounds. Just as modern herbalists do today, Hippocrates entreated people to use these medicinal plants as a preventative medicine when he said "Let your medicine be your food and your food be your medicine."
Thousands of years after his death, he is still known today by medical students all over the world as the 'father of all medicine.' Such is this man's importance in the history and development of modern medical practice that those same students studying to be doctors in many different countries are still required to swear allegiance to the Hippocratic Oath, binding him or her to the code of medical ethics contained in it.
In the 2nd Century A.D. another, now famous, Greek physicians by the name of Galen divided plants into various medicinal categories, a practice we still call 'Galenic'.
The Greeks learned a great deal from the Egyptians, but Greek mythology apparently credits the gift and knowledge of perfumes to the gods. The Greeks also recognized the medicinal and aromatic benefits of plants. Hippocrates practiced fumigations for both aromatic and medicinal benefit. A Greek perfumer by the name of Megallus created a perfume called Megaleion. Megaleion included myrrh in a fatty-oil base and served several purposes: (1) for its aroma, (2) for its anti-inflammatory properties towards the skin and (3) to heal wounds.
India and China
In India, ancient
religious texts dating back 2000 years B.C. contain formulae and instructions for
the use of plants such as cloves, ginger, pepper, sandalwood, sesame and aloes, plants
that today still form the basis of India's traditional Ayurveda medical philosophy.
Ayurveda medicine uses benzoin, caraway, cardamon, clove, ginger, pepper, sandalwood,
cannabis, castor oil, sesame oil, aloe and sugar cane, the first seven of which are
used in aromatherapy.
Walk down any busy street in a modern city and you are
sure to come across a shop
that sells traditional Chinese herbal
remedies. China's herbal tradition is one of
the worlds' oldest
with the earliest written guide thought to have been committed
to paper some 4000 years ago. It was called the 'Yellow
Emperor's Classic of Internal
Medicine' or 'Huang Ti Nei Ching'
and contains over 8000 different plant based formulae
including
liquorice, peach, gentian and walnut, complemented by the
other great health-giving
arts of Tai Chi, Qi Gong and
Acupuncture.
The Chinese may have been the first culture to use aromatic plants for well-being through incense burning to help create harmony and balance.
The Roman Empire built on the knowledge of the Egyptians and Greeks. Discorides wrote a book called ‘De Materia Medica’ that described the properties of about 500 plants. It is also reported that Discorides studied distillation. Distillation during this period, however, focused on extracting aromatic floral waters and not essential oils.
A major event for the distillation of essential oils came with the invention of a coiled cooling pipe by a 11th century Persian called Avicenna. He invented a coiled pipe which allowed the plant vapour and steam to cool down more effectively than previous distillers that used a straight cooling pipe. Avicenna's contributions lead to more focus on essential oils and their benefits.
Medieval Europe
We know from
surviving manuscripts that in Medieval Europe Lavender, Rosemary and Thyme, all now
known to possess effective anti-bacterial and antiseptic qualities, were held to
the mouth as a posy that was breathed through to ward off diseases such as the Black
Death in the 14th century.
It is believed that some perfumers may have avoided the plague
by their constant
contact with these natural aromatics.
By the 15th century, the number of books written on the subject
of natural medicine
was growing as more and more plants were
being distilled to create essential oils,
such as frankincense, juniper,
rose, sage and rosemary. Paracelsus, an alchemist,
medical
doctor and radical thinker of the time is credited with coining the
term
‘Essence’. His studies radically challenged the nature of
alchemy and he focused
on using plants as medicines.
During the 16th century, one could begin purchasing oils from an
"apothecary," and
many more essential oils were introduced, so much so that by the 16th and 17th centuries,
perfume started to be considered an art form, and it was more clearly defined as
its own field.
One of the most famous herbalists of the 16th century was Nicolas Culpeper, who produced one of the most thoroughly researched and wide ranging guides to herbal medicine of the time. 'The Complete Herbal' contains information on hundreds of different plants and how they could benefit the user. This authoritative reference book is still used today as a trusted source of knowledge.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, chemists continued to conduct research into the beneficial properties of plants, identifying the now familiar substances of caffeine, quinine, morphine and aspirin, the latter being one of the most widely used and popular modern pain killers. It was during this century that perfumery became a very prosperous industry. Women would have their jeweller create a special bottle to hold their treasured perfume. The 19th century was also important scientifically as major constituents of essential oils became isolated.
The 20th Century
By the 20th century,
the now well established knowledge of how to separate the active constituents of
essential oils was used to create synthetic chemicals and drugs. It was believed
then, as it is now, that by separating the major active constituents of plants and
then using the extracted constituents alone or in synthetic form would be more beneficial
therapeutically and economically. These discoveries and beliefs helped lead to "modern
medicine" and synthetic fragrances, however, nearly all practitioners of ‘complimentary
medicine’ will tell you that this actually weakens the beneficial effect as most
natural remedies are ‘synergistic’. This means that different active ingredients
of the plant must work together for the greatest benefit, as nature intended.
It was also at this time that a French chemist by the name of
René-Maurice Gattefossé
became interested in the use of essential
oils for their medicinal use. Previously,
he focused on the aromatic
use of essential oils, but his interest in their medicinal
use grew
after an accident heightened his curiosity. While working, he burned
his
arm rather badly. By reflex, he plunged his burned arm into the
closest liquid which
happened to be a large container of lavender
essential oil. The burn he suffered
healed quickly and left no scar.
Gattefossé is credited with coining the now familiar term
aromatherapy in 1928 in
an article he wrote supporting the use of using
essential oils in their whole without
breaking them down into their primary constituents. Later, in 1937, Gattefossé wrote
a book called Aromathérapie: Les Huiles essentielles hormones végétales that was
later translated into English and named Gattefossé's Aromatherapy. It is still in
print and widely read.
Other highly respected 20th century aromatherapists include Jean Valnet, Madam Marguerite Maury, and Robert B. Tisserand. Jean Valnet is most remembered for his work using essential oils to treat injured soldiers during the war and for his book, The Practice of Aromatherapy, originally entitled Aromathérapie in French. Austrian Madam Marguerite Maury is remembered as a biochemist that avidly studied, practiced and taught the use of aromatherapy for primarily cosmetic benefit.
Robert B. Tisserand is a English aromatherapist who is responsible for being the first individual to bring knowledge and education of aromatherapy to English speaking nations. He has written books and articles including the highly respected 1977 publication The Art of Aromatherapy - the first aromatherapy book published in English.
From the late 20th century and on into the 21st century, as the limitations and unwanted
side effects of mainstream medicine have become more and more evident, the public
have shown a growing interest in more natural medicinal products, including essential
oils, for therapeutic, cosmetic and aromatic benefit. The use of essential oils
never ceased, but the scientific revolution minimized the popularity and use of essential
oils in one's everyday life. Today's heightened awareness regarding the use of synthetics
coupled with the increased availability of aromatherapy information within books
and the Internet has refuelled the use of essential oils for therapeutic, cosmetic,
fragrant and spiritual use.
So what exactly is aromatherapy?
In brief, aromatherapy is the use of volatile plant oils, including essential oils, for psychological and physical well-being. The essential oils used in aromatherapy are what give the plants from which they are extracted their characteristic odour or flavour. Essential oils are found in various parts of the plants such as the seeds, flowers, bark or leaves and it can take many pounds of plant material to make up just one tiny bottle of concentrated oil. The natural chemical composition of each essential oil differs according to the plant from which it is extracted and therefore the therapeutic benefits of each oil can also differ.
One thing all essential oils have in common is their ability to
be readily absorbed
by the skin. That’s because their unique
molecular structure allows them to pass
through the cells that
make up the outer, semi permeable layers of the skin and into
the body where they can
have beneficial effects.
Here’s an interesting experiment you might like to try to prove this to yourself. Garlic has been used medicinally for nearly 5000 years and for good reason. Its unique anti-viral and anti-bacterial chemical makeup means it is one of the most versatile of herbal remedies that are said to help treat many common ailments including blood pressure, coughs and cold, acne, asthma and many others.
Try this fun experiment
Garlic oil
also contains essential oils. Break open a capsule of the oil and massage it into
your skin, somewhere on your body. Within a few hours you should be able to smell
the garlic on your breath without ever having eaten it! That’s because the oils have
been absorbed through your skin and have made their way around your body to the respiratory
system. Be careful though, garlic oil has been known to irritate the skin in sensitive
people.
Another thing all essential oils have in common is that they are to a lesser to greater extent, all of them contain naturally anti-bacterial and antiseptic chemicals, so using a cream or lotion containing any essential oil will go some way to help keep spots and pimples at bay.
So as you can see, my cream is not based on pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo but
on the sound principals of a herbal wisdom that stretches back to the dawn of man.
