(... In this Oil I see the Water of Ether, and it is the total receptacle of the Vital Universe which nourishes every manifestation of the World...) .
[…] In this Oil I see the Water of Ether, and it is the total receptacle of the Vital Universe which nourishes every manifestation of the World… The Plant puts a little of its soul and a little of the soul of the Earth on which it sprouted: it is precisely the marriage of these two souls that gives the oil its appearance. […] (cfr.: Daniel Meurois e Anne Givaudan, Le strade di un tempo, Memorie di un Esseno - vol.2).
The use of essential oil perfumes for spiritual, emotional and physical healing has been around since ancient times. Herbal oils for healing are mentioned more than six hundred times in the Holy Bible for many purposes. The infused vegetable oils were used for spiritual, emotional and physical healing. The ancients didn't use what we use today, technically "Essential Oils" which is a term used to describe oils derived primarily from steam distillation. This technology was only invented more recently in human history.
We know for sure that healing with plants is the oldest medicine in the world, as it was the only way to cure diseases and heal wounds. And with success, because otherwise we wouldn't be here talking about it!
When ancient people did not have access to synthetic types of medications, they relied on what nature had to offer them. They only had access to organic plants grown in their area and relied on their medicinal value to provide healing.
Maria Magdalena, Carlo Crivelli, ca 1480, Museo Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, Paesi Bassi.
Surely, "artisanal" aromatherapy dates back to so many centuries before Christ.
18,000 B.C. evidence that plants were first used medically from cave paintings of Lascaux in Dordogne, France. Burning aromatic plants one of earliest methods of usage thought to drive out evil spirits. Neolithic period 7000 to 4000 B.C. production of vegetables oils discovered, Olive, Castor, Seasame, Linseed oils produced by pressing. An alembic dating back to 5000 B.C. was found in Asia. Which indicates that China and India were already somewhat familiar with the extraction processes. The ancient Egyptians used essential oils to embalm the dead and were already able to anesthetize patients by macerating plants.as early as 4000 B.C.. Cedar of Lebanon, nard, frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon... are all names linked to the Egyptian cultural heritage and mentioned both in the medical papyri and in the traditions of 'daily hygiene. The incense resins discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb, 3,250 years after his burial, still exhaled their scent!
Embalming, Egyptian Papyrus, Egyptian Museum,Cairo Egypt
Ancient Egypt
The use of essential oils in aromatherapy expanded when the Egyptians forged their medical knowledge of the botanical materials found in their region. They sought those plants with the highest medicinal value and worth to use them in their daily life.
Bas-Relief Ancient Egypt, app. 2700-2160BC., Cairo, Egypt
Ancient Egypt records datings back to 4500 B.C. refer to aromatic barks and resins, and use of perfumed oils, aromatic wines and vinegars. Pots were found in Tutankhamen's tomb (dating 1350 B.C., opened in 1922) still contained traces of Frankincense, Myrrh and a variety of Spikeyard. Papyri dating 2800 B.C. (Reign of Khufu ) record medicinal and magical use of plant medicines aromatic substances blended to precise formulations by temple high priests, alchemists to make medicinal potions and perfumes.
Cedarwood, Caraway Seed and Angelica Root crushed and steeped in oil or wine, or burned as incense. Plant material was soaked in oil, placed in a linen bag and squeezed and twisted to extract essential oil. Origanum, Juniper, Bitter Almond, Coriander and Calamus also frequently used.
“[…]The only external element considered precious were the Essential Oils; the Egyptian-Essenian Therapists accepted this close collaboration with plants, which they knew thoroughly. Even today it is like this in our teachings, and as in the past we collaborate with the vegetable kingdom through essential oils; at the time, the most famous person who used them was Mary Magdalene. (cfr.: Anne Givaudan, Piccolo Manuale per un Grande Passaggio. )
Horus, Egyptian Papyrus, Egyptian Museum, Cairo Egypt.
Little distinction between medicinal, magical and cosmetic, aesthetic use of plant extracts in Ancient Egypt. Remedies used in massage, inhalations and as poultices. Aching limbs treated with ointment including Frankincense and Cinnamon; ointment including Myrrh, Coriander asn honey used for herpes. Many aromatic substances ere used in embalming, once body was dried out ( often in the desert sand ) they were anointed with Cedarwood, Juniper, Myrrh, Clove, nutmeg and or Galbanum. Scent often considered to enhance erotic nature, linked to conception, birth and re-birth into the next life. Thus the offerings of precious oils to the dead.
In addition, they have also utilized clove and lemon oil for their antiseptic qualities, which proved more effective than modern antiseptics invented in modern times.
They used balsams, perfumed oils, scented barks, resins, spices and aromatic vinegars in everyday life. Oils and pastes from plants were transformed into pills, powders, suppositories, medicinal cakes and ointments. The most famous of their herbal preparations “Kyphi” was a mixture of 16 ingredients including Frankincense, Myrrh, Peppermint, Cinnamon, Citronella, and raisins, used by priests to heighten spiritual awareness, as incense, perfume or medicine.
Egyptian Papyrus, Egyptian Museum, Cairo Egypt.
Ashes and smoke from aniseed, cedar, onion, garlic, grapes and watermelon among others were also used. At the height of Egypt’s power, priests were the only authorities allowed to use aromatic oils, as they were regarded as necessary to be at one with the Gods.
Specific fragrances were dedicated to each deity and their statues were anointed with these oils by their followers. Pharaohs had their own special blends for meditation, love, war and so on.
Aromatic gums such as cedar and myrrh were used in the embalming process and traces of these have been found on mummies today. Despite the importance of aromatic oils in Egyptian society, they never distilled their own and in fact imported oils of cypress and cedar.
Ancient Greece
Greeks gave birth to medicine as a science. Aristotle taught the four elements of Hippocrates emphasised medical treatment based o on careful observation. Hippocrates endorsed daily aromatic bath and scented massage. He was aware of antiseptic nature of plants, urged the burning of aromatic herbs during plague in Athens.
Theophrastus consolidated Greek botanical knowledge in Historia Plantarum. He believed that the scent of flowers was contained near the surface of the petals. Diosccorides, a Greek surgeon in the Roman army of Nero and author of De Materia Medica, first gave details of when a plant's active principles are at their most abundant; e.g the aroma of Jasmine is strongest after sunset, and should be picked at night; Rose flowers should be picked before noon at the latest.
Greeks learnt from Egyptians. Herodotus and Democratus visited Egypt in 4th century BC and declared Egyptians masters of perfumery. Greeks ascribed divine origin to aromatic plants; perfumery thought to derive from Aeone a nymph of Venus. Perfumes made from scented oils ( often rose ) distillation still unknown. Magaleion a famous Greek perfume containing Myrrh, used for skin inflammation and wounds.
Every night for nearly a thousand years (500 B.C. - A.D. 500), sick and afflicted pilgrims flocked to the Greek temples of Asclepius to take part in a ritual called the incubation. The ancient Gentile god of medicine was expected to visit them during a dream state and heal or prescribe medication, diet, and treatment modalities. The only requirements were that they must be clean and "think pure thoughts".
Ancient Rome
The Romans used aromatic plants for culinary, cosmetic and medical purposes. Susinum was a well known scented oils made from Melissa, honey Myrrh, Spikenard, Cinnamon, Calamus and Saffron.
Galen was a pillar of medicine. Ancient Rome
Galen was the last important pillar of medicine in the millennium of Greek domination of the medical world. Physician to emperors as well as commoners in the Roman Empire, Galen (130-220 A.D.) traveled extensively, lectured widely, wrote prolifically. The great Greek was a shrewd observer who gained much experience through experimentation. Cupping was among the forms of treatment which he advocated. Pharmacy as well as medicine benefited from his formulas, called "galenicals;" he was a leader in the health sciences of his day. Galen's teachings were accepted as dogma by both teachers and practioners of medicine for fifteen hundred years.Ancient Roman doctor Galen also utilized the healing power of essential oils during ancient Roman times when Marcus Aurelius was still the emperor. He served as a doctor for those Gladiators who were wounded. He utilized essential oils and herbs to make cold cream that will be used to treat the wounds of these Gladiators. It will eventually serve as foundation for modern use of cold creams to treat wounds and other forms of skin inflammation. After some time, Roman doctors during the ancient times also discovered the spiritual aspect of healing such that they combined it along with the use of essential oils for treatment.
Girl Pouring Perfumes. Greek and Roman painting, National Roman Museum. Rome Italy.
Ancient Arab
The ancient Arabs played a different role in the expansion of essential oils and its use in aromatherapy. It was them who showed how people can gain access to it such that many could benefit from using essential oils as medicine. They were the first to innovate the distillation method of extracting the therapeutic properties of the essential oil from the plant sources to make it easier to acquire the healing qualities of the botanical plant.
They began by examining the chemical properties of the plant and where the volatile oils are concentrated. This will enable them to isolate those oils and make it easier to extract them from the plant source.
All in all, a logical progress: in fact, it was the Arabs who introduced spices and developed the market for aromatic herbs in Europe. Garlic, onion, herbs and spices, but also honey, dates, watercress, celery or artichoke were considered excellent therapeutic tools.
It will be Avicenna, an Arab doctor, who will distill the first pure essential oil.
Although the Egyptians used plant essences to preserve mummies, Avicenna is the first to extract a pure essential oil. And not just any, but one of the most precious: the rose!
It was the Arab physician Avicenna, who is thought to have discovered distillation in the 10th century, producing aromatic water as well as essential oils. Commercialised and spread by the Arabs, who were formidable traders. Rose Water became one of the most popular scents, arriving in Europe during the time of the Crusades.
The popularity of Avicenna (980-1037), Persian physician and 'prince of philosophers', far surpasses that of Rhazes, a widely respected scientist and according to many inventors of hospital medicine. It is said that as an alchemist he even discovered the secret of immortality. The certain thing, however, is that he was above all a doctor and philosopher.
Avicenna is to Arab medicine what Hippocrates is to the Greeks: Everything.
Author of more than 150 academic books, including 16 medical treatises, he is the logical and visionary culmination of an extraordinary body of medical ideas and advances. His medicine bears the imprint of Rhazes (objective examination), of Hippocrates (dietetics) and of Aristotle (logic), but also of the knowledge of phytotherapy of the Greek Dioscorides and of Indian exercises (for the body and breathing)!
The “Canon of Medicine”, the theoretical and practical encyclopedia of all the diseases known at the time, was to be a real "best seller" throughout the Middle Ages. In it we find the description of diabetes, meningitis, various forms of paralysis, infections transmitted by the placenta, the anatomy of the eye, heart valves and their role...
In this context, Avicenna produces the world's first true essential oil: a bottle of rose!
The West is deeply indebted to medieval Arabs for preservation of ancient Greco-Roman knowledge during the Middle Ages and for improving on it. Our numeral system and many words, such as alcohol, came from the East, as did many medical advances.
Ancient China and Asia
The use of essential oils in major parts of Asia can also be traced over a long period of history. During 3000 B.C., the book The Yellow Emperor's Book of Internal Medicine was released in China that outlines how one can utilize the power of herbs and aromatic oils for treatment of common diseases. This book offers the most vast amount of knowledge on the ancient use of medicinal plants and oils prior to the invention of modern medicine.
Eventually, this knowledge stemmed to Japan and Tibet wherein more natural forms of healing were introduced to combine with the healing properties of essential oils.
Ancient India
In India, the concept of using essential oils for disease treatment were incorporated with spiritual and mental aspect for a more effective healing. Sandalwood was used as a holy unguent and incense. The cosmetic ointment Urguija contained Sandalwood, Rose, Kasmine and Aloes. As more studies are conducted in an effort to understand what is it about essential oils that make it such a powerful healing tool, it has also uncovered the presence of various therapeutic properties that make healing possible.
Traditional Indian medicine called “Ayur Veda” has a 3000-year history of incorporating essential oils into their healing potions. Vedic literature lists over 700 substances including cinnamon, ginger, myrrh and sandalwood as effective for healing. During the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague, Ayur Veda was used successfully in replacing ineffective antibiotics.
The purpose of aromatic plants and oils were not only for medicinal purposes, but were believed to be a Godly part of nature and played a integral role to the spiritual and philosophical outlook in Ayurvedic medicine.
Susruta, famed Hindu surgeon, is depicted in the home of a noble of Ancient India.
Ancient European Times
However, it will be necessary to wait many more years before aromatherapy reaches the doors of Europe, thanks to the Romans.
It was around the 12th century when Europeans discovered the use of essential oils and medicinal herbs for natural healing. Doctors in Mesopotamia and Babylonia have been recorded to use medicinal plants and oils during this early in history. This was learned through clay writings that detailed a Babylonian King's request for common herbs that contain medicinal values for use in aromatherapy. Some of those that were listed in the said account were garlic, thyme, myrrh, onions, and mustard.
Throughout the Renaissance period, aromatic materials filled the pharmacopoeiasm, which for many centuries remained the main protection against epidemics. The medicinal properties and application of a number of essential oils were analysed and recorded. The list included cedar, cinnamon, frankincense, juniper, rose, rosemary, lavender and sage, but also essences such as artemisia, cajeput, chervil, orange flower, valerian and pine.
The Crusades also helped to spread the use of aromatherapy throughout the rest of Europe, as well as uncovering the knowledge on how these oils are produced.
The crusades have this positive side: commercial and cultural exchanges allow a deep mix of peoples. Consequently, thanks to the indisputable superiority over the other "medicines" of the time, aromatherapy quickly became the first science of pharmacy: in the Middle Ages the pharmacist was called aromatherii.
Europe in the Middle Ages and Renaissance by the 13th century France had its own manufactors of perfume. They produced Rosemary, Lavender and other essential oils; used by the Masters Glovers to perfume their leather. Lavender was first cultivated in Mitchan Surrey; Lavender water became popular. Perfumers were reported to be virtually immune to the plague. However, medicinal use of aromatic plants were rather limited until a revival of interest in the 16th and 17th centuries, advent of the great herbals of Europe.
EXAMINATION OF AN APOTHECARY, FRENCH SCHOOL, 18TH CENTURY / FACULTE DE PHARMACIE, PARIS, FRANCE / ARCHIVES CHARMET.
Earliest printed herbal, Banckes Herbal (1527) by author Askham contains several recepes for rose. William Turner, considered to be the founder if English botany, propounded the concept that medicinal plants may be classified according to hot and cold, and to four different degrees. Another important concept developed at this time was the Doctrine of Signatures of an inherent natural correspondence between a plant and part of the body, based on a certain physical resemblance, e.g. Fennel-eyes; Cypress Nuts - Ovaries, Red Rose - blood; Leaf Oil =-Lungs; Flower oils - reproductive system; Bergamot Peel -Skin etc.
Nicholas Culpepper, one of greatest herbal in 1597. The 17th century was golden age of English Herbalism, not yet overshadowed by chemistry. After the plague of 1665, scientific medical understanding gradually emerged, plants were classified by Linnaeus, Royal Society founded, and digitalis, quinine and anaesthesia were discovered. Growth of scientific medicine and use aromatic plants coexisted right to the end of the 18th century.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, about a hundred essential oils were known which were used to cure very specific diseases. Subsequently, with the advent of synthetic medicines with which it is thought to heal everything, aromatherapy and phytotherapy were set aside.
In the 19th century research into essential oils was carried out by Frenchman such as Cadeac and Meunier. Chamberland (1887) published research into antiseptic properties of essences. Perfumery industry grew rapidly in 19th century, centred upon Grasse in Southern France that became world centre of essence production. However, medical use of herbs and oils declined with progress of chemical medicine. Synthetic perfumes gained ground.
INTERIOR OF AUSTRIAN PHARMACY, 1838, COLOUR LITHOGRAPH BY CARL KUNZ AND JOHANN GEIGER, AUSTRIA / DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY / A. DAGLI ORTI / BRIDGEMAN IMAGES.
20th Century
At the beginnig of the 20th century the interest in aromatic plants and natural essences was rekindled by the French chemist and scholar Dr. Rene-Maurice Gattefosse. Gattefosse experimented with essential oils during the First World War, using oils such as Lavender, Thyme, Chamomile, Lemon and Clove at military hospitals for their antiseptic and vulnerary properties. One day when he was badly burned in his laboratory, he immersed, without thinking, his injured hand in a basin filled with lavender essential oil. Instant relief.
Later, Gattefosse coined the term ' Aromatherapy ' writing that the French cosmetic chemists are concerned that the natural complexes should be utilised as complete building units, without being broken up. Dermatological Terapy would thus develop into ‘Aromatherapy '. He wrote several books including ‘Aromatherapie’ (1928) explaining at length the properties of essential oils and their application, with examples of their antiseptic, bactericidal, anti-viral and anti-flammatory properties. Later he cited remarkable cures of skin cancer, facial ulcers, gangrene, and osteomalacia, as well as Black Widow spider bites.
His natural curiosity prompted him to continue his research and to give birth to vocations: many chemists, doctors and pharmacists have since dedicated themselves to this "super phytotherapy". In particular, Dr. Valnet, military surgeon, who treated wounded soldiers in the Second World War, thanks to the extraordinary antiseptic properties of essential oils.He was both a medical doctor and herbalists, and used essential oils for many different disease conditions. he published his own book on “Aromaterhapy” in 1964.
The italian Dr. Gatti and Cajoli researched into the medicinal, psychological and cosmetic benefits of essential oils in the 1920s and 1930s. Paolo Rovesti was the first to demonstrate the value of certain essences for problems such as anxiety and depression.
Marguerite Maury, a biochemist, research into the cosmetological aspects of essential oils, bringing together medicine, health and beauty. She helped to establish Aromatherapy as a medico-cosmetic therapy based on massage. She published “The Secret of Life and Youth” in 1961.
Another great step will be taken in the mid-seventies thanks to the aromatologist researcher Pierre Franchomme, who discovers chemotypes ("the fingerprint of each essential oil), a fundamental step which procures a license of scientific nobility for a discipline of the future: the new aromatherapy, more targeted, more precise, more effective and less risky.
Modern Advancements in Aromatherapy Application
From the ancient Egyptians, to the time of Judeo-Christian and Muslim, up until today it has been used for a wide range of applications.
We had to wait thousands of years to closely analyze and understand the therapeutic refinements of essential oils. Only today are we really becoming aware of their extraordinary potential, so much so that we can compare their healing abilities to those of the most effective medicines.
Recent discoveries, such as those that have demonstrated the presence of the principles of hormones and antibiotics in many plants and essences, demonstrate that we should be wary of hasty judgments about the way this type of medicine works. Many experiments allow us to explain some ancient cures which, until now, were dismissed with a smile: 'a small bag of garlic or other plants, for example, which our ancestors hung around the necks of children tormented by intestinal worms or, more genetically, during epidemics.
Since the ancient discovery of essential oils as powerful healing agent without the risks involved with using synthetic medications, more people embrace this method to provide as a natural home remedy. Therefore, expert aromatherapists and health experts are examining newer methods to make it easier for individuals to acquire those therapeutic properties to serve as both complementary and main source of medicinal benefits.
And with its ability to improve psychological and mental state, essential oils are used in aromatherapy as a holistic approach that will ensure more lasting results.
And more people are leaning towards more natural methods. "Doctors and chemists, yes, will be surprised by the wide range of odorous substances that can be used in medicine," wrote R.M. Gattefosse. (who is considered the Father of Aromatherapy), adding: "And of the great variety of their chemical properties", In addition to the currently exploited antiseptic and antimicrobial properties; essential oils are also antitoxic and antiviral, have powerful energizing effects and undeniable healing properties.
Yet, the conscious use of plants and essences can have effects that seem almost miraculous to the ordinary people. This is due to a rich combination of therapeutic properties contained in the essential oil.
The natural perfumes and essential oils, the only ones used, come from: wood, leaves, fruit, roots, flowers, resins and anything else of vegetable origin.
Plants can be used medicinally in their two states: living, dead.
[…] The living plant serves as a modifier of the environment, but especially when it is aromatic. Its smell then invigorates all inflammations of the respiratory mucous membranes. Those diseased are comfortable breathing the smell of pine, lavender, basil, mint, etc. […] (cfr.: SEDIR, Il Potere delle Piante Magiche, 2. L’Uomo e la Pianta, II. Terapeutica.)
[…] Thus, in every herb and in every stone wonderful powers and virtues are enclosed and others still greater in the stars and furthermore everything receives something from the superior intelligences, and above all from the first cause, which all things unite to exalt in a harmonious concert, similar to certain hymns released in honor of the sovereign master. This is the invitation of the holy children of the furnace of Chaldea:
"Bless the Lord, all things that germinate on the earth, and all that populate the waters and the birds of the air and the beasts and the sheep, and together with the sons of men." […] (cfr.: Agrippa, De Occ. Phil., I, 13).
Bas-Relief Ancient Egypt, An Egyptian Royal Woman, probably of the 18th Dynasty, possibly Nefertiti, Cairo Egypt.
Nadine Matasari Ph.D