Aromatherapy

The History of Aromatheraphy

Audio Introduction to Aromatherapy:

Aromatheraphy uses natural aromatic essences extracts to produce essential oils that have a wide range of therapeutic and olfactory qualities. These oils capture special qualities that have evolved in the plant to attract insects, repel parasites, and catalyze biochemical reactions. These qualities could be described as kinds of vegetable hormones that can be used to therapeutically treat human ailments. As such the active extracts used in aromatherapy are powerful and must be used carefully.

Aromatherapy Origins

The origins of aromatherapy are lost in the midst of time, but we can see some of their ancient uses in the ancient Egyptian use of aromatic herbs, woods and resins to mummify corpses and arrest their deterioration. Rare and varied healing plants from all around the ancient world were gathered and planted on the banks of the Nile as a kind of pharmaceutical resource to be used in the production of ancient remedies. During the rule of the pharaoh Akhnaton the city of Tel-el-Amarna was built according the the best rules of hygiene where piles of aromatic substances were burnt in the public squares to purify the atmosphere.

The physicians of ancient Greece came to Egypt to improve their medicinal knowledge. They then founded the school of Cos which included in its ranks the father of modern medicine: Hippocrates. There were other important centers of medicinal knowledge in ancient times including Turkey, Ephesus, Pergamum, and Rome that drew from the knowledge of their Mediterranean colleagues.

Around the eighth century Arabs spread their remedies from all around Asia Minor and the Middle East. Arabs also improved methods of extraction, improved the distillation process, and developed news elixirs and ointments. The European middle ages took their inspiration from this Arab tradition as most of their own traditional knowledge had been destroyed in the Christian urge to rid the world of ‘pagan’ influences.

After the Renaissance a lot of this knowledge was lost as pharmacists developed new chemical compounds that were used to replace natural ones. The belief gradually emerged (turning into C20th scientific dogma) that special artificial compounds developed to meet precise medicinal needs were the most (if not only) effective form of pharmaceutical remedy. Much as the Christians in the first millennium had destroyed ancient medicinal knowledge, science since around 1700 has destroyed medieval medicinal knowledge in the name of pharmaceutical progress.

This doctrinaire approach to our pharmacopeia is now losing ground. It is beginning to dawn on the scientific fraternity that appropriately extracted and well-chosen essential oils are generally much less toxic than laboratory drugs. Essential oils respect the living organism and are not subject to the disastrous toleration effects which calls for ever larger doses of sulponamides and antibiotics. A major reason for this is that laboratory drugs are developed to cure specific ailments. This is of course often extremely effective, but it comes at a cost. In focusing on one ailment laboratory drugs do not take into consideration the organism as a whole so that while curing one thing they can cause all sorts of other medicinal problems. Laboratory drugs are something of a sledge hammer, they can cure an illness with one big wallop, but the damage and side-effects can be disastrous. Essential oils are far more subtle because they tend to restore balance within the entire organism to cure an ailment.

It is remarkable that physicians of past centuries were able to discover by patient observation the main specific virtues of each aroma and use them in the best way; sometimes respiratory, sometimes oral, sometimes epidermal through evaporation, pulverization, or agent-solvents like alcohol, oils, or fats. Aromatheraphy seeks to rediscover this knowledge through the subtler means of scientific investigation so that again the world can enjoy the benefits of this ancient medicinal knowledge.

Extraction of Essential Oils

The main methods of extraction of essential oils are distillation, maceration, dissolving by volatile solvents, and pressing. The most classic is open-fire distillation; the plants and flowers are in direct contact with the water, the steam from which carries the essences into the condenser and the separator. What counts in the aromatherapeutic value of any essential oil is not just one product that can be extracted from that oil, but the complex in total, the constituents of which are associated in particular proportions.

Examples of Aromatic Treatments for Diseases and Conditions

Can be used:

• For slowing the aging process: garlic, lemon, juniper, lavender, onion, thyme.
• As remedies for alopecia: arnica, burdock, birch, lavender, nettle, meadowsweet, rosemary, soapwort, sage, marigold.
• For preventing and curing anxiety: lavender, marjoram, valerian.
• As arthritis and gout remedies: garlic, juniper, onion.
• As bad breath remedies: mint.
• And to treat diarrhea: garlic, chamomile, cinnamon, lemon, mint, nutmeg, rosemary.

Aromatherapy - Closing Thoughts

Aromatherapy is a repository of ancient medicinal knowledge. It covers the entire spectrum of human conditions and ailments, and is a viable alternative to a purely scientific approach.