Essential Oils are the reduced extracts from plant life which have been commonly used in today’s society for aromatherapy. But if you look at the history of essential oils you will find that they have been in use for thousands of years for medicinal and personal reasons.

The Egyptians used essential oils to a large extent. There is proof that they not only used them for aromatherapy and aromatic herbs, but also for use in their faith, makeup, and curative purposes. In this same age the Chinese were also using herbs and aromatic flora for both personal and therapeutic reasons. In fact, the use of herbs and essential oils, in Chinese culture, have always been in use. Unlike our Western society.

The medical wisdom of the Egyptians was adopted by the ancient Greeks – and the most well-known doctor of that time, Hippocrates (c.460 – 377 BC) was a firm supporter of treating the patient holistically and included aromatherapy massage as a treatment.

When the Romans conquered the Greeks, they realized the benefits of the Greeks health system and rapidly adopted the use of essential oils into their civilization. They were huge believers in cleanliness to further healthiness but also the use of aromatherapy and the power of fragrances.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire and the appearance of the Dark Ages, society for the most part ignored the wisdom of any of the previous societies. Not including the Arabian empire which saw the importance of this knowledge and integrated it into their society. They not only drew on the Greek and Roman teachings, but also the curative teachings of China and India.

It is the Persian doctor Avicenna (980 – 1,037 AD) that is being accredited with perfecting the distillation of essential oils, which is still used in today’s practice.

In western society it was the monks who tended for the ill and kept some herbal medical wisdom alive. At the same time when herbal medicine was used by a community herbalist it would lead to their persecution as witches.

The Church deemed bathing as sinful, so the use of essential oils was largely to mask the scent of a populace who only bathed once or twice a year. Today’s researchers are starting to speculate if the oils used had anti-bacterial and anti-pesticide properties, which didn’t prevent disease, but may have slowed its progress.

The Renaissance saw a turn back to the holistic healing of illness and the most notable of physicians was Paracelsus (Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim 1493 – 1541). It was Paracelsus who pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine. He is the inventor of laudanum, an opiate which was widely used for pain until the 19th century. It was his conviction that there was insight in folk medicine, much to the disgust of his colleagues, yet he was one of the few physicians of his time who had success in curing leprosy.

Still into the 19th and early twentieth centuries, any medical doctor who believed essential oils were of fantastic medicinal value was deemed a quack. In 1930, Dr Edward Bach a consulting physician and a trained pathologist and bacteriologist became disillusioned with conventional medicine and developed a system for treating disorders with the essence of flora. Many of his methods are still in use today.

Aromatherapy, as we know it, was first used in 1937 by the French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse. He was not a natural health advocate but was interested in the properties that essential oils exhibited.

In 1910, he scorched his hand terribly. As there was nothing else handy he treated it with pure lavender oil. He was astounded when the pain was instantly eased and the hand healed without any infection and only a minor scar. This unintentional breakthrough led him to do more research, where he learned that minute amounts of essential oils were absorbed into the skin and interacted with the body.

As a result of Gattefosse’s experiments, Dr. Jean Valet used essential oils to treat injured soldiers during the second world war with fantastic success.

In the 1950’s Marguerite Maury started mixing essential oils in vegetable oil and massaging it onto the skin. She was the first known person to use essential oils based on each individuals needs.

In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s the use of essential oils and aromatherapy became a major part of alternative and holistic health systems.

In the 1990’s, the use of aromatherapy has become widely used for stress relief and relaxation.

In today’s time, there is a rebirth of holistic medicine as people start to examine whether cures may be found in plants. It is incredible that as our awareness of the benefits of essential oils develop, we are really using a lost remedy into our daily lives.

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