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The history of aromatherapy can be traced back
to a very long way time ago. Humans have long
found ways to use aromatic plants and other
perfumes to enhance their lives before they
discovered the processes for extracting
essential oils from plants. Try to imagine an
ancient Egyptian temple whereby incense is
burning, infusing the air with frankincense,
myrrh and sandalwood whereby a cadre of priests
anoints the faithful with scented oils. Many of
these pilgrims are already covered with various
scents from their aromatic baths and perfumed
cosmetics and when they return to their homes,
many of them will continue to burn juniper or
thyme to freshen the air and ward off evil
spirits.
According to
historians, the Egyptians were among the first
to indulge in aromatherapy. The same botanical
knowledge that helped embalm their dead were
also used in daily life but they were not the
lone aromatherapists in the ancient world. While
Egyptians priests and perfumers practiced their
craft, to the east of India, Ayurvedic healers
were recording the healing properties of such
aromatic plants as coriander, ginger and rose.
Until today, tourists still go to India to
experience these methods of traditional healing
using aromatherapy.
Aromatic woods and
perfumes were used in religious rites and for
personal beauty and hygiene in farther east in
China and Japan. The ancient Greeks learned the
secrets of aromatherapy from the Egyptians and
they became enthusiastic partakers of scent
whereby they often used huge quantities of
aromatic substances during religious rituals
and adorned their bodies daily with perfume from
head to toe, in hopes of gratifying the gods.
Not only that, they also made the connection
between scent and health because they believed
that certain perfumes had therapeutic
properties. Emotional or mental ailments could
be healed with medicinal perfumes and once the
mind was healed, physical health would follow.
The 'father of medicine', Hippocrates,
prescribed perfumed therapies and Greek medical
practice also yielded the label iatralypte,
a physician who cured through the use of
aromatic ointments whereby they passed their
knowledge on to the Romans, who in turn spread
the use of botanicals to each new land they
conquered.
Aromatherapy in
Europe dwindled after the fall of Rome but the
Arab continued to add to the knowledge of
perfumes' healing powers. By the tenth century,
an Arabian physician named Avicenna had
discovered a way to distill the essential oils
from rose petals. Soon, many other essential
oils were available and by the time trade
resumed between Europe and the East, the use of
essential oils was widespread. Oils such as
juniper and pine were commonly used to combat
illness and keep if from spreading and the use
of perfumes for personal adornments and hygiene
was widespread. Unfortunately, aromatherapy met
an enemy with the Puritan movement, which lumped
perfume and incense in with paganism and
witchcraft. And with the advent of modern
science, aromatherapy became out of favor. The
natural essential oils, so prized for
generations, were replaced with synthetic scents
in cosmetics, perfumes and foods.
Aromatherapy only
began a resurgence during the 1920s whereby a
French chemist and perfumer named Ren-Maurice
Gattefoss actually coined the term aromatherapy
after an accident in his laboratory which left
his hand badly burned. He immersed his hand in
lavender oil and later noticed that the burn
healed quite quickly and left no scar. And it is
from this personal experience that led him to
delve further into the possibilities of healing
with essential oils. A French physician
and a scientist named Dr.Jean Valnet continue to
built upon the knowledge of Gattefoss by using
essential oils as part of his medical practice
to treat physical and psychiatric problems which
later led him to publish a guide to the use of
essential oils called Aromatherapie. One
of his followers named Madame Marguerite Maury
established the first aromatherapy clinics in
Paris, England and Switzerland. Here she started
to use essential oils in beauty therapies that
were personalized for each subject. Her
aromatherapy sought to rejuvenate clients with
scents directed at their personalities and
health problems. In 1964 she published a book
called The Secret of Life and Youth.
Up till now, their
knowledge is still being passed on through
aromatherapy courses, institutes and seminars in
North America and Europe whereby many certified
aromatherapists practice the same healing arts
that Gattefoss and Valnet first used. The
availability of many books on the subject also
allows people to try it for themselves at home.
For those seeking the more traditional and
original methods, India is definitely the place
to visit for aromatherapy.
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