Essential Oils – Healing Rituals Since Ancient Times

Essential oils are generally extracted by distillation, often by using steam. Other processes include expression or solvent extraction. They are used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and other products, for flavoring food and drink, and for adding scents to incense and household cleaning products.

Essential oils have been used medicinally in history. Medical applications proposed by those who sell medicinal oils range from skin treatments to remedies for cancer and often are based solely on historical accounts of use of essential oils for these purposes. Claims for the efficacy of medical treatments, and treatment of cancers in particular, are now subject to regulation in most countries.

Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine that claims that essential oils and other aromatic compounds have curative effects. Oils are volatilized or diluted in a carrier oil and used in massage, diffused in the air by a nebulizer, heated over a candle flame, or burned as incense.

The earliest recorded mention of the techniques and methods used to produce essential oils is believed to be that of Ibn al-Baitar(1188–1248), an Andalusian physician, pharmacist and chemist.

Essential oils are the oldest and some of the most powerful therapeutic agents know to man. Historically, they span centuries of use in healing, therapy, and religious ritual throughout the ancient world.

Among others, Frankincense is repeatedly referred to in many Judeo-Christian and Muslim religious texts. Others, such as Myrrh, lotus, and Sandalwood oils were widely used in ancient Egyptian purification and embalming rituals. Clove and Lemon oil were used as disinfectants hundreds of years before the discovery of modern antiseptics. Romans used essential oils in their temples and political buildings as well as aromatic bathhouses that were gathering places for the upper class.

Ancient Egyptians were among the first civilizations to recognize the therapeutic qualities of oils. In the early 1800’s, papyrus, dating back to 1500 B.C., was found listing over 800 herbal prescriptions and remedies that included the use of many oils. They had studied the chemical properties of essential oils, the development and refinement of the distillation process. When King Tut’s tomb was opened in the 1900s it had many jars with essential oil residue. This story sometimes gets exaggerated but does confirm these oils have been used for millennia.

An interesting episode of essential oils was during the great epidemic of the Middle Ages known as the Bubonic Plague (1330 A.D.) that destroyed almost half of Western Europe’s population. An enterprising band of thieves took advantage of the high mortality rate by robbing the dead without becoming infected by the disease. The thieves were eventually captured in Marseilles, France and put on trial. The judge offered the thieves leniency if they would reveal how they managed to avoid the ‘Black Death.’ It turned out that the thieves were perfumers and spice traders. By rubbing themselves with a blend of highly antibacterial aromatics, they had effectively immunized themselves.

Even starting before this period ancient alchemist began to explore the nature of matter. Some were trying to prove (or disprove) Aristotle’s view that matter was made of Fire, water, earth, and air. In this process they furthered the techniques of chemical separation through extraction and distillation. The earliest were the alchemist of Islamic cultures in the East and this knowledge then moved to their counterparts in Europe. From the distillation of plants first came perfumes then cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. It was during this period that the aromatic essences of plants first came to be known as essential oils. Unfortunately these early researchers, the alchemists, were not always rewarded positively for their contributions. Hopefully we have learned a lesson and regard modern researchers of essential oils with higher esteem.

The modern beginning of essential oils and aromatherapy began to blossom in the early decades of the twentieth century. In July of 1910, the lab of French cosmetic chemist, René-Maurice Gattefossé, Ph.D. exploded, setting his hand and arm on Fire. In a panic, he plunged his arm in what he assumed was water. However, it actually contained pure Lavender oil. Pleasantly surprised at the analgesic effects and fearing further damage resulting from the accident, he continued with regular application of Lavender oil. The wound healed with very little scaring. He then investigated the chemistry of the oil in order to discover what properties had caused this tremendous healing effect. Dr. Gattefossé continued his examinations of the healing compounds of other essential oils. His studies laid the groundwork for the clinical use of essential oils.

This work was followed by Jean Valnet, M.D. also in France. Valnet was a French army doctor who began using essential oils to treat wounded soldiers and heal gangrene during the Second World War. His post-war books introduced aromatherapy to a wider audience and lead to several more respected publications. Two of Valnet’s students, Dr. Paul Belaiche and Dr. Jean Claude Lapraz expanded his work. They analyzed the antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties in essential oils. In 1979, Dr. Belaiche published a work that included results of extensive in-vitro research on the antimicrobial effects of essential oils and their subsequent clinical applications on a wide range of infectious and degenerative illnesses. These advances lead to a selected level of acceptance by conventional medical doctors, other healthcare professionals, and even insurance companies in France and other countries.

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