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Aromatherapy (Basics and Recipes)

By Jyll Renee, Master Herbologist

Essential Oils

The skin is the largest organ it makes up 86% of the body. Aromatherapy you inhale, essential oil you put on the skin. It absorbs immediately into the skin that begins the healing process. In magical aromatherapy, the use of true essential oils is mandatory. Synthetics won’t work. Because essential oils are born of plants, they have a direct link with the Earth. This subtle energy, nourished by soil, Sun, and rain, vibrates within essential oils. Since we too are of the Earth and also possess this link, we merge and work together. Synthetics have no link to the Earth. In a magical sense, they’re dead. To create them, scientists mix together only what ingredients necessary to make the scent. Essential oils are the distilled or expressed products of naturally aromatic plant materials. Lavender essential oil is extracted from lavender, not from a plant which smells like lavender. Additionally, synthetics are not essential oils. Artificial rose is sickly sweet, antiseptic and easily produces headaches. True rose essential smells like a stimulating field of flowers contained within a bottle. It hums with soothing, peaceful energies. It is alive.

History of Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy started in Europe more than sixty years ago and is practice by medical doctors, nurses, and other health professionals. Aromatherapy consists simply of using essential oils for healing. The origin of aromatherapy is usually attributed to Ancient Egypt and India. It would date back to the mysterious Kingdom of Sheba, located in the part of the world now called Ethiopia. The Kingdom of Sheba, the “land of milk and honey,” was a very prosperous country of the high antiquity. In particular, it controlled the production of the very precious frankincense and myrrh and the trade in spices coming by caravan from India and then by boat through the Red Sea. Sheba is the land from where the three magi came to greet the infant Christ with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the three most precious substances of that time. The Egyptian’s are considered the inventors of western medicine, pharmacy, and cosmetology. Parallel with the development of medicine and pharmacy, they also developed very refined techniques for skin care, creating beauty recipes that have endured to the present day. Aromatics were the major active ingredients in their skin care preparations. Cleopatra, of course, is legendary for her use of cosmetic preparations and perfumes to enhance her beauty and her powers of seduction. Her beauty regimes lasted hours. When she sailed to greet the Roman Emperor Marc Anthony, the sails of her ship were soaked in jasmine, one of the most aphrodisiac fragrances. Marc Anthony fell so deeply in love with Cleopatra that he gave up his empire to follow her. The Egyptians also practiced the art of massage and were famous specialists in skin care and cosmetology. During the Renaissance, the use of essential oils expanded into perfumery and cosmetics. Aromatherapy per se was formally developed in France in the late 1920’s and `grew into a mainstream movement in Europe. The term itself was coined by a French chemist by the name of René Maurice Gattefosse. As the story goes, Mr. Gattefosse, was a chemist working for the perfume industry, burned his hand in an explosion in his laboratory. A vat full of lavender oil was nearby, and he plunged his hand into it. The pain disappeared instantly, and he recovered so fast that he decided to investigate further the healing power of essential oils. Thus was born aromatherapy.

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