Is all the Hype About Aromatherapy and Essential Oils True?

The Origin of Aromatherapy

In prehistoric times, there weren't refrigerators, food additives, preservatives and so on (thank goodness!), and so we depended on our immediate surroundings for our needs - not some far-off chemical laboratory or manufacturing plant.

Aromatherapy, as we practice it today, actually started in ancient Egypt, where certain oils were extracted from plants and used not only for medicinal and cosmetic purposes but also for embalming techniques; many of these essential oil solutions are still duplicated today.

At the same time, ancient Chinese civilizations were using aromatics, or aromatherapy. Shen Nung's classic herbal book dates back to 2,700 BC and is a virtual aromatic encyclopedia of more than 300 plants and their uses.

The Chinese also discovered that aromatics had applications beyond just medicine and cosmetics, and used incense and burning woods in religious ceremonies (as did Native American cultures) to show respect to their gods, a tradition still practiced today. Chinese aromatherapy was also linked to massage and accupressure.

Ayurveda, the traditional medical system used in India for many centuries, uses dried and fresh herbs as well as aromatic massage as important elements of treatment.

The Greeks, of course, learned most of their medical knowledge from the Egyptians, so they, too, incorporated aromatherapy, but refined it even further. They discovered that the essence of some flowers and herbs were stimulating while others were relaxing. They developed the use of olive oil as the base oil, which absorbed the aroma of the more concentrated essences, then used the "perfumed" result for both cosmetic and medical purposes.

The Romans came along and learned from the Greeks. Rome was noted for its scented baths followed by massage using aromatic oils. In fact, it was the popularity of aromatics that led to trade routes being established to import exotic oils and spices from India, Arabia, and China. These imports were used far more in aromatherapy than in cooking.

When Roman society fell into decay, the use of aromatherapy in the Western World decayed with it as Europe descended into the Dark Ages in which anything with natural origins was regarded as witchcraft and superstition - a suspicion only reinforced by "modern" Western medicine until recent years when the little guys in white coats in their sterile laboratories discovered that the best cures lay not in the labs but in the rain forests and jungles.