This page is dedicated to the application and uses of aromatherapy

History of Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy has been used by humanity for more than 6,000 years. The Chinese may have been the first culture to use aromas, which consisted primarily of burning incense, for the purpose of enhancing well-being.

The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans also used essential oils in a variety of ways. For the Egyptians, fragrance was essential to their spiritual life, medicinal practices, and cosmetic applications.

Most famously, Egyptians used infused oils as part of the embalming and mummification process.

Hippocrates, considered the "father of medicine," used aromatics for medicinal benefit. He has been quoted as saying, "The way to good health is an aromatic bath and a scented massage daily." This included an aromatic preparation that cleared Athens of the plague! The Greeks also used aromatic baths and essential oil massages as part of their health care.

Rome did many things exceptionally well - one was building upon others' success. The Romans took Egyptian and Greek knowledge of aromatic plants and aromatherapy, and combined them into a book called De Materia Medica which described the properties of approximately 500 plants.

The word "aromatherapy" did not come into use until 1928, first coined by French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse. Gattefosse also began studying the medicinal use of oil after burning his hand and discovering the wound did not scar after he plunged it into a vat of lavender essential oil. By World War II, essential oils were being used as antiseptics and in holistic therapy.

The knowledge of how to separate constituents in essential oils was used to create synthetic chemicals and drugs during the 20th Century. These discoveries eventually lead to modern medicine as well as synthetic fragrances, which in turn lowered the use of essential oils for medicinal or aromatic benefit. Not surprisingly, this tide has turned once again, and essential oils and aromatherapy are both being studied seriously by the medical community, with many medical journals publishing positive studies on their use.

Ever wonder what exactly aromatherapty essential oils are?

50 ways to use Lavender

You ever wonder how they make this stuff? I did, so I went and found this

How are Essential oils extracted?

Single essential oils

Essential oil blends

Don't know which ones to get? check here

Where do I get the diffuser to use with the oils?

Medically speaking, is it real?

If you are at all like me, it's all just hype without the facts to back it up. I have here, from independent resources, several articles, (with more coming) to substabtiate the medical benefis of aromatherapy See the links below from various medical jourmals to proe the reality of aromatherapy. Medical journal entry from Health watch

The triangle of health

Essential Oil of Ginger and anaesthesia