The History Of Aromatherapy - By: Lee MacRae

Many people look upon aromatherapy as a new form of alternative treatment today for various ailments or to increase well-being. But aromatherapy has actually been used for thousands of years by various cultures around the world. Aromatherapy has had a long and varied history and benefited many many people over the centuries.

It just wasn't called aromatherapy before the early 1900s. The use of essential oils and aromatic plants in a healing process were used in biblical times for various purposes. Two of the gifts brought to the baby Jesus were frankincense and myrrh. Frankincense is an aromatic gum resin obtained from various Arabian or East African trees. This sweet smelling gum was burned as an incense. Myrrh is another aromatic gum resin derived from several trees and shrubs and was highly favored for soothing muscles and wounds. Both frankincense and myrrh were highly valued and have had spiritual significance since ancient times as well as being adopted as medicines for physical ailments.

Before that time, the ancient Egyptians were world-renowned for their skills in massage and their miraclulous potions, marvelous skin-care products, scented oils, healing balms, exotic perfumes and aromatic wines among other aromatherapy treatments. Essential oils were used by the Egyptians to fumigate sick rooms, they used them in in cosmetics and in their daily baths and massage therapies. In one of their greatest rituals, the Egyptians used essential oils in the mummification process they practiced extensively because of the antibacterial and antiseptic properties helped to prevent decay and decomposition of the bodies. Over the centuries, the Egyptians gained great wealth through the use of the aromatic properties of various plants and bushes used in products they exported to other nations.

Ancient China was another culture then used aromatherapy extensively. Archaeologists say that the oldest surviving medical book from China dates to sometime around 2,700 BC. It was written and compiled by a person called Shen Nung and the book contains cures involving well over three hundred different aromatic herbs. Although it wasn't calledd aromatherapy, centuries of using essential oils and aromatic plants in China has provided all of us with a wealth of aromatic practices and traditions that can greatly benefit us today.

Today's aromatherapy use was brought about by the research of a French chemist by the name of René-Maurice Gattefosse. Gattefosse was researching essential oils to determine their antiseptic properties in the 1920s. The researcher accidentally burned his hand during an experiment and he plunged his hand in a vat of pure lavender essential oil to cool it down. Gattefosse later said that he was amazed at how the pain disappeared instantly when he put his hand in the lavender oil and how it healed without infections or blisters and no visible scars were left behind. The incident drove Gattefosse enter further research that still benefits us today.

Aromatherapy is now used in hospitals, offices, clinics and homes all over the world. Everyone, from babies to adults, now benefit from the various uses of essential oils, even in a common everyday practice like deodorizing and disinfecting using pine oils and lemon. If you want to get started with aromatherapy I suggest that you read all you can find on the subject and learn how to use it in your everyday life.

Get to know just a few of the essential oils at first, how to use them and then move on to others. Your education will greatly benefit the health and well-being of both you and your family.

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