The beginnings of essential oil use trace back to Ancient Egypt, where aromatherapy practices first began. Cultivating plants for their oils, Egyptians used them in religion, cosmetics, and medicinal purposes, including the embalming process.
It wasn’t long before other cultures began to harness essential oils for their aromatic healing properties. Without any form of mass communication, healers worldwide were utilizing the fragrance and antimicrobial power of plants.
Essential Oils Through the Years
The Egyptians used plant oils dating as far back as 3,500 B.C. While they likely produced most of them through a solvent, extraction method, or distillation pots.
During that same time frame, both India and China had begun to explore the use of herbs and aromatic plants, which would eventually become the core of Indian Ayurvedic healing. The Greek healer, Hippocrates, was known for treating patients holistically, putting plant oils and massage to use.
It didn’t take long for the Romans to catch on, utilizing plant power and fragrance for wellness reasons, including aromatic bathing. They believed in hygiene to promote health.
During this time, civilizations across the globe included essential oils in their medicinal practices.
The Dark Ages, Essential Oils, and a Rebirth
It’s widely known that the fall of the Roman Empire brought a time of religious oppression within Europe. The church governed the land, which ushered in a different way of approaching medicine and healing.
The teachings of Hippocrates and the like fell to the wayside, but essential oils were still in heavy rotation when it came to vanity. The Middle Ages are notorious for lack of literacy, education, and bathing. While this notion isn’t entirely true, essential oil use was encouraged to cover up bodily odor.
The time of the Renaissance and Enlightenment brought essential oils to the forefront again. Paracelsus, a famed yet controversial alchemist of the 1500s, was known for incorporating plant oils into his remedies.
The phrase “aromatherapy” was not coined until 1937, and the topical treatment of essential oils emerged in France around that time. During World War II, French doctors put essential oils into heavy rotation to treat sick and injured soldiers.
The use of essential oils did nothing but gain traction and popularity over time, eventually developing into the craze that we see today. From Tea Tree Oil for head lice to Peppermint Oil to cure a headache, there isn’t an oil available for which our curious society has not found a use.
Essential Oils Take a Modern Turn
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a boom in natural, holistic medicine was born. Globally, people were concerned about the grip of establishment and its effect on our way of life.
From environmental issues to concerns over the ethics of modern pharmaceutical companies, many people began to seek alternative options to the development of Western Medicine. This movement ushered in a whole new take on essential oils and the possibilities they held for healing.
Today, there isn’t much that essential oils can’t do. Millions of people have gone searching for a way to clean up their environments, both inside and outside the home. Essential oils play a massive role in the evolution of the cleaning and personal product industries.
From eliminating harmful pathogens and bacteria from the air to creating non-toxic cleaners and air fresheners in the home, essential oil use is at an all-time high.
The Potency of Plant Fragrance
If you’ve ever applied essential oils topically, you’ve likely heard that you must dilute them somehow, whether it be with a carrier oil or distilled water. Essential oils are incredibly potent, and direct application could cause some people to have adverse skin reactions.
Overall, the use of essential oils for medicinal purposes is auspicious. Because plant oils are so powerful, a little bit goes quite a long way. When used correctly and effectively, essential oils can heal naturally at great lengths, having a significant effect on ailments such as anxiety and depression.
Essential Oils and Their Place in Society
Essential oils have held high value within society for hundreds of years. They trace back to ancient medicine and have certainly solidified their place in modern medicine as it evolves to fit the needs and beliefs of an ever-changing society.
Essential oils have been well-loved for so long because they offer the power of healing without changing the body’s internal composition. They are not invasive. Instead, they encourage the body to heal without alleviating symptoms only.
We are many years and hundreds of studies away from fully incorporating essential oils into modern medicine. However, more practitioners, both traditional and holistic, are embracing the benefits that essential oils offer.
The topic leaves much to discover, but it’s clear that essential oils have always held an absolute value within societies and civilizations throughout time. It seems that they are finally beginning to receive all the respect they deserve.
