Essential Oils and Their Common Uses
Essential Oils and Their Common Uses
Essential Oils An Essential oil is the fluids from a plant in which it take on the odor and/or taste of the plant one extracts it from. Essential oils have been used through out history dating back to the bible, but had gone cold until 1928 when a French chemist by the name of Rene-Maurice Gattefosse had accidentally burned his hand severely while working. He plunged his hand into the nearest container which happened to be lavender oil instead of Water. To his surprise, his hand did not have any burn scars to be seen. This “ Re-discovery” has opened doors to thousands of uses of essential oils. Essential oils play a big part in botany. “Botany is described as the scientific study of plants, and covers such subjects as their classification, physical appearance, function, chemistry, ecology and even economic importance. Botany seeks to understand how a plant is structured and how it relates to both the environment and its interactions with other plants and organisms.” (Lyth) Because essential oils are extracted from plants it is important to know that the botany of plants can be extremely useful if you want to understand more about how essential oils work.
Essential Oils in History Use of essential oils has been documented back past the bible but has probably been used even before that. “The ancient Egyptians believed that the sense of smell and ability to detect odors was the most important of our sensory abilities. The considered the sense of smell far more important than sight or even the ability to think. That was because they knew the importance of odors to increase our intrinsic "frequency" and transform us.” (Hauck) Essential oils were also used in pagan rituals to evoke altered states of consciousness and initiate individuals into certain spiritual traditions. “Between 400-500 B.C.E. the Greeks recorded knowledge of essential oils adopted from the Egyptians. Ointment of Myrrh was carried by soldiers into battle to
Essential Oils An Essential oil is the fluids from a plant in which it take on the odor and/or taste of the plant one extracts it from. Essential oils have been used through out history dating back to the bible, but had gone cold until 1928 when a French chemist by the name of Rene-Maurice Gattefosse had accidentally burned his hand severely while working. He plunged his hand into the nearest container which happened to be lavender oil instead of Water. To his surprise, his hand did not have any burn scars to be seen. This “ Re-discovery” has opened doors to thousands of uses of essential oils. Essential oils play a big part in botany. “Botany is described as the scientific study of plants, and covers such subjects as their classification, physical appearance, function, chemistry, ecology and even economic importance. Botany seeks to understand how a plant is structured and how it relates to both the environment and its interactions with other plants and organisms.” (Lyth) Because essential oils are extracted from plants it is important to know that the botany of plants can be extremely useful if you want to understand more about how essential oils work.
Essential Oils in History Use of essential oils has been documented back past the bible but has probably been used even before that. “The ancient Egyptians believed that the sense of smell and ability to detect odors was the most important of our sensory abilities. The considered the sense of smell far more important than sight or even the ability to think. That was because they knew the importance of odors to increase our intrinsic "frequency" and transform us.” (Hauck) Essential oils were also used in pagan rituals to evoke altered states of consciousness and initiate individuals into certain spiritual traditions. “Between 400-500 B.C.E. the Greeks recorded knowledge of essential oils adopted from the Egyptians. Ointment of Myrrh was carried by soldiers into battle to
Cited: "essential oil". Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford Dictionaries. April 2010. Oxford University Press. 10 September 2012 . Falsetto, Sharon Falsetto. "History and Use of Essential Oils." History and Use of Essential Oils. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. . "What Is Botany?" What Is Botany? N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. http://www.botany.org/bsa/careers/car-what.html Lyth, Geoff. "The Role of Botany in Aromatherapy." The Role of Botany in Aromatherapy. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012.