What is the history of aromatherapy? Delve deeply into our shared human history and you’ll catch the scent of essential oils wafting across centuries and cultures. Our ancestors may not have called it “aromatherapy,” but the use of plants and their essences to promote health, healing, and beauty has been common practice for the last several centuries.
Ancient History of Aromatherapy
Priests in ancient Egypt, for instance, commonly embalmed the dead with myrrh and cinnamon. Meanwhile, aristocrats scented their evening baths with essential oils and indulged in aromatic cedarwood and cypress oil massages before bed. The great unwashed masses may not have enjoyed the same luxuries, but laborers who toiled in the harsh Egyptian sun were surely grateful for natural deodorant recipes being passed around by 1500 B.C.E.
Meanwhile, across the Mediterranean, sweet-smelling aromas wafted from serene bathhouses while merchants hawked precious essential oils on the crowded streets below, promising potions that could produce a more pleasant personal smell – or mask a particularly bad one.
And in other parts of the world, the intoxicating scent of locally available aromatic plants permeated daily worship. Our ancestors prayed at Babylonian temples built from perfumed mortar and meditated at Indian temples carved out of aromatic sandalwood.
History of Aromatherapy in Literature
The intoxicating history of aromatherapy even graces the pages of ancient texts. The Bible, to name one example, describes how Moses blended myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and olive oil to create a powerful antiviral and antibiotic blend. And in Arabia, an entire book was written about the magical properties of single plant: the rose. At the time, crusaders were bringing precious rosewater back to Europe and inspiring a thriving perfume industry around that essence alone.
Modern History of Aromatherapy
Though humans have used plants medicinally for thousands of years, synthetic chemicals began to replace traditional natural essences by the late eighteen hundreds, and our ancient wisdom was discredited almost overnight.
We’ve only recently begun to recover from this brief disconnect from our own history and from nature’s generosity.
Modern Father of Aromatherapy
Today, interest in plant essences has blossomed once more, thanks in part to the pioneering work of Frenchman René Maurice Gattefosé, who coined the term “aromatherapy.” After a laboratory accident burned his arm, he plunged it into the nearest liquid he could find – a container of lavender oil – and discovered that his pain immediately lessened. Over time, the oil promoted healing without blistering or scarring. Inspired by this discovery, Gattefosé dedicated his life to researching the healing properties of lavender and other essential oils.
His research laid the groundwork for aromatherapy as we know it today. We are now rediscovering what our ancestors have always known, using aromatherapy to help treat the flu, add flavor to a dinner dish, discourage flees from pestering the family dog, and keep aphids off our prized tomatoes. We’re adding essential oils to fragrant baths to soothe our spirits and dabbing them on our temples to energize our thoughts.
And that’s just skimming the surface of the history of aromatherapy. Over three hundred essential oils are available for our benefit today; how might they help you?