Essential oils have been rising in popularity as people search for healthy, natural solutions for their every day health and wellness needs. To some it might look like a temporary fad, or the latest ‘bandwagon’ to jump on. But the truth is, essential oils have been around for a long, long time. The Egyptians used oils as beauty treatments, in medicine and food, and for religious ceremonies. Essential oils such as frankincense, sandalwood, myrrh, and cinnamon were considered very valuable and often traded for gold. Essential oils have been found in extravagant tombs from rich kings, as part of what they stashed away with them for their ‘next life’. (And interestingly, those oils still hold their medicinal properties, all these years later.)
The Greeks used essential oils (EO) in massage and aromatherapy and the Romans used EOs for health and hygiene purposes. Many people are familiar with the story of Jesus’ birth and the gifts of Frankincense and Myrrh given by the wise men, but might wonder why the wise men, if so wise, chose gifts like that for a baby? Maybe now it’s starting to make more sense!
The Persians began refining the distillation of EOs and used extensively through the dark ages for their germ killing and fragrance producing properties.
In 1937 the healing properties of essential oils were re-discovered in France, who began to heal badly burned soldiers with therapeutic grade Lavender oil in World War II. During more recent times, people began to turn away from the healing properties of EOs, looking to medicine which promised faster relief with synthetic alternatives that weren’t as costly to extract.
Now, today, the popularity of essential oils is on the rapid rise because people are using essential oils with great success overcome problems modern medicine has no answers to. And they’re able to do it safer (no addictions, no side effects), faster (sometimes in a matter of minutes, even seconds) and cheaper (sometimes just one or two drops of oil will do it).
The use of modern essential oils is even growing among health and medical practitioners as more and more benefits are discovered and proven. We’re on the cutting edge of re-discovering natural health care after a long history of proven results.