It is believed that the Chinese were the first civilization to use aromatic plants for health related reasons, such as burning incense for harmony. However, it was the Egyptians who invented the first distillation techniques, allowing the extraction of essential oils. Their methods were crude distillation, but allowed them to use oils of cedar, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and myrrh to embalm their dead. Tombs opened by archaeologists in the twentieth century revealed traces of herbs and aroma herbal heat.
The Egyptians also used essential oils and infused oils for spiritual, medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Aromatic infusions began creating there are more than 5000 years. Many believe that the term fragrance developed their origin in America fumum ', ie through the smoke. Perfumery was closely linked to the ancient Greek religion, divinity and each was assigned a perfume.
Aromatic essences were the focus of aromatherapy Greek, used medically, food preservation, cosmetics, cuisine and religion. Aromatherapy ideas also played a role in the design and layout of cities, with large spaces for the burning of herbs to keep the air germ free.
Leaders of ancient Egypt imported from exotic scents they had conquered as a symbol of his power, both economically and politically.
The Greeks learned a lot from Egypt. After visiting the Nile Valley in 500 BC established a medical school on the island of Cos, whose most famous graduates is that of Hippocrates, "father of medicine". We recommend a daily bath and massage oils essential for healthy living.
The Romans promoted the knowledge acquired by the Egyptians and Greeks. Discord wrote treatus called De Materia Medica, which refers to more than 500 medicinal plants. Roman herbalist Galen was influenced by this treatus and wrote what became medical reference in the world for over 1500 years.
The Romans really took the use of aromatic essences to a new level. Water points Spice Nero Guests filled tubes in her palace perfumed, fragrant cups were popular, and there was smelling around the city. Aromatic scents to be popular when the object of learning is passed from Rome to Constantinople (now Istanbul).
The Arabs were the first to distill alcohol from fermented sugar. This discovery has created a solvent other oils and waxes for infusions, leading to a popular luxury, such as floral waters. This distillation of therapeutic expertise and strong aromas of essential oils have been uncovered and explored.
Essential Oils
Distillation techniques have been encouraged in the eleventh century by a Persian physician, Avicenna, who invented a spiral tube which makes installation more efficient and effective cooling of the vapor and steam. The most effective technique, created greater attention to essential oils and their benefits.
In the thirteenth century, the pharmaceutical industry has begun to encourage the great distillation of essential oils. This has created a solid base of knowledge on the use of essential oils to the black plague of the fourteenth century, which killed 80 million people across Europe. Aromatherapy has been used for allievo situation. Herbs and scented candles were burned in the fight against the stench and help disinfect the air. It is believed that some perfumers avoid the plague because of their constant contact with natural aromatics.
Herbs were also used during the bubonic plague in the sixteenth century, when doctors used enormous visor hats filled with aromatic herbs to disinfect the air. At this stage, a specific link between aromatic compounds and health has been established as the fragrant air, has been recognized as an antiseptic and pleasant. In 1700, the essential oils were used in conventional medicine. However, the development of chemistry at this time weakened the use of essential oils for medicinal purposes.
Popular uses Aromatherapy
It was not until the early twentieth century, aromatic essential oils and has regained its popularity. A French chemist named Rene-Maurice Gattefosse studied essential oils to use aromatic. However, their focus has shifted from its medicinal properties after an accident at work. He suffered serious burns to his arms and plunged it reflects the closest liquid which happened to be the essential oil of lavender. His arm healed very quickly and leave no scar, which led to his study on the medicinal uses of essential oils. Gattefosse coined the term aromatherapy in 1928 and 1937, wrote a book called Aromatherapy Gattefosse ', which is still in print and widely read.
The end of 1950 Ms. Marguerite Maury studied how essential oils can be used to penetrate the skin health and beauty reasons. He developed methods of massage that are still used by aromatherapists today. In his book "The Secret of Life and Youth" which develops the concept of individual prescription, a specific mixture of each patient.
Dr Jean Valnet, a French doctor who treated soldiers in the Second World War with essential oils, has documented the antimicrobial action of the oil in his 1964 book "The practice of aromatherapy. Following his work, France has developed a successful medical aromatherapy, in which essential oils are used by the medical profession.
For most of the last century, was limited to aromatherapy beauty industry and largely been accepted in the medical profession. A mixture of Maury development of the concept of individual prescription and the success of medical aromatherapy in France which led to more doctors and acceptance of aromatherapy in Britain and the United States in recent years . Aromatherapy has been divided into two key areas of health and beauty, which are equally important and increasingly recognized as areas and techniques that complement each other.