History of The Evolution of Aromatherapy

Aromatic plants have a long history of application in traditional medicine. According to legend, Chinese medicine originated from "Shennong's tasting of the hundred herbs", and the classic "Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica" contains many pearls of wisdom on the use of plants and is a guide for modern herbalists. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" compiled by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty recorded more than 2,000 kinds of herbs and more than 8,000 kinds of formulas, which are still regarded as important reference materials for health care and disease treatment by Chinese medicine practitioners until today. In addition, the Vedas, which are the oldest medical texts in the world, has been used for 5,000 years in India for religious and medical purposes, but the first evidence of the widespread use of essential oils in history dates back to ancient Egypt.

3000 B.C.

The earliest records of aromatherapy originate in Egypt. The Egyptians used to use aromatherapy in their daily life; for ritual offerings, incense for sacred rituals, dancers for celebrations... From various ancient books and stone walls of ancient temples, we can understand that the Egyptians used aromatic plants extensively in medicine, cosmetics, and even in the preservation of corpses. The most famous example is Cleopatra, who used the mysterious charm of essential oils to care for her skin and fill her body with fragrance, successfully making Julius Caesar and Mark Antony fall under her spell. When the tomb of Tutankhamen was excavated in 1922, archaeologists discovered that the Egyptians used the resins white rosin, cinnamon, frankincense, and cedar to prevent the decay of corpses. Today's scientifically proven mummies, which have been tested for over 3,000 years, demonstrate the amazing, long-lasting, and incredible antibacterial and antiseptic power of these plants and essential oils. What's more, even the residual spices on the mummy's shroud were distilled and recycled by European pharmacists in the 17th century to become the so-called "mummy elixir", which shows its miraculous effects.

460-377 B.C.

The Greeks inherited the herbal medicine of ancient Egypt and continued to study it in-depth, making many new discoveries. The Greeks already knew which plants were invigorating and which ones made people drowsy. Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), the 'father of medicine', used the systematic organization to classify and index the knowledge inherited from ancient Egypt, and scientifically analyzed more than 300 kinds of herbs, which were recorded in a book and became an important classic of herbal medicine. Dioscorides, a Greek, completed five books of 'medical treatises on medicinal herbs' during his lifetime, recording 500 kinds of medicinal knowledge and methods of use. Many Greeks were employed as royal physicians at the Roman court, and the knowledge of essential oils was then introduced to Rome. Galen used his ideas in medicine, anatomy, and physiology to classify plants according to their medicinal functions, which is now known as 'Galen's Taxonomy'. These monumental works, completed in classical times, were translated into many languages and spread to the Eastern world through wars and cultural exchanges.

Tenth to the eleventh century

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the need for more medical texts, along with the exiled doctors, spread to the Eastern world. Translated into Arabic in Constantinople, the medical knowledge established in ancient Greco-Roman through the cultural exchange of time and space was widely circulated in the Arab world. The 'Medical Codex' of Avicenna, the greatest physician in Arab history, recorded more than 800 species of plants and their usefulness to the human body. His greatest contribution was the invention of the technology of distillation of essential oils in the eleventh century, which made the quality of essential oils and the technology of their extraction more complete.

Twelfth-Century

In the twelfth century, the knights of the Crusades brought distillation techniques and Arabian perfumes back to Europe, injecting a new light into the dark period of Europe. It became the trend of the era to carry perfumes and medicines to cover body odor and keep the mood happy. In the fourteenth century, when the plague and the Black Death were prevalent, people sprinkled flower petals and herbs on the roads, and everywhere you looked there were scented sachets and fragrant flowers and herbs hanging in public places, squeezing out the juice of flowers and herbs by stepping on them as a way to kill viruses, prevent the growth of mosquitoes and stop infectious diseases. In the era of the industrial revolution, the rapid rise of science around the world has led to the emergence of a large number of chemically synthesized drugs, and become the mainstream formula of medicine, in a large number of manufacturing cheap and easy synthetic drugs flourished, but also discovered the side effects of synthetic drugs (for example: at that time, the common use of mercury to treat syphilis, but mercury has extremely terrible side effects, it will make patients constantly drooling, Although some syphilis patients were really cured, many died as a result), this led to a new look at the importance of traditional natural essential oils, and under this trend of returning to nature, many scientists set out to study the properties and effects of essential oils.

1920 A.D.

René-Maurice Gattefossé, a cosmetic scientist, had the misfortune to burn his hand in an experimental explosion, and because he happened to have lavender oil nearby, he dipped it directly into it and found that the pain was eliminated and the wound recovered well without leaving any scars. Aromatherapy was first introduced in 1928 and was clinically proven in France during the Second World War, attracting more scientists to join the research. In addition to physical healing, there is also successful clinical experience in long-term mental illness. Two other pioneers of aromatherapy, Gatti and Cajola, also proved the effectiveness of essential oils in psychotherapy by releasing the patient's memories and emotions through inhalation and sniffing.

1950 A.D.

Marguerite Maury, a London-based maintenance specialist, pioneered the use of aromatherapy, combining her familiar face and body massage techniques with her original chiropractic techniques, to select the right botanical oils for the psychological needs and symptoms of her patients. Since then, aromatherapy has taken a new turn, not only establishing a strong foundation in the UK, but also extending its reach into complementary and holistic medicine.

Nowadays

The use of aromatherapy has become widespread among the general public, and governments and colleges around the world have come to regard aromatherapy as a formal discipline, and many private clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes use this holistic approach to help people recover.