The History of Aromatherapy

Although the term ‘aromatherapy’ wasn’t coined until 1928 by the French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse, the use of essential oils and plant extracts for their healing properties goes back thousands of years.

The oldest recorded reference to plants used for medical purposes dates back to 10,000BC and Ancient Sumerian and Egyptian records, dating back before 2500BC, detail a vast wealth of knowledge of herbal remedies. However, it is The Ebers Papyrus (1800BC) that shows their knowledge of plants as it describes the use of aromatic remedies for both internal and external problems as well as for skin conditions as respiratory issues.

The Ancient Egyptians are also credited with inventing a rudimentary distillation machine that allowed for the crude extraction of cedar wood oil. They infused essential oils such as clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and myrrh to embalm the dead.  At around the same time in China Emperor Shen-Nung, who reigned in 2838BC, is credited with the invention of farming and the introduction of herbal medicine.

The scripture The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine (2598BC) refers to pressing, the precursor of acupressure.  At this time the Chinese were known to use aromatic plants as incense during religious ceremonies.Just a little later in India, the Rig Veda scripture details over a thousand plants for their healing properties. There is also evidence that in Kashmir, rose extract was produced from twice distilled rose water. Medical texts dated circa 1700BC, show that the Babylonians used myrrh as an ingredient in many recipes and that ‘essence of cedar’ was also used, indicating a basic knowledge of distillation.

However, the Egyptians were the most influential civilisation and their knowledge spread from Egypt and Mesopotamia to Ancient Greece where the herbalist Asclepius (practising around 1250BC) and his daughters Panacea and Hygiea built on the information passed on to them.  However, herbalism was mainly dependent on itinerant practitioners until the ‘father of medicine’ Hippocrates (460-377BC), formulated a more scientific approach based on diagnosis and treatment.  He not only researched plant medicines, some of which are still in use today, but he also practiced fumigations for both aromatic and medicinal purposes and was a great advocate of massage and herbal baths. 

Theophrastus is credited with being the founder of botany and had a special interest in plant perfumes and Megallus, a perfumer, created a perfume called megaleion which consisted of myrrh in a fatty-oil base which was used as a cosmetic because of its aroma but also as a medicine because of its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to heal skin lesions.

The Romans used plants for medicinal purposes extensively and, learning from the Egyptians, they distilled aromatic waters and used these extensively along with massage oils. Pedanius Dioscorides, AD60, wrote in his 5-volume De Materia Medica descriptions of the properties of approximately 600 plants, including how plant chemistry changes depending on the soil, time of year, age of plant and so on.   His volumes are regarded as the precursor to all modern pharmacological texts. Claudius Galen, AD131-201) went on to write over 500 treatises on all aspects of medical science and the term ‘galenic’ is still used today to describe drugs and medicine made from plant and animal ingredients.

In the 9th Century the Iraqi scholar Al-Kindi (800-870AD) wrote extensively about essential oils.  From his book, Medicinal Formulary it is clear that essential oil distillation had been perfected and that he possessed the knowledge of how to separate and purify natural substances. This suggests that during the Dark Ages, the Arabs revived or improved upon distillation. He also wrote The Book on Chemistry of Perfumes and Distillation which contains over 100 recipes for the uses of essential oils and it gives a diagram and an explanation of the apparatus used for distillation. In the 11th Century the Persian-born medical practitioner and philosopher, Avicenna, wrote his 5-volume medical encyclopaedia  al-Qanun fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine).  In addition he invented a cooling pipe with which to extract plant oils.  The coiled pipe allowed the plant vapours and steam to cool more effectively thus helping to maintain the healing qualities of the extracted oils.

At around the same time, alchemists in Europe were refining the distillation process in their pursuit of gold.  In Hippocratic medicine it was said that the 4 temperaments - nervous, sanguine, lymphatic and bilious corresponded with the 4 elements earth, air, fire and water. Distillation was regarded as a symbol of purification and the concentration of spiritual forces into a missing element, the ‘quintessential’. The stages of the distillation process were equated with stages of inner psychic transformation, dissolution and coalescence; separation (black, lead), extraction; (white, quicksilver), fusion (red, sulphur) and sublimation (gold, lapis). They believed there had to be a subtler element the 5th element or ‘ether’ and thought they had found it, thus the beginning of the use of the word ‘essential’ for the aromatic oils from plants.

Also at this time, the Anglo Saxon tome, The Leech Book of Bald was written which placed much emphasis on the magical uses of herbs and flowers. In the 12th Century, St Hildegard of Bengen wrote the medical series Physica which included many herbal remedies as well as many references to plant lore of the time. She also grew and distilled lavender for its medicinal properties. During the 14th century, the advent of the Black Death and other plagues saw many people begin to recognise the link between aromatics and health, even though it was mainly thought that it drove away ‘evil spirits’. Many large country estates had ‘still’ rooms which were used to distil aromatic waters and herbal remedies.

By the 15th Century (the Renaissance period) several essences were widely used including cedar, frankincense, juniper, rose and sage, although most of these appear to have been infused rather than distilled. This was also a period of great exploration and many new plant species were introduced to Europe.  In addition, the invention of the printing press saw a rash of medical texts being published across Europe. During this time the Swiss-born Paracelcus (149-1541), an alchemist and radical thinker, is credited with coining the term ‘essence’.  His studies radically challenged the nature of alchemy as he focused upon identifying the active ingredient in each plant.

The 16th & 17th Centuries saw many apothecaries opening, the most well-known being Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654). He opened an apothecary in London, and published The English Physitian in which he combined herbal observations and uses with their astrological natures and in 1664 The Krauter Buch (The Plant Book) was published in Germany detailing the uses of over 3000 European plants. The next century saw the use of essential oils become common in medicine and the return of the bubonic plague increased the demand for aromatics.

In the 19th Century perfumery became a highly prosperous business and particularly thrived in France in the Montpelier, Narbonne and Grasse regions.  The fashion for special perfume bottles grew and it was also at this time that the scientists began to identify and isolate the major constituents of essential oils. Chemists identified various constituents of essential oils and categorised them as ‘geraniol’, ‘citronellol’ and so on which formed the basis of many modern drugs.   In the early 1800’s Per Henrik Ling, a Swede, developed a system of massage based on a knowledge of gymnastics, anatomy and physiology. This system developed into the type of massage practiced in aromatherapy today.

At the turn of the 20th Century W. Hale-White a physician and lecturer on medicine at Guy’s hospital, London published Pharmacology and Therapeutics which contained substantial sections on essential oils and massage. He recommended massage for a variety of ailments and recognised the psychological effects of some essential oils. In 1928 the French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse coined the term ‘aromatherapy’ and became interested in the healing properties of essential oils following an accident in which he burnt his arm and immediately plunged it into a vat of lavender oil as it was the nearest thing to hand.  He was reputedly amazed at how quickly his arm healed and the fact that there was no scarring.  As a result he became an advocate of using essential oils in the whole without breaking them down into constituent parts.   In 1937 he wrote Aromatherapie: Les Huiles essentielles hormones vegetales which is still in print.

In the 1940s the Austrian biochemist Marguerite Maury developed the use of essential oils in massage. She also advocated personal prescriptions taking into account psychological factors and physical ones. She wrote the book The Secret of Youth and taught extensively in Britain in the 1950’s. Around the same time Dr Jean Valnet, a French doctor, began using essential oils for treating the wounds of soldiers injured during WWII.  He realized the potential of essential oils for the treatment of medical and psychiatric disorders and published his findings in the Practice of Aromatherapy in 1964, although many of his notes refer to the application of the herbs and not the essential oils.Today there is a growing interest in the use of natural products including essential oils for therapeutic, cosmetic and aromatic benefits which has refuelled interest in aromatherapy.