25/09/2016
Aromatically yours ~ Zsuzsana
The History of Aromatherapy
Hilda Leyel By JeanneRose
In the years before 1937, the year when Gattefossé and Roland Hunt had both mentioned the word Aromatherapy in their works, there was someone else who was entranced with aromas. She was an herbalist. Then an herbalist meant studying and using plants and any and all their parts for healing. Being an herbalist did not mean you were relegated to using only the plant but it meant that you used all parts of the plant including its essential oil.
Earlier we mentioned an herb is ANY plant part valued for its medicinal, savory or aromatic qualities – this includes the essential oils from plants. And an herbalist is ANY person who uses a plant or plant part including the essential oil for healing, medicine, eating, or skin and body care.
We have forgotten that aromatherapy is an advanced branch of herbalism. We have begun to use the essential oils forgetting that sometimes it is the plant - its leaves, roots, and seed or bark that is the better choice in healing.
>>>>>>>>>>>>more to come