extracted from plants, flowers and herbs
(Halcon 335-350). It is the scent of these
extracted essential oils that provide
therapeutic remedies. Aromatherapy is more
than just inhaling fragrances you find
appealing; it is the mixture of these oils
blended together in specific combinations to
create healing aromas.
Aromatherapy is not a new practice
in medicine and can be dated back to 60,000
years ago when Neanderthals still occupied
the Earth (Field 89-96). Cave painting
indicating these practices have even been
found in Lascaux, France dating back to
approximately 1800 BC (Field 89-96). The
origins of aromatherapy are culturally diverse
belonging to India, Rome and the Arab
Empire (Field 89-96). It gained much
popularity in Western societies really
becoming prominent in France prior to World
Aromatherapy
By Amber Brewster
Rotting
food, spoiled milk, fresh
baked cookies, your grandmothers perfume,
cut flowers; what do all these things have in
common? Scent! Smell is one of our five
senses and compared to the other senses it is
powerful. Our ability to smell is
controlled by our olfactory sense …treat medical illnesses by simply
and can be referred to as the most
powerful sense as it triggers strong using you sense of smell?
emotions (Almagor 253-274). It
War II (Halcon 335-350). Physician Jean
can evoke feelings of warmth, disgust,
Valnet, chemist Maurice Gattefosse and nurse
relaxation and serenity. The exact reason as to
Marguerite Mary all played a significant role in
why scent is so powerful and has so many
what modern day Western societies refer to as
connections to memory is still somewhat
aromatherapy (Halcon 335-350). Gattefosse
unknown. But what is known is that each
was not the first person to use aromatherapy
person will associate scents based on their
but he was the first person to coin the term,
own personal experiences with the smells
aromatherapy (Halcon 335-350). Although it
(Classen et al. 1-10). Considering scents are
has re