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Are you familiar with the healing essential oils of ancient times?
Welcome to Pathways to Health, your
online source for essential oils, books and music for healthy living. We
are dedicated to providing you with useful products and information. Whether you are visiting our wellness tutorial where you can learn about holistic health alternatives or ordering a pure essential oil
for the first time, you'll quickly discover why we are so proud to share our knowledge and products.
Aromatherapy is the application of essential oils which are intended to promote the health and
well-being of an individual. Although the essential oils, which are extracted from plants, have very specific aromas which have been used since the times of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, they also
have numerous other important qualities and various oils may be antibiotic, antiviral, antiseptic etc.
Essential oils have been used in perfumery and healing for many thousands of years, even before the
ancient Egyptian times. The art of embalming was very dependent upon essential oils, and Greek warriors are known to have anointed themselves with oils before going into battle. Precious gifts in the Middle East
2000 years ago included myrrh and frankincense. In Europe in the middle ages, aromatic plants such as clove, cypress, sage and rosemary were burned in an effort to control plagues. The use of natural oils for
both fragrance and healing purposes however started to die out in the early nineteenth century when scientists learned how to synthesize the plant oils for both perfumes and medicines. It was thought that the new
synthesized products would take the place of the natural, more expensive substances, which accordingly fell out of favor. Since then of course, we have learned that synthesized drugs do not always provide the
best answer and that nature often provides a solution that is more suited to the task and with fewer side-effects.
In the early 1900's, a French chemist named Gattefosse was working in his perfumery laboratory when he suffered a severe burn to his hand. Wanting to immediately
cool his burn, but not having any water within reach, he plunged his hand into a bowl of lavender essential oil. A few days later, and to his surprise, he found that his burns were healing very quickly and with
minimal scarring. Gattefosse began to investigate the properties of the lavender oil, and then other oils, and he eventually became the principal authority on essential oils. Gattefosse is today credited with
rediscovering the art of using essential oils from plants for 'health' purposes.
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