Essential Oils Origins – The Alchemy
The Alchemy
The Arabs produced a number of great men of science between the 7th and 13th centuries. One of them was Avicenna, a physician and scholar who was enormously gifted with talent and intelligence. He wrote more than a hundred books during his lifetime. One of these was solely about the Rose, a flower treasured in Islam. Avicenna invented the refrigerated coil as part of the distillation process, using it to create aromatic water and pure essential oils.
In 1975, Dr. Paolo Rovesti, who led an archaeological expedition to Pakistan, found a distillation apparatus made of terracotta in the museum of Taxila. Rovesti’s expedition was set to investigate the ancient civilization of the Indus Valley. The museum also showcased perfume containers dating back to 3000 BC. This confirmed the use of the refrigerated coil in the process of preparing aromatic oils. This discovery implied that the Arabs either improved or revived a process that was already used more than 4000 years ago.
During the time of the Crusades, one of the most popular scents was rose water. It came to the West along with the method of distillation and other exotic plant extracts. The “perfumes of Arabia” became famous all over Europe during the 13th century, while aromatic plants and herbal bouquets were scattered on floors and carried as protection against infectious diseases during the Middle Ages.
The Europeans started to experiment with their own native herbs, as they lacked the trees of the Orient that produced gums. In the beginning, they tried Rosemary, Sage, and Lavender. By the 16th century, essential oils and lavender water, referred to as “chymical oils,” could already be bought from pharmacists.
When printing was invented, the publication of numerous herbals began. One called the Grete Herball was published in 1526. Some publications also included illustrations of various herbal combinations and methods of volatile oil extraction.
Meanwhile, philosophers employed the art of distillation in their practice of alchemy as they tried to transform base metals into gold. Their pursuit in doing so was primarily spiritual in nature. They asserted that the various distillation states were the same as that of an inner psychic transmutation. These stages include dissolution and coagulation; separation; extraction; fusion; and sublimation. Similarly, while aromatic materials are distilled to create a pure essence, the human emotions could also be concentrated and refined in order to bring out their true nature.
Thus, according to the alchemists, volatile oils are comparable to the purified human psyche. The “quintessence” concept of alchemists asserts that volatile oils are an emanation of matter while the human psyche is the manifestation of the spirit. Consequently, alchemy is the mediator between matter and spirit.
