Learning About Essential Oils ** Was: Oregano Questions

[Guest guest]

Hi Anita,

 

> Thanks Butch! Preciate the quick response. Will place and order soon!

 

Welcome fer'shur .. and I'll be here. :-p

 

> When I said " read, read, read " , I meant that although I am acquainted

with essential oils,

> I'm finding out that I know very little about the ones that I haven't

used very much, and

> some that I thought I was acquainted with " S " !

> Anita

 

Understand .. its a norm. There are NO EXPERTS on all oils .. maybe

some folks know a lot about some oils .. and know where to go to get

info on other oils .. but there are not real experts in this cottage

industry.

 

Some folks know a heckuva lot more than others .. Martin is a good

example .. but the real experts in EO are academicians and the lion's

share of them are not in English language universities. I know folks

who wrote their PhD thesis on a particular EO .. and they are the real

experts .. but none of them use a broad brush .. they specialize.

 

I'm certainly not going to stick my neck out by trying to write a book

on essential oils .. it takes too many years of research. I'm happy

being kinda knowledgeable about a few of them .. mainly the Origanums,

Rosmarinus officinalis and Rosa damascena.

 

Back in July and August 2003, Robert Tisserand wrote me a few posts in

regard to a new book he is planning on EO safety. He wanted information

on some of the unique oils endemic to Turkey. He was concerned with the

chemical composition of this and that oil. I mentioned that I was sure

he knew that making assumptions based on the known benefits or potential

hazards of a particular chemical in any oil would never be sufficient

because isolated chemical components can cause effects quite different

than they would while in combination with the natural synergy of the

whole oil. Which he acknowledged. This lead me to ask how he intended

to approach a book on safe use without referring to past testing .. and

we know that aside from the obsolete LD-50 tests for toxicity and the

continuous testing for dermal application (which is covered by Martin's

Plant Aromatics) there is no valid scientific information upon which to

base an entire book on safety .. and I touched on what I truly believe

is the true foundation of aromatherapy .. a series of regurgitations of

previously regurgitated unsubstantiated rumor and marketing hype.

 

To my surprise .. and delight .. he agreed that these rumor are a major

part of the world of aromatherapy .. and added that he himself had been

the author of many of these rumors. I replied that his comments were

well received and that, " You are one of the pioneers so I guess its

fair to say roads can more easily be improved after someone has blazed a

trail. " This come from one of the grandfathers of the AT business ..

don't forget these words when you read an aromatherapy novel.

 

Because Aromatherapy is not a science .. nor even an art .. anybody can

write a book on it and not be wrong or be criticized if they don't step

all over it from a point of safe use or make wild butt claims of this or

that being cured by this or that. We see different folks claiming to

get the same results from different oils .. and if they are not sellers

of EO its safe to assume they are not lying .. they believe it works so

it works .. that's how subjective aromatherapy is.

 

But .. if one wants to write about essential oils .. that is a science

and it is easy to check on the data and to criticize them if they can't

back up their writings. Its a risk to write a book on EO .. its wiser

to write a paper on a particular EO.

 

And there is not a lot of money in writing about essential oils .. thus,

the subject remains within the domain of the academicians.

 

Safe use of essential oils is a different critter .. Martin has compiled

THE Safety Manual for dermal application .. that is Plant Aromatics ..

URL http://www.av-at.com/plantaromaticsavnp.html

 

Bottom line .. when we meet someone who says they have all the facts ..

we need to run like hell afore the men with the nets arrive .. and when

we think we have learned all the facts .. we need to try to write a bit

on what we know and see how long it takes others to pick us apart cause

we ain't even got below the surface yet. ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com