Julia Lawless - Aromatherapy and the Mind

To Alec

Contents

Aromatherapy and the Mind explores the impact of scent on human consciousness throughout history. Part I asserts that scent is not only therapeutic and aesthetic, but profoundly psychoactive. It examines the way that botanical aromatics evolved through the use of incense, perfume, the symbolic imagination and psycho-aromatherapy. We are introduced to ancient fragrant myths, magic and romance, as well as modern aromatic psychology and science.

This book is an aromatic treasure chest, for there is a wealth of information here. It is peppered with apt literary quotations and redolent poetic images. Part II is a compilation of the psychoactive and therapeutic properties of specific oils and an excellent complement to Lawlesss earlier work, The Encyclopaedia of Essential Oils. For those interested in the history of aromatic psychology, Aromatherapy and the Mind presents a captivating cross-cultural overview beginning with Sumeria, Egypt, Greece and Rome. A central theme of the book is concerned with archaic magical-alchemical consciousness and how it was supplanted by scientific materialism, culminating in the mind/body split of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution.

Within the last 20 years we have seen the emergence of a new paradigm which has been reflected in literature and lecture theaters by a new physics, a new biology, a new botany, a new archaeology and a new aromatics. What makes each of these disciplines new is the addition of mind and conscious awareness to their knowledge base. Not mind in a limited sense as the mental power of logical thought, but mind in a more expanded sense which includes spirit. Mind in this larger view animates and interacts with the physical environment, which it can either make sacred or desecrate. This knowledge is ancient and is evident in magic, meditation and early forms of religion.

Paradoxically, this new dimension of mind is also what reconnects each of these contemporary disciplines to their ancient roots before there was a division between psyche and soma. Today there is an intuition within the aromatherapy community to remember the severed links between mind, body and fragrance. This trend is part of the olfactory renaissance. Aromatherapy and the Mind puts this renaissance in historical perspective.

I met Julia when English aromatherapy was still in its infancy. We share an aromatic lineage. Her mother Kerttu Smith, a Finnish biochemist, introduced me to the fragrant virtues of aromatic oils which I distributed for her company Natural Essence in London.

In 1982 when I met Kerttu, I was a visiting lecturer in megalithic archaeology and general systems theory at the School of Environmental Studies, University of London. Among the libraries that I frequented was the Warburg Institute. This unique collection specializes in texts and studies of the survival of classical antiquity in the civilization of Western Europe. The library was a delight to explore. It exuded an almost monastic ambience of hushed silence and academic reflection. Thus when Julia told me that she had done her historical aromatic research at the Warburg Institute, I could relate to the seasoned atmosphere in which this book took root and blossomed.

Aromatherapy and the Mind is a scholarly bouquet for us, an impressive distillation of aromatic history and psychology. It will be especially rewarding for those practitioners who have absorbed and already practice the lavender-for-headaches level of aromatherapy and desire more knowledge about the subtle effects of aromatherapy on the mind.

John J. Steele

Lifetree Aromatix

Sherman Oaks, California

November, 1993

Aromatherapy and the Mind has not been an easy book to write like the nature of the mind itself, perfume has a subtle and elusive quality. The following pages have therefore been written in a somewhat tentative tone, for I am aware that the information presented here simply represents the tip of an iceberg. The vast majority of questions regarding the psychological effects of fragrance remain unanswered, for in the interaction between mind and scent, personal and transpersonal elements are both brought into play. As Maurice Rogers, the President of Dior Perfumes, has observed:

Scent, even in hard, materialistic times like these, still offers a direct route to the unconscious perfume is one of the last territories of the irrational. The deep aim of perfumery is to find ingredients that will open new doors.

Likewise, rather than providing conclusive answers, this book consequently takes the form of an exploration, an invitation to open new doors. It is also my hope that in the future, natural aromatics will be used increasingly for their psychological benefits, as essential oils come to be recognized for their multi-faceted healing potential.

I would especially like to thank all the following people who have helped or contributed to this project in a variety of ways:

Noel Cobb, Carola Beresford-Cooke, John Black, Tristram Hull, Nicole Perez, Jill Puree, Claire and John Sharkey and Rupert Sheldrake for sending me relevant articles and information; Angelica Bradley and Dorothea Vincentz for translating chunks of material from foreign texts; Judy Allan, Jane Graham-Maw and those at Thorsons for their writing and editorial advice; Cara Denman for her guidance; John Steele for reading the text through at manuscript stage, for his astute comments and for writing the Foreword; Robert Bly for his kind permission to reprint The Wind One Brilliant Day ; and, last but not least, my friends and family who have given their support Ute and Myles Lawless, Sue Mitchell, Len Smith, my husband Alec and daughter Natasha.

And so he would now study perfumes He saw that there was no mood of the mind that had not its counterpart in the sensuous life, and set himself to discover their true relations, wondering what there was in frankincense that made one mystical, and in ambergrise that stirred ones passions, and in violets that woke the memory of dead romances, and in musk that troubled the brain, and in champak that stained the imagination; and seeking often to elaborate a real psychology of perfumes, and to estimate the several influences of sweet smelling roots, and scented pollen-laden flowers, or aromatic balms, and of dark and fragrant woods, of spikenard that sickens, of hovenia that makes men mad, and of aloes that are said to be able to expel melancholy from the soul.

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

Aromatherapy and the Mind is an exploration into the realm of fragrance. Throughout the history of civilization, perfumes, incense, aromatic plants and oils have been used to enhance human experience in many different cultures, both ancient and modern. For although the term aromatherapy is new, the practice of using aromatics not only as physical remedies but also to influence the mind and the emotions is an ancient art. From the earliest times, herbs have been used as magic amulets, to protect from evil spirits or to bring good fortune; incense has traditionally been burnt at religious or ritual occasions to help transport the mind to another dimension; perfumes have been created to enrapture prospective lovers with their fragrance; and the power of essential oils has long been associated with alchemy and the quest for an elixir of life.

The revival of interest in aromatics and the modern day enthusiasm for aromatherapy are, I believe, due to a combination of factors. Firstly, like many other alternative treatments, aromatherapy represents a return to nature, and embraces an environmental awareness and a holistic approach. Secondly, the oils are pleasant and easy to use, they are highly concentrated and require little or no preparation, thereby fitting in with the fast pace of modern life. Lastly, aromatics are not simply physical remedies they also affect the emotions and deeper levels of the human psyche, a factor which many people sense intuitively. Due to their psycho-active properties, essential oils can help to combat the emotional instability and inner disillusionment which lie at the root of so much of the dis-ease manifest in contemporary life.