Essential oils are not like the oils we know and use at home. Our mothers knew about oils. They used them for cooking. Some even went into cakes? There was lemon oil for cleaning and polishinig furniture. The morning dose of cod liver oil was part of the diaily ritual for keeping us healthy through the cold winter months. And of course there was the ugly, unmentionable castor oil - the guaranteed cure for whatever ails you. All of these were essential! But wwere they "essential oils?"
None of them, certainly, was good enough to bring to the Christ child! For Him, only the very best would do. These were not everyday oils to be purchased at the local market with a well-used coin. They were exotic, carried by kings from far-away places, and presented with ceremony.
Myrrh andf frankincense were essential oils, destined for the use of royalty. For thousands of years such oils had been used by priests and physicians to protect and insure the health of those in high places.
Both myrrh and frankincense are distilled by steam from the gum or resin of a plant grown in Somalia. Both are mentioned in one of the oldest known medical records from ancient Egypt, dating from the sixth century BC. The record indicates their being used for diabetes, cancer, hepatitis, candida, ringworm and eczema, tooth/gum infections and skin conditions. Both were said to be uplifting and to promote spiritual awareness.
Myrrh was listed also in the well-regarded medical compilations of the Benedictine herbalist Hildegard of Bingen. (1098-1179)
The old Testament contains references that indicate how highly valued were these essential oils. They were fitting gifts to bring to Christ at His birth. At that time they were well known for their anointing and healing powers. Owned only by those with great wealth, they were valued more than gold during ancient times.
What are these precious substances? We enjoy their fragrances. They are different than vegetable oils in that they are not greasy. They are distilled from flowers, roots, seeds, shrubs, trees and bushes. Distilling makes them very concentrated; in some cases it may require an entire plant or even more, to produce a single drop of distilled essential oil.
Their chemistry is very complex; every essential oil may consist of hundreds of different and unique chemical compoounds.
There are many factors that affect the purity of essential oils and whether they can benefit human health. Only certain parts of the plant may be used. The soil must be uncomtaminated. No chemical agricultural fertilizers must be used to cultivate plants. Harvest time is important; sometimes the difference of a day or two can dramatically influence the quality of the oil that is produced. The methods of distillation are also significant.
Lavender is a good example. This fragrant oil or perfume, beloved by so many around the world, has little , if any, of the therapeutic qualities of high-grade lavender oil. Experts maintain that the best oil quality can be achieved only under distillation at zero pressure and prolonged low temperatures. Yet commercially produced lavender is distilled for only about 15 or 20 minutes under extremely high temperatures and pressure. We enjoy the results but we cannot expect these products to benefit our health.
The therapeutic results we expect are derived from scrupulous, carefully monitored processes of distillation. The chambers in which the oils are distilled are usually constructed of stainless steel. The essential oil could be chemically altered by more reactive metals like aluminum or copper. Synthetic chemicals and solvents to generate steam are not used.
Producing pure essential oils is very costlly. Why is rose oil, for instance, so expensive? We can understand better if we realize that producing a single pint of rose oil requires 5000 pounds of rose petals.
Pure therapeutic grade essential oils can be trusted to promote emotional, physical and spiritual healing. Thanks to modern methods of distillation and quality control such fine oils are available all over the world. They can be ordered on this website from Young Living. Like the choice essential oils of ancient Egypt, they are indeed "fit for a king!"
Copyright 2009 Esther E. Hansen
Do you Think Immunity is Important?
In the western world, we all know that immunity is important. It's essential if we want to stay alive and healthy. In one way or another, most of us have experienced ,in our own lives, the importance of immunity.
I remember the fellow student, in college, who developed chicken pox. The poor girl was embarrassed to admit that she had come down with a childhood disease. Most of us were immune to it. We had experienced it as children and that ensured that we would not contract the dieseas again.
Small pox has also touched our lives. Not long before we were born, smallpox epidemics had ravaged almost the entire world and killed millions of people. Some of us can still recall a time when a smallpox vaccination was required, along with a passport, if you wanted to go to Durope.
Gradually, mankind has fought for immunity against dissease. Written records describe the work of a Buddhist nun in the 11th century. She ground up the scabs taken from a person infected with smallpox. Then she blew the powder into the nostrils of a person who was not immune.
Seven centuries later Edward Jenner, in England, made an interesting disscovery. Milkmaids who developed cowpox, a less serious disease, never had smallpox. He took fluid from a cowpox pustule and inocculated an 8-year-old boy. The child never had smallpox. Jenner coined the word vaccine, from the latin word for cow. His work was soon widely accepted and used world wide.
In 1967 the World Health Organization launched a global compaign to eradicate this dread disease. By May 1980 The Who Assemblly declare the world free of smallpox.
Another disease that many of us recall is poliomyelitis. "Polio" attacks nerve cells, sometimes the central nervous system. Its victims are often paralyzed. Pictures of President Franklin D Roosevelt in his wheelchair come to mind.
The gift of immunity to this disease was given the world by Jonas Salk and further developed by Albert Sabin. The vaccine they developed exposes the human body to a small amount of the disease virus; the body produces antibodies that resist and kill the virus. This prepares the body to defend itself against the full strength virus if it attacks.
In most countries where the vaccine is used, polio no longer exists.
In recent times, the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, was exciting! It increased our hopes and expectations of conquering many other diseases.
Antibiotics kill bacteria and fungi and stop them from growing. To combat infections caused by bacteria they have been and still are a great blessing.
However, well-foounded anxiety relates to the i9nfections caused not by bacteria but by viruses. There is major concern about the rising level of antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, the World Health Organization is keenly aware of health threats to modern society by air and soil pollution, pesticides, growth hormones, even financial stress. Modern travel, with its swift and multiple human contacts, is a threat in disguise.
For this reason, a remarkable discovery ini 1949 has been hailed as the most exciting discovery of the century. Dr. H. Sherwood Lawrence found that immunity could be transfered from one human body to another through a blood transfusion. Eventualy the scientific interest aroused by this discovery sparked a revolution in medicine. Clinical studeis took place all over the world. Over 3000 research papers were written.
More and more health professionals are turning to the immune system to address the increase in infectious disease and drug resistance. What they have to saw warrants our attention. In "The Road to Immunity", Dr. Kenneth Bock writes, "From the vantage point of drug therapy, we are losing the war against infectious disease. We as medical professionals, need to take a fresh look at the role the immune system plays in this area."
You and I, who recognize the importance of immunity, can be grateful for the dedicated professional whose efforts have brought forth great blessing to modern man. The products resulting from their work can promote a healthy immune system and offer new and unexpected solutions to health problems that caused death and espair in the past.
Such professioals, working at 4Life Research have produced products that constitute a major contribuition in the battle for immunity. These products can be ordered on this site from 4Life Research.
