What if we had at our fingertips a natural, renewable substance that would at once balance, elevate and regenerate us? A single drop would raise our spirits and people around us would smile with joy.

Newspaper headlines read like sci-fi horror clips: "Killer Ebola Virus Fatal to 90% of its Victims." USA Today header warns: "Ancient Ills Return with a Vengeance," listing 11 diseases considered to be illnesses of the past that are now emerging worldwide: anthrax, Hanta virus, tuberculosis (bacterial and viral), Dengue, cholera, pertussis, diphtheria, Lassa Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Yellow Fever and, yes, the Black Plague.

What if the same drop that raised our spirits and brought joy to people around us would assuage the aching, bring life to the sick, and kill pathogenic viruses and bacteria?

Everywhere we hear chanted ad nauseam the sad list of criminal causes for our progressive biological degeneration and environmental destruction:

• air, water, electronic and environmental pollution.
• depleted topsoils leading to empty, demineralized foods.
• petrochemical agriculture with ubiquitous insecticides, herbicides and pesticides (DDT residue has been found in the amniotic fluid of unborn babies).
• overuse of antibiotics causing both die-offs of friendly bacteria in our bodies and rapid mutation of harmful bacteria and viruses into even more virulent, antibiotic-resistant strains.
• weakening of the life force in our foods through overprocessing, refining, enriching (with synthetic nutrients), preserving, irradiating, artificial coloring and flavoring, etc. (not to mention the very process of long distance trucking).
• lowered oxygen in our environment due to heavy gases, and lowered oxygen within our bodies due to peroxidation, lack of exercise and stress pollution.
• effects of stress and pressure stemming from urban (and suburban) living devoid of nature.

What if this miraculous, renewable substance that kills pathogenic bacteria and viruses caused no harm to us, but instead strengthened our immune system?

Even as cancer, AIDS and the new super germs slowly—and sometimes rapidly—consume more and more people's lives, modern medicine's slash/burn/poison approach imposes additional untold suffering. An April 1998 Associated Press article reported adverse drug reactions rank between fourth and sixth (depending on criteria used) among leading causes of death in the U.S.

While treatments for cancer and AIDS are deemed the world's most profitable business (second only to the petrochemical industry), psychological and emotional disorders engulf perhaps an even greater number of lives, judged by drug sales. Prozac, Ritalin, Zolof: the bizarre litany of antidepressants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, stimulants, recreational and designer drugs fills modern medical tomes.

What if our substance brought mental peace and calm, emotional relief and spiritual awakening to the people who inhaled it, diffused it in their homes, put it on their bodies and added it to their baths?

Looking back we see that our current ills are not totally new and unique, but greatly stepped up versions of the diseases, plagues and disharmonies that have always been with us. Looking back we see that, from the very beginning, humankind has sought ecstasy and enlightenment, peace and harmony, release from pain, and connection to Spirit through plants. We appreciate the plant world as the vibrant and diverse expression of an interplay with the primary elements—sunlight, warmth, water, air and the earth's own centrifugal spin. Over millennia, we as a species have turned to this world to enrich our lives; to stimulate, regulate, relax, nourish and balance ourselves in body, mind and spirit.

What if this wonderful substance has been with us here on earth from ancient times through the present?

An Ancient Art

Historically, it seems our first herbal attraction was to the aromatic plants which, through their fragrance, reach out and capture our senses, penetrating deep into the crevices of our subconscious. Archaeological evidence shows ancient peoples in Egypt, Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria, Crete and China were skilled at extracting and blending aromatic plant oils—or essential oils—using them as ointments, fragrances and incense for both medicinal and religious purposes.

Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets from the 13th to 12th century B.C. describe egg-shaped vessels containing coils that strongly resemble the Arab itriz used for essential oil distillation much later in this same region. A terra cotta distilling apparatus surrounded with terra cotta perfume containers dating back to 3000 B.C. was discovered in the Taxila Museum in the Indus Valley (modern Pakistan).

There are almost 200 references to essential oils in the Bible. Hyssop is recorded in Exodus 12:22 as the oil in lamb's blood, which God told Moses to spread on the lintels of the Israelites' houses at Passover to protect them from the Plague. Today hyssop is recognized as an antiasthmatic, antiinfectious, antiviral and antiparasitic. It is reported to stimulate creativity, promote centering and concentration, enhance meditation, tone the nervous system and clear the lungs of mucus.

At the time of Jesus, frankincense was a commodity more valuable than gold. It was valued for its healing properties and the power it brought to spiritual rituals. Scientific studies today show that merely inhaling frankincense oil raises the cellular oxygen level of the pineal and pituitary glands by 28%!

What are these aromatic oils that so fascinated our distant ancestors? Essential oils are subtle, volatile resins that act as intercellular messengers within plants, carrying enzymes, hormones, vitamins, minerals, chemical compounds and oxygen. They are the plant's immune system warding off disease. Their fragrance, a pheromone of sorts, attracts insects for pollination. Unlike vegetable oils, essential oils evaporate quickly, leaving no trace on paper or cloth. Pure, therapeutic grade essential oils are the most rarefied etherealization of the green plant world reaching up to heaven.

Although there may be similarities between the properties of a given herb and its essential oil, the action of the essential oil is always more dramatic and immediate. The process of steam distillation or extraction creates an extremely concentrated substance that is lipid soluble, allowing it to pass directly through the cell membrane. A drop of essential oil on your fingertip will show up in a hair analysis 10 minutes later; it will be in every cell of the body within 20 minutes. Because of this, you want only the highest quality oils on—and in—your body.

Aromatic oils are very much in vogue in the United States today. You find "essential oils" and aromatherapy kits in discount stores and supermarkets. Unfortunately, most of the essential oils sold in the U.S. are rejects from the large oil brokers in Europe and/or are cut with propylene glycol or adulterated with synthetic compounds. Some are outright synthetic. Amazingly, the law says essential oils can be called pure if they contain a minimum of 5% pure essential oil!

Pure, unadulterated, 100% grade A essential oils will have fragrances that are subtle, rich, full-bodied, regal and delicate—not thin, raw, harsh, metallic and one-dimensional. It's possible for an oil to be from organic plant material, yet be an inferior, perfume grade oil distilled at high pressure, high temperature and in large- scale, industrial batches. Ask your oil supplier whether their oils are analyzed and tested for purity by independent labs, and whether the herbs are distilled fresh or are transported and processed for weeks beforehand. Also, be sure to ask whether the distillers are vertical and fabricated from stainless steel to prevent the oils from reacting chemically with metal.

Relying as we do in our scientific age on technical data and analytical dissection of reality, we are insensitive to the profound qualitative difference between natural and synthetic. We have become accustomed to the chaotic, incoherent frequencies around us: electric machines, fluorescent lights, television, computers, cars. These frequencies disorient us; they lower and scramble our own body frequency. The frequencies of modern civilization are diametrically opposed to the organized, harmonic frequencies emitted by a healthy plant and its essential oil—and by a healthy person and her/his purified human spirit.

We know from the work of Dr. Otto Warburg and Dr. Royal Rife that lowered frequency in human cells causes mutation, sickness, and eventually, death. Disease, pathogens, negative thinking, pH imbalance (usually over-acidic), lack of oxygen: all these indicate lowered body cell frequency. Essential oils meet each of these negative elements head-on: they kill pathogens, cleanse our negative emotions, oxygenate our body/mind, alkalinize our systems and raise our frequency!

Dr. Rife taught that every disease has its own frequency and that a higher frequency substance will neutralize a disease with lower frequency. Therapeutic essential oils carry—or more accurately, are—harmonious, high bio-electrical frequencies. Recent research (still in its infancy) by Bruce Tainio of Tainio Technologies uses a Calibrated Frequency Monitor to measure the frequencies of essential oils and their effect on human frequencies. Essential oils provide a positive frequency to the body; they contain oxygenating molecules that transport nutrients directly into the cells. The lipids inside the cell harmonize and align their frequencies with those of the essential oils. Skillful blending or layering of oils amplifies these frequencies.

Thus, essential oils like peppermint, with a frequency of approximately 78MHz (traditionally used to freshen breath, reduce fevers, increase memory, support the respiratory system and relieve colic, gas, headaches, heartburn and indigestion) would benefit more on the structural/physical level, while an oil with a much higher frequency, like frankincense (traditionally used to enhance meditation, increase spiritual awareness and improve one's attitude) would impact us more on the spiritual level.

Fragrances touch us directly through scent, the oldest and most evocative of all our senses. Scent goes deeper than conscious thought or organized memory. Each individual oil is a personality with different chemotypes and a specific biological frequency. As we inhale essential oils, they stimulate the olfactory bulb nerve fibers, which send impulses to the limbic region of the brain. Often referred to as the primitive brain, the limbic system includes the limbic lobe, parts of the cortex, some thalamic and hypothalamic nuclei, as well as parts of the basal ganglia.

Complicated interconnections between the limbic system's structures and other parts of the brain mean that this ancient brain actually controls all our basic neuro-vegetative functions: heartbeat, respiration, hormonal balance and digestive function, as well as our emotions, hunger, thirst, ability to sleep, mood and sexual and immune responses.

Smell is the only sense with receptor nerve endings in direct contact with the outside world, providing a channel, as it were, to the brain. The brain is sheathed and protected by the blood/brain barrier, a lipid-rich membrane through which oxygen and some nutrients can pass, but which is impermeable to large molecules, like those of most therapeutic drugs. Essential oils are, of course, lipid-soluble and hence, when inhaled, affect the central nervous system directly; they trigger brain circuits much like turning on an electrical switch. Oils with high levels of sesquiterpenes— such as frankincense, lavender and sandalwood—increase the oxygen in the limbic system, leading to increased secretion of antibodies, endorphins and neurotransmitters. As a result, we feel happier, livelier, more vibrantly healthy; indeed, we are in tune, all circuits open.

I've witnessed asthmatic attacks stopped in their tracks simply by placing on the chest a couple of drops of oil blends formulated to support the lungs and respiratory function. I've seen a wild filly lie down in the field beside her owner seconds after having a calming oil blend rubbed inside her ears. I've seen intransigent, painful, itching eczema literally subside in seconds with a few drops of lavender oil.

Euphoric fragrances like clary, sage and grapefruit stimulate the thalamus to secrete neurochemicals called enkephalins, natural pain killers that also produce a feeling of well-being. Aromas that stimulate the endorphin-secreting pituitary gland include the aphrodisiac scents jasmine, rose and ylang ylang. Relaxing sedative oils like patchouli, cistus and marjoram stimulate the Raphe nucleus in the brain, triggering the secretion of serotonin, which induces sound sleep.

After thriving for thousands of years, essential oils slipped out of our field of vision for several centuries until the 1920s, when a French chemist happened to rediscover lavender's power to heal burns. That oils should be rediscovered in this century cannot have been a mistake. Our jerry-rigged, computerized world is frighteningly fragile and may well unravel with the slightest glitch. If Y2K lives up to some experts' prognoses, we may have no access to medical doctors and dentists for a while, to restaurants and processed foods, to phone, e-mail and transportation (other than bicycles). We will need to learn essential first aid. Aside from Y2K, we are in dire need right now of daily first aid to help us meet a toxic, short-circuited world.

The Oldest Therapy

How do we treat a splitting headache, toothache or serious bellyache? Allergies, PMS, depression? Arthritis pain, dental abscesses, athlete's foot, infection? Burns, colds, flu, Candida? What about the mutating viruses and new super germs against which modern Western medicine has no answers? Most importantly, how do we treat such conditions without causing side effects?

Enter essential oils: the oldest therapy known to mankind, as revealed in ancient manuscripts, papyri and hieroglyphics from the Holy Land, Egypt, India, Greece, Italy and China. In France during WW II, Dr. Jean Valnet used essential oils on patients with cases of gangrene that antibiotics could not touch. He saved every single one. Today there are 150 hospitals in England alone prescribing essential oils.

Terry S. Friedman, M.D., of Scottsdale, Arizona, used essential oils to treat 10 cancer patients (prostate cancer, lymphoma and Hodgkin's). Every single one is in remission. Dr. Gary Young successfully restored hearing to several patients with the oil of helichrysum, whose frequency at 181 MHz is second only to rose. The fast-firing high frequency of helichrysum may have caused the nerve synapses to fire and then supported them to hardwire.

In his authoritative Natural Home Health Care Using Essential Oils, Daniel Pénoöl, M.D., recommends keeping these seven oils on hand for emergencies:

Melaleuca: for colds, coughs, cuts, sore throat, sunburn, wounds, infections.

Ravensara: powerful antiviral and antiseptic; used to treat respiratory problems, viral infections, wounds.

Basil: for earaches, fainting, headaches, spasm, poisonous insect or snake bites, malaria.

Peppermint: analgesic (topical pain reliever) for bumps and bruises; good for fever, headache, indigestion, motion sickness, nausea, spastic colon, vomiting.

Lavender: for burns, leg cramps, herpes, heart irregularities, hives, insect bites and bee stings, sprains, sunstroke (if in doubt, use lavender!) Geranium: for bleeding (initially increases to eliminate toxins, then stops), diarrhea, shingles, liver disorders; regenerates tissues and nerves.

Helichrysum: for bruises, bleeding (stops on contact), pain; reduces scarring and regenerates tissues.

From my own experience, I'd like to add seven more:

Birch: for its strong analgesic, antispasmodic and antiinflammatory properties. Birch is known for its ability to alleviate bone pain. It has a cortisone-like action due to its high methyl salicylate content.

Frankincense: for its oxygenating power in the brain, its immune-stimulating properties, and to clear the circuit between earth and heaven.

Grapefruit: for its diuretic, stimulant and tonic properties. Grapefruit, like lemon and lemongrass, helps decongest the lymphatic system; helps with drug withdrawal, liver disorders, gallstones, obesity, cellulite and digestion.

Marjoram: for its relaxing, calming, warming energy. Marjoram has been used to treat muscle spasms, rheumatism, sprains, stiff joints, bruises and neuralgia. It tones the parasympathetic nervous system and promotes peace and deep sleep.

Black Spruce: for the shielding protection it offers. Spruce grounds and balances the body, helping to release emotional blocks. It is stimulating to the thymus and adrenal glands. Spruce is used by the Lakota people to enhance communication with Spirit.

Clove: for its help with dental infection, tobacco addiction, intestinal parasites, viruses, chronic skin disease, warts, mouth ulcers, thyroid dysfunction, digestive upsets and infected wounds.

Thieves: Used by thieves in England to protect them from the Black Plague when stealing from the sick and dying, this essential oil is highly antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and antiinfectious. It protects the body from the onset of flu, Candida and colds, and helps combat gum disease, cold sores, canker sores, cuts, infection, bronchitis, pneumonia, and strep and other throat infections.

Studies conducted at Weber State University in 1997 demonstrated the antibacterial effectiveness of the thieves oil blend against airborne microorganisms. One study showed a 99.3% reduction in the number of gram positive Micrococcus luteus organisms after diffusing thieves for 20 minutes. Another study against gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed a kill rate of 99.96% after only 12 minutes diffusion. (Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the bacterial cultures the United States sold Saddam Hussein from 1984 through 1993 for use in bacteriological warfare, that may, in President Clinton's estimation, come back to haunt us in biological terrorism.)

Each oil and oil blend is an individual personality we become intimate with as we wear them, carry them, resonate with them throughout the day and night. Naturally, we delight in their diversity and in discovering the particular oil persona to match our own vibration. Yet all essential oils are irresistible, beautiful, sensual, provocative and deep; all bring oxygen, ozone and negative ions into the atmosphere, into our bodies, our surrounding space. They increase cellular oxygen up to 21%! (No other plant component comes close. Hydrogen peroxide increases cellular oxygen only 9%, for instance.) Bacteria and viruses, of course, cannot live in a negative ion environment or in ozone. There has never been an instance of any bacteria or virus developing resistance to or mutating in the presence of an essential oil.

Essential oils take chemicals and metals out of the air by breaking the molecular chain. Some can actually neutralize the effects of radiation. Put a little lemon essential oil into a Styrofoam cup and watch the cup disintegrate. (Everybody tested in the United States has Styrofoam in their body tissues.)

More recent research at Weber State University shows essential oils can actually change the DNA template. They can facilitate the release of emotional trauma by changing the cells' genetic blue printing. As the oils travel along the olfactory nerve, they stimulate an emotional and psychological response that controls this genetic blue printing.

That essential oils, rich treasures from the plant world, actually harmonize and resonate with our DNA dwelling, can only inspire us to rejoice in their wisdom and share in their blessings.

For more information on pure, therapeutic essential oils, resources, and books on essential oils, please call Anna Bond at (802) 387-2341, or e-mail her at annabond@together.net.